Actor Michael McStay who was once in the running to be James Bond has died at the age of 92.

AN ACTOR who had a successful 60 year long career in stage and screen and was once in the running to be James Bond has died at the age of 92.

Michael McStay also performed in many radio series and plays and during his film and TV career, starring alongside legends like Anthony Hopklns.

At the time George Lazenby stepped down as James Bond, Michael was one of the actors suggested to take his place but was pipped to it by Sean Connnery.

When asked later during an interview if he had regretted not getting the role of Bond, Michael said no, adding that instead he had he had a loving family which he “wouldn’t swap for all the success in the world”.

He spent his childhood in Chingford, attending Leyton County High School which had a renowned drama department. Michael soon became a standout star of the plays the school put on.

He won a scholarship to Bristol University, where he became president of the student union. After finishing his studies, he spent two years of National Service as an officer posted in Cyprus.

On returning to England, he embarked on his acting career, finding fame in the 1960s starring alongside Ray Francis and Johnny Briggs as Detective Sergeant Perryman in ITV police series No Hiding Place.

In 1967 he married actress Jennifer Clulow, who was herself a rising star at the time. The couple had two sons, Darius and Paul, and moved to Brockenhurst in the ‘80s. The family then moved to Lymington, where Michael was living at the time of his death.

Michael appeared in films including Robbery, a fictionalised account of the Great Train Robbery, and later in Doctor Who in the cult episodes Seeds of Doom and the BBC radio adaptation of Lord of the Rings (1981).

He found a new younger audience in the BBC children’s programme SuperGran, and also acted in TV show Thatcher’s Final Days, Churchill’s People, and Blunt with Anthony Hopkins and Ian Richardson.

Renowned TV critic Barry Norman described his performance as “flawless”.

As a fluent French speaker, Michael also had success abroad in the 1990s starring in Le Mari de L’ambassadeu, a long-running drama on French television.

His last screen performance was in Coronation Street, as the character of Alan Hoyle from 2011.

In his recent memoir “Inconsequential and Irrelevant”, Michael attributes much of his success to his friends, many of whom he made at university.

These included the likes of theatrical luminaries Michael Graham Cox, Doug Livingstone, Jane Howell and Jane Morgan who, along with Michael, were once described in The Guardian newspaper as “Bristol’s Cream”.

Apart from acting, Michael was also a talented writer and penned several BBC radio dramas including The Mild Bunch and the well-regarded Coleman and Astor series.

His biggest TV success was the 1980s ITV comedy series Pull the other one, starring Michael Elphick.

Remembered by family and friends as a “raconteur” and for his humour, in his later years Michael became a more private man.

His writing, however, continued to reflect what podcast star Toby Hadoke, of Happy Times and Places, described as a “wry optimism for life”.

Michael’s funeral was held last Friday at St Saviours Church in Brockenhurst.