Space City Con 2013 – Sylvester McCoy Panel [PHOTOS]

I entered Space City Con 2013 knowing almost nothing about Sylvester McCoy, other than the fact that he served as the seventh doctor in Doctor Who and that he played a part in the upcoming The Hobbit : The Desolation of Smaug. It only took a few minutes in his panel to realize that this was an amazing man, one that I wanted to know more about.

WHO IS SYLVESTER MCCOY

Sylvester McCoy was born in Dunoon, Scotland. He spent much of his childhood in Dublin, Ireland. Before becoming an actor, as Percy Smith he trained as a priest, sold insurance and acted as a bodyguard for the Rolling Stones. He started his acting career as a part of the Ken Campbell Roadshow, at first using the name Kent Smith before changing it first to Sylveste McCoy and then to the more familiar Sylvester. Sylvester McCoy is married with two sons. – via IMDB

THE SYLVESTER MCCOY PANEL

Although confined to a motorized scooter (having recently undergone surgery on his foot), Mr. McCoy never stopped moving about the convention room. He zoomed this way and that and at one point even tracked down someone headed to the bathroom as he yelled EXTERMINATE! (great Doctor Who reference) He was incredibly entertaining, doing everything from telling jokes and singing to playing the spoons on stage and out in the crowd.

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The hour we had with Mr. McCoy was just not enough. I could have spent several more listening to tales of Doctor Who and the incredible life he has lived so far, but he zoomed off as quickly as he appeared. During the panel he talked about why he changed his stage name and where it originated, his first convention (just 4 days after being hired to play the Doctor), getting the part in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug (after barely missing out on playing Bilbo in the original Lord of the Rings trilogy) and being a super-hero on the set of Doctor Who (when a prop water tank burst and almost killed the actress inside).

Mr. McCoy – you have a new fan here. I will follow your career closely and might even go back and watch some older Doctor Who episodes now.