Peter Bowles
Peter Bowles | |
---|---|
Born | London, England | 16 October 1936
Died | 17 March 2022 | (aged 85)
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1956–2021 |
Spouse |
Susan Bennett (m. 1961) |
Children | 3 |
Peter Bowles (16 October 1936 – 17 March 2022) was an English television and stage actor. He gained prominence for television dramas such as Callan: A Magnum for Schneider and I, Claudius. He is however, best remembered for his roles in sitcoms and television dramadies, including: Rumpole of the Bailey, Only When I Laugh, To the Manor Born, The Bounder, The Irish R.M., Lytton's Diary, Executive Stress and Perfect Scoundrels.
Early life and education
Bowles was born in London, England, the son of Herbert Reginald Bowles,[1] was a valet-companion and chauffeur to Drogo Montagu, son of the George Montagu, and later butler to Montagu’s widow, a daughter of Lord Beaverbrook. His mother, Sarah Jane (née Harrison), was from Scotland, and served as a nanny to the family of the Duke of Argyll, before working for Beaverbrook's family in England, which is how they met.[2][3] In October 1939 the family lived in Brackley, Northamptonshire, moving to Nottingham a few months later.[4] In Nottingham, they lived in the working-class area of Hyson Green. He attended Berridge Road Juniors and High Pavement Grammar School.[5]
Personal life and death
Bowles married Susan Bennett on 8 April 1961.[6] The couple lived in Barnes, south-west London[7] and had three children together, Guy, Adam and Sasha. He died on 17 March 2022, aged 85, from cancer.[8][9][10][11]
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1961 | Wings of Death | Williams | Short |
1962 | Live Now, Pay Later | Reginald Parker | |
1963 | The Informers | Peter the Pole | Uncredited |
1965 | Three Hats for Lisa | Pepper | |
Dead Man's Chest | Joe | Edgar Wallace Mysteries | |
1966 | Isadora Duncan, the Biggest Dancer in the World | Paris Singer | TV film |
Blow-Up | Ron | ||
1968 | The Charge of the Light Brigade | Paymaster Captain Duberly | |
1969 | The Assassination Bureau | Jealous lover of 'La Belle Amie' | Uncredited |
Laughter in the Dark | Paul | ||
The Stiffkey Scandals of 1932 | Roland Oliver, KC | TV film | |
Taste of Excitement | Guardi | ||
1970 | Eyewitness | Victor Grazzini | |
1972 | A Day in the Death of Joe Egg | Freddie | |
Shelley | Byron | TV film | |
Endless Night | Reuben | ||
1973 | The Offence | Cameron | |
The Legend of Hell House | Hanley | ||
Thinking Man As Hero | Frank Cordroy | TV film | |
1977 | For the Love of Benji | Ronald | |
The Disappearance | Jefferies | ||
Stigma | Peter | TV film | |
1988 | Beryl Markham: A Shadow on the Sun | Lord Jack Carberry | TV film |
1989 | Try This One for Size | Igor | |
1993 | Passport to Murder | Inspector Bullion | TV film |
1995 | The Steal | Lord Childwell | |
1998 | Little White Lies | Oliver | TV film |
1999 | Tumbled | Mr. Gilzean | Short |
2000 | One of the Hollywood Ten | Jack Warner | |
2001 | In Love and War | Melville | TV film |
2005 | Colour Me Kubrick | Cyril | |
2007 | Ballet Shoes | Sir Donald Houghton | TV film |
2008 | Freebird | The Chairman | |
The Bank Job | Miles Urquart | ||
2011 | Love's Kitchen | Max Templeton | |
2014 | Lilting | Alan | |
Peterman | Old Boy | ||
2015 | Meet Pursuit Delange: The Movie | Sir Edward Mead | |
2016 | Not Waving | Archie | Short |
2017 | We Are Tourists | William | |
2018 | Together | Philip | |
2021 | Off the Rails | Vicar |
Television
Year | Title | Role | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
1958 | Armchair Theatre | Simpson | Episode: "Underground" |
1959 | The Last Chronicle of Barset | Constable | Episode: "How Did He Get It?" |
1961 | Doctor Knock | First Countryman | Episode: "Act 2" |
Magnolia Street | Benny Edelman | Series regular | |
ITV Play of the Week | Lieutenant Myers | Episode: "Conflict in the Sun" | |
1962 | Armchair Theatre | Pete | Episode: "Thank You and Goodnight" |
1963 | It Happened Like This | Edwardes | Episode: "Superstitions" |
Crane | Nikkolai Drax | Episode: "Three Days to Die" | |
The Avengers | Neil Anstice | Episode: "Second Sight" | |
1964 | The Saint | Maurice Kerr | Episode: "Lida" |
Drama 61-67 | Captain Buckley | Episode: "The Crunch" | |
The Protectors | Dr. Fothergill | Episode: "The Bottle Shop" | |
The Great War | Winston Churchill | Episode: "So Sleep Easy in Your Beds" | |
