Early life and education
Higgins was born in Nouméa, in the French overseas territory of New Caledonia, to an Australian mother, Joy (Kelly), and American father, John Edward Higgins, one of six sons. His brother is Australian actor John Higgins.
Higgins' father enlisted in the army following the attack on Pearl Harbor, and his mother returned to her home in Sydney with Colin and his elder brother. Apart from a brief stint in San Francisco in 1945, Higgins lived in Sydney until 1957, mostly in the suburb of Hunters Hill, attending school at Saint Ignatius' College, Riverview.
After moving to Redwood City, California, Higgins attended Stanford University for a year, but then lost his scholarship because he became "obsessed" with theatre. He moved to New York and hung around the Actors Studio, but could not find work, so he became a page at the ABC television studios. He lost hope about becoming an actor, enlisted in the U.S. Army, and was sent to Germany, where he worked for Stars and Stripes newspaper.
Higgins was discharged in 1965, spent six months in Europe, mostly in Paris, then returned to Stanford University to study for a Bachelor of Arts in Creative Writing. Higgins later said, "after I had traveled and worked for a while I was anxious to study for the sake of studying. I took courses for what they were, not so that I could sleep in."
While at college Higgins supported himself as an actor, playing in small theatre productions, including acting in a sex farce called Once Over Nightly for a year and a half. He wrote a play, Once Around the Quad, which was performed at Stanford after he left.
