One day Peter went missing, having wandered off in his frock to paddle in some puddles. [10] However, Cushing was very proud of his experiences with the Hammer films, and never resented becoming known as a horror actor. Did Peter Cushing have any family? Cushing's biographer Tony Earnshaw said Cushing's performance in The Masks of Death was arguably the actor's best interpretation of the role, calling it "the culmination of a life-time as a Holmes fan, and more than a quarter of a century of preparation to play the most complex of characters". [87] Cushing played the role in Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. A great fan of Sherlock Holmes mysteries, Cushing played Holmes in several productions, including a British TV series of the 1960s.Peter Wilton Cushing was born in Kenley, Surrey, England, on May 26, 1913, the younger of two sons of a surveyor and a carpet merchant's daughter. He said his only regret about working on it was that he wasn't able to be in ESB or RotJ. "How Jim fixed it for horror actor Cushing" (8 May 2004). He was forced to withdraw from the film to care for his wife, and was ultimately replaced by Andrew Keir. He married actress Helen Beck in 1943. [92] Cushing himself was not a particular fan of horror or science fiction films, but he tended to choose roles not based on whether he enjoyed them, but whether he felt his audience would enjoy him in them. After attending the London premiere, she was reportedly "taken aback" and "dazzled" with the effect of seeing Cushing on screen again. 4 Grand Moff Tarkin. Before filming began, however, Cushing said he had reservations about the screenplay written by Jimmy Sangster and Peter Bryan. Though they worked together often, they were not necessarily friends. In the following we list the major anecdotes which blend into an interesting story. Peter Cushing FameChain Links. Tender Dracula. Both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee had agreed to work together one last time. In 1959, he began his career in the movie The Hound of the Baskervilles by Terence Fisher with Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville. In the 1970s, he garnered fame for his role in a slew of horror films, including his performance as Van . He had long blonde hair, tied with a bow, and enviable selection of dresses. "[77], Cushing and Lee appeared together in the horror film The Gorgon (1964), about the female snake-haired Gorgon character from Greek mythology and in She (1965), about a lost realm ruled by the immortal queen Ayesha, played by Ursula Andress. Fisher agreed, and the scene was used in the film. [10] Cushing saw a promotional poster for The Mummy that showed Lee's character with a large hole in his chest, allowing a beam of light to pass through his body. [138] His final acting job was narrating, along with Christopher Lee, the Hammer Films documentary Flesh and Blood: The Hammer Heritage of Horror (1994), which was recorded only a few weeks before his death. Actors Who Have Played Sherlock Holmes. [10] Cinematic roles proved somewhat difficult to find, however, as film producers were often resentful of television stars for drawing audiences away from the cinema. A cinema idol for multiple generations of people, her inherent French mystique brought her from Paris and cast her into stardom at a young age. [10][42][68], On 10 April 1943, Cushing married Violet Hlne Beck, sister of Reginald Beck. . [41] Despite this continued success in live television, Cushing found the medium too stressful and wished to return to film. [150] In August 1994, Cushing entered himself into Pilgrims Hospice in Canterbury, where he died on 11 August at 81 years old. Although Cushing's protagonist was derived from television scripts used for First Doctor serials, his portrayal of the character differed in the fact that Cushing's Dr. Who was a human being, whereas the original Doctor as portrayed on TV by William Hartnell was extraterrestrial. "After the recording, I cleared the studio and left Peter and Christopher alone with the TV. [90][93], Cushing appeared in a handful of horror films by the independent Amicus Productions, including Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965), as a man who could see into the future using Tarot cards;[94] The Skull (1965), as a professor who became possessed by a spiritual force embodied within a skull;[95] and Torture Garden (1967), as a collector of Edgar Allan Poe relics who is robbed and murdered by a rival. [10] The next year he was set to star in a sequel, Lust for a Vampire (1971), but had to drop out because his wife was ill and Ralph Bates substituted. [107] His performance in Tales from the Crypt won him the Best Male Actor award at the 1971 French Convention of Fantasy Cinema in France. [2] His father, a quantity surveyor, was a reserved and uncommunicative man whom Peter said he never got to know very well. [133] Cushing appeared alongside his old co-stars Christopher Lee and Vincent Price in House of the Long Shadows (1983), a horror-parody film featuring Desi Arnaz, Jr. as an author trying to write a gothic novel in a deserted Welsh mansion. At an early age, Cushing was attracted to acting, inspired by his . Cushing later said his unscreened scenes alongside Hayward were terrible performances, but that his experience on the film provided an excellent opportunity to learn and observe how filming on a studio set worked. [10] He appeared in the Hammer film Captain Clegg (1962), known in the United States as Night Creatures. [120] The close-up shots of Cushing aboard the Death Star, shown right before the battlestation is destroyed, were actually extra footage taken from previously-shot scenes with Cushing that did not make the final film. [10] D.J. [39] For that film, he travelled to Spain and filmed scenes on location in the castles of Manzanares el Real and El Escorial. [79], Although