Mr. MacCorkindale recently starred in the West End revival of The Sound of Music.

The actor was born in Cambridgeshire, the son of an RAF officer. Mr. MacCorkindale took drama classes and did much repertory theatre work, leading to a role in the West End in Pygmalion with Alec McCowen and Diana Rigg in 1974. He made an impression in 1978 as murderer Simon Doyle in the 1978 film adaptation of Agatha Christie's "Death On The Nile."

Soon after, the actor moved to Hollywood and took roles in the series "Dynasty," "Falcon Crest" and "Manimal," in which his character fought crime by turning into different animals.

Diagnosed with cancer in 2006, he kept the disease a secret for three years. In an interview last year, Mr. MacCorkindale said: "I didn’t want to make a fuss. We are very private people and wanted to deal with it on our own."