coming!" (a quotation from Paul Revere). In the film Chariots of Fire, the sign outside the Church of Scotland in Paris shows the preacher for the 9 am worship to be "C.M. Welland"; he had played a vicar in Straw Dogs (1971). Following Chariots of Fire, he was again commissioned by David Puttnam to write the screenplay for War of the Buttons (1994). Personal life Welland married Patricia Sweeney in 1962, and they had a son and three daughters together. Welland was a lifelong rugby league fan and player who wrote of his support for the sport in newspaper columns. He stood up for rugby league against rugby union discrimination in the 1980s and 1990s. He was also instrumental in the founding of Fulham Rugby League Club - the club that later evolved into London Broncos - in 1980. Death Welland died in his sleep at a nursing home in Sunbury on Thames on 2 November 2015, at the age of 81. He had suffered from Alzheimer's disease for several years before his death. On his death, Chariots of Fire producer David Puttnam said Welland was "an unswervingly good man; a fine actor, and a seriously gifted screenwriter". Nigel Havers, who had appeared in the film, told BBC News: "I remember him being great fun with a great sense of humour and a very honest man. He had a tremendous honesty about everything he wrote. I'm just very surprised he never made more films in Hollywood. It's a great loss to us all." Z Cars co-star Brian Blessed described Welland as "a great writer and a very natural actor," adding "He had a tremendous ability for writing. He could write anything, any style." Selected credits Notes References External links 1934 births 2015 deaths Best Supporting Actor BAFTA Award winners Best Original Screenplay Academy Award winners English male television actors English screenwriters English male screenwriters English television writers People from Newton-le-Willows 20th-century English male actors Male actors from Liverpool Alumni of Bretton Hall College English male film actors Neurological disease deaths in England Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Writers from Lancashire Writers from Liverpool Male actors from Lancashire British male television writers