The locally well-known actor Colin Willis has passed away at the age of 81, the Malta Amateur Dramatic Club – of whom Willis was a long-time part – said on Monday.

Born in 1944, Willis first came to Malta in 1997 as the Australian High Commissioner a post he held until February 2000.  He returned to Canberra in Australia and retired soon after, allowing him to reinvent himself as an English teacher and return to Malta in September 2000.

As a man who had been involved in theatre since his primary school days, Willis soon embedded himself in the local theatre scene, particularly with the MADC as both an actor and a director.

Among his theatrical credentials locally were The Tempest in 2003, Glorious in 2008, Scrooge - A Christmas Panto in 2010, Twelfth Night in 2011, The Hamlet Trilogy, Arsenic and Old Lace both in 2012, The Homecoming in 2013, Much Ado About Nothing, Radio Revisited both in 2014 and A Midsummer Night's Dream in 2016.

The MADC said that its performance of the play ‘Suspicious Minds’ on Friday 24 April will be dedicated to his memory.