Simon MacCorkindale, best known for playing Harry Harper in the BBC drama Casualty, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in 2006 and kept the illness private from his co-stars before his death in 2010 at the age of 58.
MacCorkindale joined the Casualty cast in 2002 as the head of the emergency department at Holby City Hospital, a role he held until 2008 when his character was forced to step down. During his time on the show, Harper was involved in several high-profile relationships, both in and out of the workplace.
A Career Spanning Stage and Screen
Before his Casualty role, MacCorkindale first appeared on screen in 1974 in I Claudius and Jesus of Nazareth, before landing his breakthrough part in the 1978 film Death on the Nile. He went on to appear in Quartermass, The Riddle of the Sands, The Sword and the Sorcerer and Jaws 3-D.
He also took leading roles in the short-lived series Manimal, later reprising his part in Night Man, and played lawyer Greg Reardon in a popular American prime time soap opera. During the 1980s and 1990s, he also pursued directing and producing for theatre and television, including Stealing Heaven.
Diagnosis and Private Battle
In 2006, MacCorkindale received a bowel cancer diagnosis. He underwent surgery to remove the tumours during a fortnight's break from filming Casualty, and he and his loved ones were told the cancer had gone into remission. MacCorkindale, who was married to actress and producer Susan George, said at the time: "It came as a complete bombshell."
Just 12 months later, he was informed the cancer had spread to his lungs. He concealed his diagnosis from his colleagues, later admitting he found it "surreal" when required to deliver similar news to patients on the show. He said in 2009: "The doctor said I had lung cancer - me, who never smoked a cigarette and always tried to live a healthy lifestyle. He said it was incurable. It was such a body blow my mind went numb."
Final Years and Death
MacCorkindale said: "I don't want people to think that I'm pale, losing my hair, losing weight and on the way out. I'm not. I'm as active as I've ever been." He added: "We are very private people and wanted to deal with it on our own. We thought no one needed to know because, for the first year or so, we didn't think it was that serious."
He sought experimental treatments in the United States, though these yielded little success. In November 2009, he publicly revealed that his cancer was terminal. He passed away on October 14, 2010, at the age of 58.