best known for his Hammer performances from the 1950s to the 1970s, Cushing worked in a variety of other roles during this time, and actively sought roles outside the horror genre to diversify his work. Clothes did not flatter his frame but they were flattered by him. Their marriage seemed an idea one, each completely devoted to the other and despite never having children, they seemed a very happy couple. The latter was often fatal during that period, although he survived. Peter Cushing was born in Surrey. [45] Produced by American writer and director Ted Newsom, his contribution was recorded in Canterbury, near his home. Cushing said he would have preferred to play Kenobi rather than Tarkin, but could not have done so because he was to be filming other movie roles when Star Wars was shooting, and Tarkin's scenes took less time to film than those of the larger Kenobi role. Cushing struggled to find work during this period, with some plays he was cast in failing to even make it past rehearsals into theatres. MacDonald, Andrew and MacDonald, Gina (2003). Twins of Evil. The film gave Cushing the highest amount of visibility of his entire career, and helped inspire younger audiences to watch his older films. [68] However, Cushing was able to star in Twins of Evil (also 1971), a prequel of sorts to The Vampire Lovers, as Gustav Weil, the leader of a group of religious puritans trying to stamp out witchcraft and satanism. [96] Cushing also appeared in non-Amicus horror films like Island of Terror (1966) and The Blood Beast Terror (1968), in both of which he investigates a series of mysterious deaths. [75] The Hound of the Baskervilles was originally conceived as the first in a series of Sherlock Holmes films, but eventually no sequels were made. [86] Cushing also starred in several horror films released in 1975. Director: James Whale | Stars: Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett, Warren William, Joseph Schildkraut Votes: 1,771 2. "[7] A fan of comics and toy collectibles in his youth, Cushing earned money by staging puppet shows for family members with his glove-puppets and toys. The order of these top Peter Cushing movies is decided by how many votes they receive, so only highly rated Peter Cushing movies will be at the top of the list. [114] Cushing consciously attempted to define their characters as opposite representations of good and evil, and the actor purposely stood in the shadows so the light shone on Fisher's face. Peter Wilton Cushing OBE (26 May 1913 11 August 1994) was an English actor. "[32], Hamlet won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and earned Cushing praise for his performance. [80] Around the same time, he appeared in the film Alexander the Great (1956) as the Athenian General Memnon of Rhodes. As a Hammer Film actor, he portrayed Baron Frankenstein, Dr. Van Helsing, and . [35] His largest television success from this period was the leading role of Winston Smith in Nineteen Eighty-Four, (1954) an adaptation by Nigel Kneale of George Orwell's novel of the same name about a totalitarian regime. [30] The war years continued to prove difficult for him, however, and at one point he was forced to work designing ladies head-scarves at a Macclesfield-based silk manufacturer to make ends meet. [55] In Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell, Cushing portrayed Frankenstein as having gone completely mad, in a fitting coda to the earlier films. [21] Cushing performed many of his own stunts in Dracula A.D. 1972, which included tumbling off a haywagon during a fight with Dracula. Nevertheless, he worked hard to master the lines so they sounded natural and that his character appeared intelligent and confident. [121], When Star Wars was first released in 1977, most preliminary advertisements touted Cushing's Tarkin as the primary antagonist of the film, not Vader;[122] Cushing was extremely pleased with the final film, and he claimed his only disappointment was that Tarkin was killed and could not appear in the subsequent sequels. That person is so close to you that you are able to share so. Study now. Cushing played the lead role twice more in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974). [27] During this tour he met Violet Hlne "Helen" Beck, a former dancer who was starring in the lead female role of Amanda Prynne. [153], Several filmmakers and actors have claimed to be influenced by Peter Cushing, including actor Doug Bradley, who played Pinhead in the Hellraiser horror films,[154] and John Carpenter, who directed such films as Halloween (1978), Escape from New York (1981) and The Thing (1982). [42][66] He appeared in the horror film The Abominable Snowman (1957), a Hammer adaptation of a BBC Nigel Kneale television play The Creature (1955) which Cushing had also starred in. 1. [84] In 1965, Cushing appeared in the Ben Travers farce play Thark at Westminster's Garrick Theatre. Ryan and Slater agreed, and Cushing later said performing the part was his most pleasant experience since his wife had died four years earlier. [104], For Tales from the Crypt, an anthology film made up of several horror segments, Cushing was offered the part of a ruthless businessman but did not like the part and turned down the role. 3 Dracula And Dr. Van Helsing. "[35] Parliament even considered a motion immediately after the first screening to ban the play's live repeat. Did Saint Peter have a family and children? Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 (license statement/permission). [137] Cushing also wrote a children's book called The Bois Saga, a story based on the history of England. [4] He always took the roles seriously and never portrayed them in a campy or tongue-in-cheek style because he felt it would be insulting to his audience. Like Guinness, Cushing had difficulty with some of the technical jargon in his dialogue, and claimed he did not understand all of the words he was speaking. [106] Make-up artist Roy Ashton designed the costume and make-up Cushing wore when he rose from the dead,[106] but the actor helped Ashton develop the costume, and donned a pair of false teeth that he previously used in a disguise during the Sherlock Holmes television series. [129][130][131] Joyce Broughton, Cushing's former secretary, had approved recreating Cushing in the film. He portrayed an English botanist searching the Himalayas for the legendary Yeti. [68], Immediately upon completion of The Hound of the Baskervilles, Cushing was offered the lead role in the Hammer film The Man Who Could Cheat Death (1959), a remake of The Man in Half Moon Street (1945). "Horrormeister Cushing belonged to gentlemanly school of actors". [21][53] The two men continued to work together in many films for Hammer, and their names became synonymous with the company. [147] In a silent tribute to Helen, a shot of Van Helsing's desk includes a photograph of her. Peter Sellers died young, and in the decades since his passing, debate about his character and behavior has rarely ceased, with a great number of well-researched biographies and a big-budget movie, The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, trying to get a grip on the reverse side of this most gifted creator of characters, to show something of the real Peter Wilton Cushing, actor: born Kenley, Surrey 26 May 1913; OBE 1989; married 1943 Helen Beck (died 1971); died Canterbury 11 August 1994. [44] In 1959, Cushing originally planned to appear in the lead role of William Fairchild's play The Sound of Murder, while shooting a film at the same time. Fans of classic films may remember the sappy 1956 movie "The Conqueror." It was a movie centered on the love affair between a . [10] The scene in which Tarkin and Organa appear together on the Death Star, just before the destruction of the planet Alderaan, was the first scene with major dialogue that Fisher filmed for Star Wars. Peter Cushing's wife died in the early 1970's, they never had children so when he died of cancer in 1994 he left his estate to his secretary Joyce Broughton. [10] Director John Carpenter approached him to appear in the horror film Halloween (1978) as Samuel Loomis, the psychiatrist of murderer Michael Myers, but Cushing turned down the role. Neither Carlson nor Cushing wanted to do the scene, filmed despite director Terence Fisher's objections, and the controversial sequence was edited out of the film for its American release. [21] In that film, Cushing's Van Helsing travels to the Chinese city Chungking, where Count Dracula is heading a vampire cult. They Dare Not Love. The set provided technical difficulties, and all of Cushing's lines had to be post-synched. [15] After Hamlet, both Peter and Helen Cushing accepted a personal invitation from Olivier to join Old Vic, Olivier's repertory theatre company, which embarked on a year-long tour of Australasia. Peter Cushing (and, until her untimely death in 1971, his wife Helen), lived in this one: As you can see, it is adorned by a blue plaque, and it is notably the only one in that row to have large bushes growing in its front garden. Cushing appeared in several other Hammer films, including The Abominable Snowman (1957), The Mummy and The Hound of the Baskervilles (both 1959), the last of which marked the first of the several occasions he portrayed the detective Sherlock Holmes. [111], Film director George Lucas approached Cushing with the hopes of casting the actor in his upcoming space fantasy film, Star Wars. [115][116][117][118][119] During rehearsals, Lucas originally planned for Tarkin and Vader to use a giant screen filled with computerised architectural representations of hallways to monitor the whereabouts of Skywalker, Solo and Organa. What movie did Peter Cushing play a vampire or has he ever played a vampire? [42], Nevertheless, he continued to work in some film roles during this period, including the adventure film The Black Knight (1954) opposite Alan Ladd. Peter Cushing said in an interview that he picked parts based on what he thought audiences would like to see him in. 1959 - 1984. He appeared in Corruption (1968), a film that was billed as so horrific that "no woman will be admitted alone" into theatres to see it. Perhaps the friendship between these two men - and its loss - speaks to us so keenly because it speaks . They first met on the set of the film, where Lee was still wearing the monster make-up prepared by Phil Leakey. "[31] Nearing middle age and finding it increasingly harder to make a living in acting, Cushing began to consider himself a failure. Oliver, Myrna (12 August 1994). Cushing next appeared for Hammer when he played the Sheriff of Nottingham in the adventure film Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960), which starred Richard Greene as the outlaw Robin Hood. "Who wants to see me as Hamlet? "The star who never grew up". It received poor reviews, however, and ran for only eleven days. Did Peter have any children. Answer (1 of 2): His former secretary and the executor/manager of his estate was apparently pleased with the result. The actor has to smoke a pipe, but he did not like it. [67] Cushing and Lee appeared together in the Hammer horror The Mummy (1959), with Cushing as the archaeologist John Banning and Lee as the antagonist Kharis. Eventually, the character is driven to commit suicide, but returns from the grave to seek revenge against his tormentors. Presumably living in a famous actor's former house is a mixed blessing for its current occupants. [5] During one Christmas in his youth, Cushing saw a stage production of Peter Pan, which served as an early source of inspiration and interest in acting. Doctors determined he had twelve to eighteen months to live, and that his left eye might be lost. 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