“The Man With The Name That Makes You Notice: A Biography of Mark Lindsay Chapman” by Lee Presley

 Mark Lindsay Chapman is a man with an unforgettable name—for better or for worse.  This has to be said right from the start. The controversy started soon after he won an audition over 200 other actors to play the role of John Lennon in the NBC TV biography “Imagine: The Story of John and Yoko” in 1986.   Because there was already an actor named Mark Chapman in England, he was calling himself Mark Lindsay, so the “problem” with Mark’s name was not readily apparent. When Yoko Ono first saw him in rehearsal, she liked Mark’s performance but then the “secret” leaked out—his real name is Mark Lindsay Chapman. Since Lennon’s killer is named Mark David Chapman—a bizarre coincidence—Yoko nixed the deal as “bad karma.” Years later the event came full circle when Mark finally got to play Lennon in the 2007 film, Chapter 27.

 Background

Born in south London on September 8, 1954, Mark has a colorful background. His great, great grandmother was an Oglala Sioux Indian who came over to England with Buffalo Bill Cody’s Wild West Show as a juggler.   He became a world traveler at the early age of three years old when his family moved to Sierra Leone, Africa.  He lived there till he was seven.  When Mark was 13, his family moved to Saudi Arabia briefly. Then it was on to America where Mark graduated from high school in Baltimore, MD.  He attended the University of Maryland for one year.

 As an adult, Mark served a stint in the British Merchant Navy that took him to Hong Kong, Bangkok, Singapore, Kuwait and to the Falklands during the 1982 war. Though he saw no action, his ship helped keep the shipping lanes clear.  Mark refers to this stint as “three years of fun and one year of hell.” It changed him; what he saw in the Falklands, he says, was “dreadful.”

  Though his original trade was bricklaying, Mark quickly gravitated to acting.  It was a natural for him.  As early as five years of age, reports his mother, he was putting on shows complete with cowboys and other dramatic devices.  He was involved in school plays and then theatre at all the schools he attended and soon felt completely at home on the stage. At the age of 23, he applied to Drama School in England.

Trained at the Guildford School of Dance and Drama in London, Mark’s earliest acting experiences were in classical stage productions, including “Hamlet,” “Romeo and Juliet” and “The Merchant of Venice.”  While at the Guildford, Mark won a rare Three Year Scholarship in Dance, Drama, Fencing, and the Arts. His stage acting awards include a Drama-Logue Critics Award for Outstanding Achievement in Theatre, 1987, in the theatrical production of “Ashes,” as well as a Drama-Logue Critics Awards, Outstanding Achievement in Theatre, 1989, for playing the role of Petruchio in “Taming of the Shrew.”  He has also played in a BBC version of “Macbeth.”  The role of the first murderer gave him a start at playing bad guys. 

As talented as he is at classical theatre, Mark also gained acclaim for his work in contemporary drama, including the leads in “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” and “Jesus Christ Superstar.”  While playing the part of a newspaper reporter in Liverpool, he drew the attention of producer Sandor Stern, who came all the way across town to watch Mark’s cocky strutting and streetwise attitude in this role.  

Because of this performance, Stern asked Mark to read for the part of John Lennon in a TV movie to be filmed in 1986.  Mark won out over 200 other actors at the audition. Two weeks later he was being fitted for a prosthetic to make him look more like Lennon.  Because Mark was using the name Mark Lindsay, Stern was unaware of the name coincidence.

Mark was flown to New York so that he could audition for Yoko Ono.  Yoko called him personally to tell him that she liked him in the role. But things soon fell apart. On the way back to London, Stern broke the bad news to Mark. Yoko had discovered his real name and considered it “bad karma.”  The deal was off.  The strange coincidence and his firing even made the front page of the Los Angeles Times.

 The Lennon incident in 1986 gave Mark the opportunity to move to the United States. Since he was already under contract, he was able to use the payoff as moving money.  He soon signed with Deborah Miller, the legendary agent at the William Morris Agency.  The first role he landed was in the TV movie Annihilator.  This was quickly followed by recurring roles in Falcon Crest and Dallas as well as other TV and film roles, including one in the cult classic Max Headroom.  He even auditioned for the part of Data in "Star Trek: The Next Generation"—it came down to a shortlist between Mark and Brent Spiner.