ITV Play of the Week | Razumikhin | Episode: "Crime and Punishment" | |
Danger Man | Gamal | Episode: "Fish on the Hook" | |
Armchair Theatre | Morgan | Episode: "The Pretty English Girls" | |
Dermot Llewelyn | Episode: "A Certain Kind of Silence" | ||
No Hiding Place | Joe Bask | Episode: "Real Class" | |
1965 | Machin | Episode: "A Fistful of Trouble" | |
Public Eye | Freddy | Episode: "A Harsh World for Zealots" | |
Love Story | Jack Everett | Episode: "Never Sup at Home" | |
Crane | Vincent Morrow | Episode: "A Cargo of Cornflour" | |
Edgar Wallace Mysteries | Joe | Episode: "Dead Man's Chest" | |
Jury Room | Detective-Inspector | Episode: "The Side of Mercy" | |
Six of the Best | Tom Brown | Episode: "Me and My Big Mouth" | |
Famous Gossips | Garçon de café | Episode: "Oscar Wilde: Monsieur Sebastian Melmoth" | |
Out of the Unknown | Policeman | Episode: "Some Lapse of Time" | |
The Avengers | John Harvey | Episode: "Dial a Deadly Number" | |
1966 | Emergency Ward 10 | Philip Royston | Recurring role |
Sunday Night | Melville | Episode: "The Quarry: Portrait of a Man as a Paralysed Artist" | |
Redcap | Butros | Episode: "Buckingham Palace" | |
The Informer | Jack Hart | 2 episodes | |
The Baron | Jim Gaynor | Episode: "You Can't Win Them All" | |
Armchair Theatre | Sergeant Howlett | Episode: "Don't Utter a Note" | |
1967 | The Avengers | Thyssen | Episode: "Escape in Time" |
The Saint | Serge | Episode: "The Art Collectors" | |
Armchair Theatre | Toby Meres | Episode: "A Magnum for Schneider" (Pilot of "Callan" series) | |
Adam Adamant Lives! | D.K. Davies | Episode: "Another Little Drink" | |
The Troubleshooters | Abbas Ramzi | Episode: "My Daughter Knows Her Way Around" | |
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | Harvey Deacon | Episode: "Playing with Fire" | |
The Prisoner | 'A' | Episode: "A. B. and C." | |
1968 | Dr. Finlay's Casebook | Professor Baxter | Episode: "The Dynamizer" |
The Avengers | Ezdorf | Episode: "Get-A-Way!" | |
Champion House | Degnos | Episode: "The Golden Fleece" | |
Love Story | Brian | Episode: "The Egg on the Face of the Tiger" | |
Sherlock Holmes | Joseph Harrison | Episode: "The Naval Treaty" | |
1969 | Happy Ever After | Tony Bulstrode | Episode: "The Party Piece" |
Department S | Borowitsch | Episode: "Six Days" | |
W. Somerset Maugham | Robert Crosbie | Episode: "The Letter" | |
The Gold Robbers | Stockbroker | Mini-series | |
Softly, Softly | Conn | Episode: "One Thing Leads to Another" | |
Take Three Girls | Jeremy Mandl-Fry | 2 episodes | |
1970 | Ryan International | Alain | Episode: "The Dead Live Longer" |
The Main Chance | Roger Lamb | Episode: "The Best Legal System in the World" | |
Happy Ever After | Michael | Episode: "The Ambassador" | |
1971 | Hadleigh | Robert Charlton | Episode: "Breakdown" |
The Ten Commandments | Tommy Radd | Episode: "Black Eye on Sunday" | |
Brett | William Saxby | Series regular | |
The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes | Inspector Saunders | Episode: "The Woman in the Big Hat" | |
The Persuaders! | Mitchell | Episode: "Element of Risk" | |
ITV Sunday Night Theatre | Jack Campbell-Barnes | Episode: "Who Killed Santa Claus" | |
1972 | The Shadow of the Tower | Bernard de Vignolles | Episode: "A Fly in the Ointment" |
Alexander the Greatest | Paul Clutton-Browne | Episode: "Renata's Secret Affair" | |
Harriet's Back in Town | Jack | 2 episodes | |
The Protectors | Gregor Kofax | Episode: "Triple Cross" | |
1973 | The Adventures of Black Beauty | Mr. Duffield | Episode: "Wild Justice" |
Crown Court | Gerald Somerville | 3 episodes | |
Cheri | Patron | 2 episodes | |
Arthur of the Britons | Hecla | Episode: "Rowena" | |
Omnibus | Oscar | Episode: "The Runaway" | |
Murder Must Advertise | Major Todd Milligan | Mini-series | |
1974 | Napoleon and Love | Captain Murat | Mini-series |
Special Branch | Igor | Episode: "Downwind of Angels" | |
Good Girl | Colin Peale | Series regular | |
1975 | Public Eye | Croxley | Episode: "They All Sound Simple at First" |
Thriller | Superintendent Lucas | Episode: "The Double Kill" | |
Survivors | David Grant | Episode: "The Fourth Horseman" | |
Churchill's People | Thistlewood | Episode: "Death of Liberty" | |
Comedy Playhouse | Patrick | Episode: "Only on Sundays" | |
Space: 1999 | Balor | Episode: "End of Eternity" | |
1976 | The Crezz | Ken Green | Series regular |
