O'Brien, John (20 April 2002). Crisp and executive producer Kevin Francis both in turn sought to portray them as two old-fashioned men in a rapidly changing world. [21] Also around the same time, he appeared in Magic Fire (also 1955), an autobiographical film about the German composer Richard Wagner. 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. [10] As with the Frankenstein film, critics largely disliked Dracula because of its violence and sexual content, deeming it inferior to the 1931 Universal version. Eventually, the character is driven to commit suicide, but returns from the grave to seek revenge against his tormentors. [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. Clive takes this to be an omen that he should live, and he goes on to perform great feats in his life. [83] The film was called Mania in its American release. He is survived by his daughters Antonia and Sashy, as well as his five grandchildren. Cushing often appeared alongside actor Christopher Lee, who became one of his closest friends, and occasionally with the American horror star Vincent Price. In the following we list the major anecdotes which blend into an interesting story. He was 81. It was so successful that he learned how to screen print and began designing scarves professionally. Though only in his early 50s at the time, Cushing regularly played decrepit characters. Peter Cushing was born on the 26th of May, 2013. Cushing wished for a strain of rose to be named after his wife, and it was arranged for the Helen Cushing Rose to be grown at the Wheatcroft Rose Garden in Edwalton, Nottinghamshire. [21] He returned for The Evil of Frankenstein (1963), where the Baron has a carnival hypnotist resurrect his monster's inactive brain,[54] and Frankenstein Created Woman (1967), in which the Frankenstein's monster is a woman played by Playboy magazine centrefold model Susan Denberg. [28] He suffered from nyctophobia from early in his life, but in his later years overcame this by forcing himself to take walks outside after midnight. His daughter Antonia told the Hollywood Reporter that he passed on due to natural causes. He scrutinised the costumes and screenwriter Peter Bryan's script, often altering words or phrases. "Charleston fanatics ready to celebrate 'Revenge'". [77] Cushing and director Peter Graham Scott did not get along well during filming and at one point, when the two were having a disagreement on set, Cushing turned to cameraman Len Harris and said, "Take no notice Len. Peter Cushing's highest grossing movies have received a lot of accolades over the years, earning millions upon millions around the world. Which means Cushing's career vampire kill count is - drum roll - fifteen - five of which were the same bloody vampire over and over. Since the film's primary antagonist Darth Vader wore a mask throughout the entire film and his face was never visible, Lucas felt a strong human villain character was necessary. In exchange, Hammer's James Carreras thanked Cushing by paying for extensive roofing repair work that had recently been done on Cushing's recently purchased Whitstable home. He and his older brother David were raised first in Dulwich Village, a south London suburb, and then later back in Surrey. Moorehead claimed she got the illness from a feature film she starred in, and she was not the only one. link]: Cushing starred as Parson Blyss, the local reverend of an 18th-century English coastal town believed to be hiding his smuggling activities with reports of ghosts. Fear in the Night. The cause was cancer, The Associated Press reported. The episodes aired in 1968. He later stated that this had simply been a hysterical response borne out of grief, and that he had not purposely attempted to end his life; a poem left by Helen had implored him not to die until he had lived his life to the full.[141]. 2014-12-17 19:28:59. Later that year he was set to appear in Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971), an adaptation of the Bram Stoker novel The Jewel of Seven Stars. He always had a glass of milk handy to remove the . [81], He appeared in the biographical epic film John Paul Jones (1959), in which Robert Stack played the title role of the American naval fighter in the American Revolutionary War. Hammer Studios' publicity department put out a story that when Cushing first encountered Lee without the make-up on, he screamed in terror. [29], Cushing recorded occasional radio spots and appeared in week-long stints as a featured player in London's Q Theatre, but otherwise work was difficult to come by. Peter Cushing was and is one of the most well-loved and well-known actors of his own generation and of those which have followed. [18] In the autumn of 1946, after the war ended, Cushing unsuccessfully auditioned for the part of Paul Verrall in a stage production of the play Born Yesterday that was being staged by famed actor and director Laurence Olivier. [111], Film director George Lucas approached Cushing with the hopes of casting the actor in his upcoming space fantasy film, Star Wars. Wiki User. [58] Cushing said one of the biggest challenges during filming was not missing whenever he struck a prop stake with a mallet and drove it into a vampire's heart. [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. Although the idea was ultimately abandoned before filming began, Cushing and Prowse rehearsed those scenes in a set built by computer animation artist Larry Cuba. At an early age, Cushing was attracted to acting, inspired by his . [44], During a brief quiet period following Cushing's television work, he read in trade publications about Hammer, a low-budget production company seeking to adapt Mary Shelley's horror novel Frankenstein into a new film. [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. Scully, Rob (11 August 1994). [151] In 2013, Cushing was honoured by the Royal Mail as one of ten people selected for their "Great Britons" commemorative postage stamp issue.[157]. Saint Peter settled in the town of Capharnaum around the year 26-28. "[35] Parliament even considered a motion immediately after the first screening to ban the play's live repeat. Wesley Snipes has taken out more in single scenes, no doubt. He continued to perform in occasional stage productions, such as Robert E. MacEnroe's The Silver Whistle at Westminster's Duchess Theatre in 1956. Never harmed a fly. The set provided technical difficulties, and all of Cushing's lines had to be post-synched. Peter Cushing seems like the perfect person to play the Doctor. He appeared in several horror films and was in Lawrence Olivier's Hamlet. [14] Cushing continued to appear in several Amicus Productions films during this period, including Tales from the Crypt (1972), From Beyond the Grave (1973),[103] And Now the Screaming Starts! Despite making the movie in the late Seventies his fiendish character lives on the character was even revived in CGI form for 2016's Rogue One. One of his designs was even worn by the queen mother. At the age of 82, Peter died at his Los Angeles, California home. The Hammer horror star, who lived in Whitstable for the final 25 years of his life, appeared in . 