 In 1990, Mark landed one of his most memorable roles, the part of the villainous scientist, Dr. Anton Arcane, in the new TV series, Swamp Thing.  As with any new series, the producers struggled to define the series.  With Mark’s talent for comedy, the series was able to turn in a direction that would keep it on the air for three years. In the opinion of many viewers, it was Mark’s brilliant comedic portrayal of the charmingly evil Arcane that made the series.  Swamp Thing gained several fan sites, largely because of Dr. Arcane.  That role continues to perpetuate his fan base. The Swamp Thing fan sites are still on the Internet and the creators of his current official fan site, Fans of Mark Lindsay Chapman, credit the role of Dr. Arcane as one of the main inspirations for starting their site. The recent release of the DVDs of this series will insure a new generation of fans for the delightfully narcissistic Arcane.

Mark says he enjoyed the time he spent on Swamp Thing, remembering it as one of the happiest times in his life.  Nonetheless, a producer who didn’t like him managed to keep him out of 13 episodes. The fans protested so much that the producer was forced to bring him back.  During his ST time, Mark also wrote and directed (uncredited) an episode titled “A Most Bitter Pill.”

Since then, Mark has garnered many TV and film credits. His best known roles are as the lead in Stephen King’s The Langoliers and as Chief Officer Wilde in the blockbuster Titanic. Like his performance as Arcane, his portrayal of hero Nick Hopewell in The Langoliers gained him many fans who still comment about this role today on both the IMDb and his fan site, Fans of Mark Lindsay Chapman. His own personal favorites among his TV performances are his roles on The Burning Zone and JAG.

Mark’s recent performance as John Lennon in the 2007 indie film Chapter 27 was highly praised.  Martin Grove, critic for the Hollywood Reporter, writes “the actor playing the role makes you believe you're seeing Lennon on the screen.” The director of the film, J.P. Schaefer, was disappointed with all the actors trying out for Lennon till he spotted Mark.  “…then (I saw) this guy, this British stage actor, who wasn't even performing. He was talking to the casting director. He was from South London and has that sort of blood-in-the-street thing. You know, Liverpool, where John grew up, is a tough town and John was on the road traveling with his band when he was only 16 and he's got this very famous chip on his shoulder and was always cracking these cynical one-liners. And that's what the impersonators couldn't come off with.  But Mark Lindsay Chapman…has that real quality to him -- that worn, cynical dimension that attracts people to John. That's how he got the job."

Because of the strange coincidence of name, Shaeffer’s choice of Mark to play Lennon has been criticized by some. However, in the view of many, artistic merit triumphed over some people’s discomfort.  Mark himself is sick of the controversy and wants it to be behind him. His many fans concur.  On his fan site, the creators write: “If you have a problem with Mark Lindsay Chapman's name, get over it!  Judge the man by his work and his character, not by his name.”

On a personal note, Mark has two children, son Hunter and daughter Lindsay, and an adopted son Fabian.  He was formerly married to Cheree Vandoren (Hunter’s mother). Cheree appeared in several episodes of Swamp Thing.

Talents

 Mark is skilled in many performance areas. In addition to ballet and martial arts, Mark’s training includes improvisation, singing, motorcyclist, firearms, stage combat, host, and voiceover. His language skills include the ability to do many accents; British, Irish, Scottish, Liverpool, Welsh, North England, Russian, Northern Ireland, Southern Ireland, Midwest, German, Cockney, Southern, Australian, French, South African and American are listed on his IMDb resume.  TV viewers saw his Irish accent on two different episodes of Murder She Wrote while the American accent has surfaced on Walker Texas Ranger and several other TV shows.  Mark also does a mean (and very funny) imitation of John Wayne, Walter Brennan and Peter Lorre.  He speaks French “en peu.”

 Mark’s versatile acting ability has allowed him to play a wide range of roles from the comically evil Arcane to the nobly heroic Nick Hopewell; from the archly pompous English butler in Beethoven’s 4^th to the stalwart Chief Officer Wilde in Titanic.  He has played every kind of role from nasty but innocent to nice but guilty; from nasty and guilty to nice and innocent, as well as assorted odd balls and sleaze balls. 

Still trim and handsome at a young-looking 54, Mark Lindsay Chapman has an enviable fan following that includes artists and writers who contribute regularly to the official fan site and the fan Facebook and My Space pages, as well as fans who continue to follow Dr. Arcane and Swamp Thing, The Langoliers and Titanic, and fans who simply appreciate his talented acting and charismatic personality.

 

Lee Presley is a California-based writer who knows what it’s like to have a name that people notice.  Her name, however, is a bit less problematic than Mark’s.

© Biography copyright 2009 by Lee Presley. All rights reserved.

Reprinted with permission of Lee Presley and Mark Lindsay Chapman.