Peter Sallis

Known for ActingBorn 1921-02-01Died 2017-06-02Twickenham, England, UK

Peter Sallis, OBE (February 1, 1921 – June 2, 2017) was an English actor and entertainer, well-known for his work on British television. Although he was born and brought up in London, his two most notable roles required him to adopt the accents and mannerisms of a Northerner. Peter John Sallis was born on 1 February 1921 in Twickenham, Middlesex (now in Greater London). He was the only child of bank manager Harry Sallis (1889–1964) and Dorothy Amea Frances (née Barnard; 1891–1975). His first big television role came in 1958 where he played the role of Samuel Pepys in the BBC serial The Diary of Samuel Pepys. Sallis was best known for his role as the main character Norman Clegg in the long-running British TV comedy Last of the Summer Wine, set in a Yorkshire town. He was the longest serving cast member, appearing in all 295 episodes, and by the end of the show's run was the only one surviving from the programme's first episode in 1973. He also appeared in all 13 of the episodes of the prequel series First of the Summer Wine as Norman Clegg's father. He was also famous for providing the voice of Wallace in the Wallace and Gromit films, again using a northern accent. Sallis also starred alongside Richard Pearson, Michael Horden and David Jason in Cosgrove Hall's The Wind in the Willows (1984-1990) as the voice of Rat/Ratty. In 1975 he appeared in the BBC Wales, TV play The Snowdropper as Spicer, a snowdropper that where's Overalls/Dungarees. In 1976 he played Mr. Gudgin/Arnold Gudgin in the children's series The Ghosts of Motley Hall (1976–78). The character Gudgin Sallis played in the series was a estate agent who did not want to see the hall fall into the wrong hands. Sallis also appeared in the TV series Yanks Go Home (1976-1977) where he played Randell Todd in four episodes of the series. Around the same period, he starred alongside Northern comic actor David Roper in the ITV sitcom Leave it to Charlie (1978-1980) as Charlie's pessimistic boss. The programme ran for a total of 26 episodes over four series, ending in 1980. He also played the part of the ghost-hunter Milton Guest in the children's paranormal drama TV series The Clifton House Mystery (1978). Sallis was married to Elaine Usher in 1957 until they eventually divorced in 1965. Sallis and Usher eventually reconciled and decided to come living together until 1999. Sallis continued to remain close to Usher until eventually she died on 1 January 2014 at the age of 81. They both had one son named Crispian Sallis who was born on 24 June 1959 who later became a British art director and set decorator. Sallis and Usher also had two grandchildren from Crispian. Sallis also lived with three small cats in a small cottage. Description above from the Wikipedia article Peter Sallis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.Read more

Movies & web series

The Making of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Movies & web series

The Making of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

The Secret Agent

Graceless Go I

Bel Ami

The Drummer and the Bloke

Wind Versus Polygamy

The Chem. Lab. Mystery

Songs of Praise

The Winter Warrior

Who Killed Lamb?

Sweeney Todd

Brand

She Loves Me

Wallace & Gromit's Cracking Contraptions

Hallmark Hall of Fame

Frankenstein: The True Story

The Moonstone

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe

How Wallace & Gromit Went to Hollywood

Raffles

Motormouth

Getting Sam Home

Public Eye

Eureka

Leave it to Charlie

The Wrong Trousers

Song at Twilight

The Moonstone

Kate

What We Were Watching

Festival

Heart to Heart

The Wind in the Willows

Rex the Runt

Wallace & Gromit: The Best of Aardman Animation

The Hallelujah Handshake

A Close Shave

Comedy Classic: Keeping Up Appearances

Doctor Who

Time Trumpet

The Clifton House Mystery

Hadleigh

A Matter of Loaf and Death

The Avengers

A Grand Day Out

The Persuaders!

Call My Bluff

Wallace & Gromit's Cracking Contraptions