I, Claudius | Caractacus | Mini-series | |
1977 | A Roof Over My Head | Jack Askew | Episode: "A Roof Over My Head" |
Rising Damp | Hilary | Episode: "Stage Struck" | |
1978 | BBC Play of the Month | Inspector Hounslow | Episode: "Flint" |
Pennies from Heaven | Prosecuting Counsel | Episode: "Says My Heart" | |
The Sunday Drama | Prince Borodski | Episode: "The Marrying Kind" | |
Bless Me, Father | Fred Bowlby | Episode: "The Doomsday Chair" | |
1978–1992 | Rumpole of the Bailey | Guthrie Featherstone | Series regular |
1979 | Tales of the Unexpected | Major Haddock | Episode: "Neck" |
Turtle's Progress | Superintendent Percy Weston | 1 episode | |
1979–1982 | Only When I Laugh | Archie Glover | Series regular |
1979–2007 | To the Manor Born | Richard DeVere | Series regular |
1980 | Nanny Knows Best | Billy Benson | |
1981 | Vice Versa | Paul Bultitude | Series regular |
1982–1983 | The Bounder | Howard Booth | Series regular |
1983 | Storyboard | Neville Lytton | Episode: "Lytton's Diary" |
1983–1985 | The Irish R.M. | Major Sinclair Yeates | Series regular |
1985–1986 | Lytton's Diary | Neville Lytton | Series regular |
1987–1988 | Executive Stress | Donald Fairchild | Series regular |
1990–1992 | Perfect Scoundrels | Guy Buchanan | Series regular |
1992 | Screen One | George Grant | Episode: "Running Late" |
2000 | Randall & Hopkirk (Deceased) | Captain Graves | Episode: "The Best Years of Your Death |
2003 | Holby City | Bernie Farraday | Episode: "Love Nor Money" |
2005 | Jericho | Fleming | Mini-series |
2008 | Agatha Christie's Poirot | Sir Roderick Horsfield | Episode: "Third Girl" |
2010 | Masterpiece Mystery | Episode: "Hercule Poirot, Series X: Third Girl" | |
2011 | The Sarah Jane Adventures | Lionel Carson | Episode: "The Man Who Never Was" |
2015 | Citizen Khan | Lord Anstruther | Episode: "Farley Manor" |
2016 | The Life of Rock with Brian Pern | Brian Pern's Father | Episode: "The Thotch Reunion" |
Murder | Greville Cotterall | Mini-series | |
2016–2019 | Victoria | Duke of Wellington | Series regular |
Awards and honours
- RADA Scholarship (1954)[12]
- Madge Kendal Prize (1955)
- Male Comedy Star Award (1983)
- ITV Personality of the Year (1984)[11]
- The Golden Gate Award (San Francisco International Film Festival, 1993)[13]
- Hon. Doctor of Literature, for contributions to the theatre, television drama and entertainment. (Nottingham Trent University, 2002)[11]
Books
- Autobiography: Ask Me if I'm Happy[14] (Simon & Schuster, 2010)
- Behind the Curtain: The Job of Acting[15] (Oberon Masters Series, 2012)
References
- ^ Peter Bowles (6 May 2010). "Chapter 1; The Beginning". Ask Me if I'm Happy: An Actor's Life. ISBN 9781847377685.
- ^ Grove, Valerie. "Peter Bowles leaves behind the Manor for the Browning Version & Swan Song".
- ^ "SMOOTHLY TO THE MANNER MOULDED". HeraldScotland.
- ^ 1939 England and Wales Register
- ^ "Peter Bowles - Honorary graduates - Your Alumni Association - Alumni - Nottingham Trent University".
- ^ England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005 Volume Number: 5d Page Number: 701
- ^ "Cover story: Barnes Bounder changes his manor" – via www.thetimes.co.uk.
- ^ "Peter Bowles: To The Manor Born actor dies aged 85". BBC News. 17 March 2022. Retrieved 17 March 2022.
- ^ "To the Manor Born star Peter Bowles dies, aged 85". The Independent. 17 March 2022.
- ^ Obituaries, Telegraph (17 March 2022). "Peter Bowles, raffish actor who found fame alongside Penelope Keith in to the Manor Born – obituary". The Telegraph.
- ^ a b c "Peter Bowles obituary". the Guardian. 17 March 2022.
- ^ "To The Manor Born star Peter Bowles dies aged 85". The Independent. 17 March 2022.
- ^ "The life and career of actor Peter Bowles, who has died aged 85". www.nationalworld.com.
- ^ [1] Date accessed: July 2014
- ^ [2] Date accessed: July 2014
External links
- Peter Bowles at IMDb
- Peter Bowles biography at the BFI's Screenonline
- Selected roles in Bristol University Theatre Archive
- Peter Bowles discography at Discogs
- Pages with script errors
- 1936 births
- 2022 deaths
- Alumni of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art
- English male stage actors
- English male television actors
- People educated at Nottingham High Pavement Grammar School
- English people of Scottish descent
- Male actors from London
- 20th-century English male actors
- 21st-century English male actors