Thanksgiving Service for Welshpool actor

 

The Service will be held at 2.30pm on April 7 at St Mary’s Church when a number of actors from stage and screen are expected to join his many local friends for a celebration of his life.

 

Probably best known for his starring role in the BBC's sci-fi drama A for Andromeda in the 1960s, Peter, pictured right in the 2001 Inspector Lynley Mysteries, enjoyed a 60-year career in theatre, film and TV during which he worked alongside many acting greats, including Richard Burton and Sir John Gielgud. His funeral was held in London.

 

Peter joined the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1947 after serving in World War II, and his big break came three years later when he joined the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, now known as the Royal Shakespeare Company.

 

It was run by Gielgud and Anthony Quayle, and included a myriad of eminent actors such as Burton, Sir Michael Redgrave and Sir Ralph Richardson. In 2007, an exhibition about his life called An Actor's Life opened at Powysland Museum in Welshpool.

 

Speaking to BBC News at the time, Peter said: "Richard (Burton) was extraordinarily talented and was great fun. He used to ask me to cover for him and would say: 'If anyone asks, I was out with you last night.'"

 

He also counted James Bond star Sir Sean Connery as a friend, and knew him before his first Bond movie, Dr No, made him a huge global star.

 

"We were very close for four or five years, but we haven't seen each other lately," Peter said in his BBC interview. But he is probably best-known for his role as Dr John Fleming in A for Andromeda which also starred Julie Christie (pictured right), with whom Peter shared an on-screen kiss. He was joined by Susan Hampshire for the follow up series, The Andromeda Breakthrough.

 

Peter went on to appear in Dr Who, The Saint, The Avengers, Goodnight Sweetheart and Dalziel and Pascoe on TV. He also featured in the Oscar-nominated movie Remains of the Day, which starred Sir Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson.

 

In 1956, he married the actress Simone Lovell with whom he had three sons. They later divorced, but remained good friends. As well as his three sons, he leaves five grandchildren.