Simon MacCorkindale, actor

Simon MacCorkindale was the classic stylish English actor - poised and suave of manner, a beguiling smile and matinee good looks. He played a host of parts on stage and screen but was mostly associated with the upper-crust cad in suspense dramas. He was in a few important films but it was television that offered most scope for his talents and where he found fame in the likes of Falcon's Crest and the BBC's long-running medical series Casualty.

MacCorkindale joined the latter in 2002, playing the smart clinical lead consultant Harry Harper and brought real medical authority to his scenes. He took much care to research the medical terminology and phrases so he could speak them with absolute conviction. MacCorkindale much enjoyed his time on Casualty and was a popular character both with the public and his colleagues in the studio.

It is those six years on Casualty for which he will be principally remembered. He finely caught the fair-minded side of Harper's character and subtly developed the mix of the modern, go-ahead consultant with that of the traditional understanding doctor. MacCorkindale's Harper always wore a smart suit and tie and preserved a very definite sense of being in charge.

Once, when filming in a remote area of France, MacCorkindale was accidentally stabbed in the hand with a scalpel. He was taken to a local vet who bandaged him up and then rushed him to a hospital in Paris. "I was," MacCorkindale said with a wry grin, "a real-life casualty."

Simon Charles Pendered MacCorkindale was the son of Scottish parents and spent some of his early years in Edinburgh, where his father, an RAF station commander, was on a tour of duty. The family moved often and he also lived on bases in Germany and Belgium. He was educated at Haileybury, in Hertfordshire, where he was head boy and played rugby, and was keen to follow his father into the RAF, but he failed an eyesight test. Instead, MacCorkindale attended the Theatre of Arts in London.

He spent several years in repertory theatres and his break came in 1974 when he was cast in Pygmalion in the West End alongside Diana Rigg and Alec McCowen. MacCorkindale was also seen in supporting roles in TV dramas such as I, Claudius, Jesus of Nazareth, Will Shakespeare and Within These Walls.

In 1977, MacCorkindale was cast in the blockbuster version of Agatha Christie's Death on the Nile. Bette Davis and David Niven were just two of the stars, while Peter Ustinov used his "little grey cells" to outwit MacCorkindale, who was the smooth but ever so charming murderer who tried to ditch his fiance to go off with an heiress.In 1979, MacCorkindale co-starred with Michael York and Jenny Agutter in The Riddle of the Sands, a rattling good yarn about German spies on a boat off the coast. The film made many think that MacCorkindale had all the smooth elegance to succeed Roger Moore as James Bond.

But that was not to be and MacCorkindale went to the United States, where he spent several years in Hollywood. Major roles did not materialise, but he was in Dukes of Hazzard, Fantasy Island, Manimal and Hart to Hart. MacCorkindale also played a central role of a British lawyer in the primetime soap Falcon Crest from 1984 until 1986.

He got the chance to direct some of the episodes but the relationship between MacCorkindale and the show's star, Jane Wyman, the first Mrs Ronald Reagan, were not always harmonious.

He returned to Britain and made, with his second wife, Susan George, Stealing Heaven (1988), based on the story of Abelard and Heloise, and then, with Christopher Plummer, Counterstrike for the BBC.

In 2006, MacCorkindale was diagnosed with cancer. After major surgery, he thought he was clear and returned to Casualty but left in 2007 after being told the disease had spread. With typical resolution, he refused to stop working and joined the cast of The Sound of Music (playing Captain von Trapp) at the London Palladium. Earlier this month, he was seen in BBC's New Tricks as Sir David Bryant.

MacCorkindale was a great lover of animals - he exhibited a dog at Crufts and on his 17th-century stud farm on Exmoor he and Susan George bred Arabian thoroughbred horses. They entered their horses at shows and won many awards. Earlier this year, MacCorkindale was particularly proud to have two of his horses at the entrance of a West End premiere attended by the Prince of Wales.

He was twice married: firstly, in 1976, to the actress Fiona Fullerton. That was later dissolved and he married George in 1984. There were no children from either marriage.