Goodbye, Simon MacCorkindale (October 15, 2010)

Bandit LOAF

Long Live the Confederation!
Actor Simon MacCorkindale, known for his starring role in the British series Casualty, passed away on Thursday. He was 58. Wing Commander fans knew him best as Flight Boss Raznick in the Wing Commander film, the man responsible for flight operations on the Tiger Claw (credited only as FLIGHT BOSS). Appropriately, MacCorkindale dreamed in his youth of flying jet fighters like the Lightnings used to make the film before poor eyesight lead to a career in acting. Though his role in Wing Commander was limited, he still managed to steal a scene in which he orders a hot-dogging Maniac to abort his landing approach. Novelist Peter Telep expanded Raznick's role in his trilogy of Wing Commander-based novels.



Rest in peace, Mr. MacCorkindale. Our sympathies go out to his fans, family and friends. He will be well remembered as a skilled actor who helped bring nuance and depth to the Wing Commander canon. Telegraph.co.uk has published an obituary, available here.

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Original update published on October 15, 2010
 
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It's always sad to hear of the loss of someone that worked on any WC project. Our condolences to his family.

LOAF mentioned his "scene stealing" which is funny because earlier I was looking to get some screenshots of him from the film and I don't think I could find more than two shots of him that don't even add up to a minute. But I remember his scenes!

It's too bad one of his extra lines is cut. In the workprint, after maniac lands and before Rosie follows suit he tells Maniac "I'm going to have your wings Lieutenant! You wait until your wingleader finds out...." something like that. There's alternate takes as well of him saying the dialogue you only hear in the finished film over the comms.
 
This is a damn shame. The man only had a bit part with three lines in the whole film, and it still manages to be one of the most memorable performances.

Well, he did good. Real good.
 
This is a damn shame. The man only had a bit part with three lines in the whole film, and it still manages to be one of the most memorable performances.

Well, he did good. Real good.

It's a few more than three when you count the comm traffic.

"Delta 2, you're cleared to land"
"Delta 2, you're coming in too hot."
"Abort. I repeat, Abort!"
"Delta 2, do you copy?"
"SHIT!"
"Delta 2, you are inverted!"
(The deleted lines from the workprint go here)
"DELTA 1!"
(the workprint also has him muttering something under his breath like "oh my goodness" after Rosie lands)

He's also seen in the scramble scene. We don't see him talk but we see him grab his headset and then it cuts to the flight deck buzzing while his voice is on the PA.

"All pilots to craft! All Pilots to craft!"
"Get that deck clear!"
"Force Shield up, opening hangar doors now" (assuming he means the one on the hangar door)
"Delta 3, go!"
(The workprint adds "launching now" about here as well)

You also see a reaction shot of him at one point when the Claw gets hit by a torpedo. Then after the battle we have:

"All craft return to ship immediately."
I repeat, all craft return to ship."

After Rosie's accident:
"Roger that"
"Baker 3 and Baker 4 you are cleared to land"

There's a brief shot of him in the booth after the crash as well.

There may be some background chatter as well in the surround channels of him. There's a couple PA announcements on the flight deck when Blair visits Angel on the flight deck to talk about Maniac (and Rosie's death) That could just as easily be Obutu as the flightboss, so I can't conclusively attribute them to him.


"Engineer McColl report to aft mooring lance, Engineer McColl report to aft mooring lance."

"Rapier comm grouping, Comm is syncronized. "
"Crews clear the flight deck"
"Outer-ranging ascent"
"Rapier comm grouping, Comm is syncronized. "
"Crews clear the flight deck"


So not counting those or doubles, I can attribute at least a dozen lines to him.
 
"Engineer McColl report to aft mooring lance, Engineer McColl report to aft mooring lance."

My guess is that this isn't him--this has to be some of the ADR they did at Digital Anvil (like Dan's line). It's probably "Engineer McCall", after the Origin/DA artist...
 
When I read about his death in the paper I had completely forgotten that he was in the Wing Commander Movie. I know him more for his role in the UK Medical drama Casualty

RIP
 
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