---
name: "Colin Tapley"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/colin-tapley"
roles: ["Actor"]
born: "7 May 1907"
died: "1 December 1995"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 2
average_as: "actor"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-09-20T03:41:46.836560+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Colin Tapley

Actor. Born 7 May 1907 in Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand. Died 1 December 1995.

## Details

- **Work:** Actor
- **Born:** 7 May 1907, Dunedin, South Island, New Zealand
- **Died:** 1 December 1995
- **Titles on Fi1m:** 2: 1 acting, 1 other
- **Fi1m score by decade:** 1930s 74 (1), 1960s 74 (1)
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colin_Tapley, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q892692, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0850029/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/96743

## Biography

Colin Tapley was a New Zealand actor who appeared in American and British films and television. Born in Dunedin, he took part in an Antarctic expedition and served in the Royal Air Force before winning a Paramount Pictures talent contest in 1933, which led to a move to Hollywood.

He made his screen debut in the mid-1930s, with an early credited role as Barrett in *The Lives of a Bengal Lancer* (1935). During the Second World War he served as a flight controller with the Royal Canadian Air Force. After returning to Britain he appeared in *The Dam Busters* (1955) as William Glanville and was frequently cast as a police inspector in later films and series. He retired to Gloucestershire and died in 1995.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (2)

### Performed in (1) — the average rests on these

- *The Lives of a Bengal Lancer* (1935), Fi1m 74, as Barrett — [page](https://film.one/film/the-lives-of-a-bengal-lancer.md)

### Also credited (1) — thanks, archive footage, uncredited

- *The Sundowners* (1960), Fi1m 74, as Palmer (uncredited) — [page](https://film.one/film/the-sundowners.md)

## Complete filmography (53)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Richard the Lionheart* (1962), series, as Steward, Chamberlain
- *Strongroom* (1962), as Haynes
- *Emergency* (1962), as Dr. Lloyd
- *The Lamp in Assassin Mews* (1962), as Inspector
- *Gang War* (1962), as Paul Alexis
- *So Evil, So Young* (1961), as Inspector
- *The Sundowners* (1960), as Palmer (uncredited) — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-sundowners.md)
- *Compelled* (1960), as Inspector
- *An Honourable Murder* (1960), as Casca
- *Man Accused* (1959), as Inspector
- *Innocent Meeting* (1959), as Stannard
- *The Safecracker* (1958), as Colonel Charles Mercer
- *Stranger in Town* (1957), as Henry Ryland
- *The Adventures of Sir Lancelot* (1956), series, as Lord Vanton, Everard
- *Barbados Quest* (1955), as Lord Valchrist
- *The Dam Busters* (1955), as Doctor W.H. Glanville, C.B., C.B.E.
- *The Diamond Wizard* (1954), as Sir Stafford Beach
- *3 Steps to the Gallows* (1953), as Arnold Winslow
- *The Steel Key* (1953), as Dr. Crabtree
- *Noose for a Lady* (1953), as Major Fergusson
- *Strange Stories* (1953), as Charles ('Strange Journey')
- *Wings of Danger* (1952), as Inspector Maxwell
- *Wide Boy* (1952), as Mannering
- *Angels One Five* (1952), as Adjutant
- *Cloudburst* (1951), as Inspector Davis
- *Samson and Delilah* (1949), as Prince
- *Arizona* (1940), as Bart Massey
- *North West Mounted Police* (1940), as Mountie
- *The Light That Failed* (1939), as Gardner
- *Storm Over Bengal* (1938), as Hallett
- *If I Were King* (1938), as Jehan LeLoup
- *Booloo* (1938), as Captain Robert Rogers
- *Souls at Sea* (1937), as Donaldson (uncredited)
- *Night of Mystery* (1937), as Chester Greene
- *King of Gamblers* (1937), as Joe
- *The Crime Nobody Saw* (1937), as Dr. Brooks
- *Maid of Salem* (1937), as Roger's Friend (Uncredited)
- *Bulldog Drummond Escapes* (1937), as Dixon
- *Thank You, Jeeves!* (1936), as Tom Brock
- *The Return of Sophie Lang* (1936), as Larry
- *Early to Bed* (1936), as Doctor Vernon
- *Too Many Parents* (1936), as Miller
- *The Preview Murder Mystery* (1936), as Studio Manager
- *My Marriage* (1936), as Sir Philip Burleigh
- *Peter Ibbetson* (1935), as Clerk (uncredited)
- *The Last Outpost* (1935), as Lieutenant Prescott
- *The Black Room* (1935), as Paul Hassel as a young lieutenant
- *Becky Sharp* (1935), as William Dobbin
- *The Lives of a Bengal Lancer* (1935), as Barrett — Fi1m 74, [page](https://film.one/film/the-lives-of-a-bengal-lancer.md)
- *Father Brown, Detective* (1934), as Maître d' (uncredited)
- *Wagon Wheels* (1934), as Mountaineer
- *Murder at the Vanities* (1934), as Stage Manager (uncredited)
- *Double Door* (1934), as Dr. John Lucas

## Gallery

- ![Colin Tapley](https://film.one/media/person/1228271/gallery-409cf37bacaf.jpg) Colin Tapley — Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2a/Colin_Tapley_headshot_1933.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)
- ![Colin Tapley in Becky Sharp - cropped screenshot (1935)](https://film.one/media/person/1228271/gallery-bef01ee9fd96.jpg) Colin Tapley in Becky Sharp - cropped screenshot (1935) — RKO Pictures, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons (https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/3c/Colin_Tapley_in_Becky_Sharp.jpg?utm_source=commons.wikimedia.org&utm_campaign=imageinfo&utm_content=thumbnail_unscaled)

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/colin-tapley