Racing along the West Sands at St Andrews beach in footage later slowed down and accompanied by instantly recognisable classical music, actor Ben Cross became enshrined in cinema history.
Cross, who starred as Jewish athlete Harold Abrahams in 1981 classic Chariots of Fire, died this week at the age of 72.
Though his greatest acclaim came from the sports film, science fiction fans will remember him most fondly as Spock’s father in the 2009 movie.
The actor’s representatives said he died “suddenly” following a short illness.
His daughter Lauren wrote on Facebook that she was “utterly heartbroken” that her “darling father” had passed away after being”sick for a while and then experiencing a “rapid decline”.
He was born Harry Bernard Cross in London to a working-class Catholic family.
After graduating from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (Rada), he moved from the stage to screen and took a minor role in the 1977 war film A Bridge Too Far, which starred Sir Sean Connery and Sir Michael Caine.
There followed a role as Billy Flynn in the 1978 version of stage musical Chicago.
Following that, he landed the role of Abrahams in the Oscar-winning film based on the true story of two British men racing for Olympic gold in 1924.
BBC religion editor Martin Bashir said Cross’s portrayal of Abrahams had “captured the burden of being an outsider”.
He later appeared as Malagant in the 1995 film First Knight and Sarek in the 2009 Star Trek reboot.
Cross also played Adolf Hitler’s deputy Rudolf Hess in the 2006 BBC production Nuremberg: Nazis on Trial.
US television and film director Todd Holland posted a tribute online, saying he had met Cross early in his own career.
He said: “We shot a screen test at Pinewood Studios. I went to his home for dinner with his family.
“Ben Cross was a lovely man and talented actor. That movie never got made. But… what a classy guy.”
His representatives said he had just finishing shooting horror film The Devil’s Light and later this year will appear in a leading role in the romantic drama film Last Letter From Your Lover.
Cross, who died in Vienna, Austria, had two children, Lauren and Theo.