1959 - 1984. [10] Cushing met a Columbia Pictures employee named Larry Goodkind, who wrote him a letter of recommendation and directed him to acquaintances Goodkind knew at the company Edward Small Productions. In the skit, Cushing portrayed King Arthur, while the other two gave comedic portrayals of characters like Merlin and the knights of the Round Table. Hope was the name of a whaling ship sailing from Scotland's Peterhead to Greenland. Grant, Devin (19 May 2005). Peter Cushing in Dracula (1958) Peter Cushing is well known to modern audiences as Grand Moff Tarkin in the original Star Wars. 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. [10] He appeared in the Hammer film Captain Clegg (1962), known in the United States as Night Creatures. [113] As a result, Cushing was paid a larger daily salary than most of his fellow cast, earning 2,000 per day compared to weekly salaries of $1,000 for Mark Hamill, $850 for Carrie Fisher and $750 for Harrison Ford, who played protagonists Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia Organa and Han Solo, respectively. The horror films were produced by Hammer Films in Britain. After attending the London premiere, she was reportedly "taken aback" and "dazzled" with the effect of seeing Cushing on screen again. Both Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee had agreed to work together one last time. Peter Davison 1981 - 1984. more. In my macabre pictures, I have either been a monster-maker or a monster-destroyer, but never a monster. [134] The final notable roles of Cushing's career were in the comedy Top Secret! [34] Nevertheless, he continued to appear in several small roles in radio, theatre and film. [39] For that film, he travelled to Spain and filmed scenes on location in the castles of Manzanares el Real and El Escorial. Director: James Whale | Stars: Louis Hayward, Joan Bennett, Warren William, Joseph Schildkraut Votes: 1,771 2. There is a photo in Peter's biography showing a smiling Helen and O'Flinn, Paul (1983). [10] However, Cushing was very proud of his experiences with the Hammer films, and never resented becoming known as a horror actor. Peter Cushing was born in Kenley, Surrey, England, on May 26, 1913. It'll be a glorious death, so long as I can hear what you're saying. [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. [10] In an interview published in ABC Film Review in November 1964, Cushing stated, "People look at me as if I were some sort of monster, but I can't think why. [140] He also loved games and practical jokes,[15] and enjoyed drawing and painting watercolours, the latter of which he did especially often in his later years. Peter Cushing. When Peter Cushing was a child, his mother dressed him as a girl. "Master of horror tells his story.". [87][102] Cushing wrote the forewords to two books about the detective: Peter Haining's Sherlock Holmes Scrapbook (1974) and Holmes of the Movies: The Screen Career of Sherlock Holmes (1976), by David Stuart Davies. Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE (26 May 1913 - 11 August 1994) was an English actor best known for his roles in the Hammer Productions horror films of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s, and as Grand Moff Tarkin in the 1977 film Star Wars. [48] Screenwriter Jimmy Sangster wrote the protagonist as an ambitious, egotistical and coldly intellectual scientist who despised his contemporaries. Peter Wilton Cushing OBE (26 May 1913 - 11 August 1994) was an English actor. Over the next three years, he became one of the most active and favoured names in British television,[10][15][35] and was considered a pioneer in British television drama. [18], Cushing returned to England during the Second World War. (1973),[65] and The Beast Must Die (1974). [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. His wife passed away in the 1970s, he never remarried (there's a very sad interview with Christopher Lee about Peter Cushing where he mentions how after her death Cushing signed th. Originally, all of the character's lines were spoken aloud to himself, but Cushing suggested he speak to a framed photo of his deceased wife instead, and director Freddie Francis agreed. [21][53] The two men continued to work together in many films for Hammer, and their names became synonymous with the company. During that meeting, Cushing was given a walk-on part as a courier in that night's production of J.B. Priestley's Cornelius. [48] The Curse of Frankenstein also featured Christopher Lee, who played Frankenstein's monster. Shooting ran from September to November 1939,[23] and the film was released in 1940, drawing Cushing's first semblance of attention and critical praise. Matt Smith 2010 - 2013. In the films where Lee iconically played Dracula, Cushing plaid his foil and rival, the righteous vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing. [10][42][68], On 10 April 1943, Cushing married Violet Hlne Beck, sister of Reginald Beck. That person is so close to you that you are able to share some things only with him. Lucas felt a talented actor was needed to play the role and said Cushing was his first choice for the part. Perhaps better known as Endora, the witch from "Bewitched," Agnes Moorehead sadly passed from cancer in 1974. (1984), the fantasy film Sword of the Valiant (also 1984) and the adventure film Biggles: Adventures in Time (1986). [91] He tried to keep his performance identical to his portrayal of Holmes from The Hound of the Baskervilles. What movie did Peter Cushing play a vampire or has he ever played a vampire? [45], After his wife's death, Cushing visited several churches and spoke to religious ministers, but was dissatisfied by their reluctance to discuss death and the afterlife, and never joined an organized religion. [87] Cushing played the role in Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. [76] The next year, Cushing starred as an Ebenezer Scrooge-like manager of a bank being robbed in the Hammer thriller film Cash on Demand (1961). Peter Cushing was one of the handful of actors who defined the horror movie. A necessary requirement to having a family and children is of course, having a spouse. Cushing reprised the role of Baron Victor Frankenstein in five sequels. [148] He was rushed to the Kent and Canterbury Hospital when his left eye had swollen to nearly three times its normal size, a side effect of the cancer. 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