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. And then when that person is gone, there will be nothing like that in your life ever again. Barker, Dennis and Malcolm, Dennis (12 August 1994). Matt Smith 2010 - 2013. Adapted from a serial novella of the same name, it was a drama film about a nurse played by Carole Lombard working in a poorly-equipped country hospital. [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). When Peter Cushing was a child, his mother dressed him as a girl. You'd be hard pressed to find someone who doesn't have a crush on Brigitte Bardot. [48] The Curse of Frankenstein also featured Christopher Lee, who played Frankenstein's monster. He married actress Helen Beck in 1943. [21] Cushing had previously stated Knox was one of his role models in developing his portrayal of Baron Frankenstein. [78] Among his final Hammer roles was Fear in the Night (1972), where he played a one-armed school headmaster apparently terrorising the protagonist, played by Judy Geeson. [12], Cushing eventually applied for a scholarship at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. [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. [136], Cushing wrote two autobiographies, Peter Cushing: An Autobiography (1986) and Past Forgetting: Memoirs of the Hammer Years (1988). [2] His father, a quantity surveyor, was a reserved and uncommunicative man whom Peter said he never got to know very well. Biography - A Short Wiki. (1984), the fantasy film Sword of the Valiant (also 1984) and the adventure film Biggles: Adventures in Time (1986). "After the recording, I cleared the studio and left Peter and Christopher alone with the TV. As a Hammer Film actor, he portrayed Baron Frankenstein, Dr. Van Helsing, and Sherlock Holmes. At times, this put him at odds with writers and producers; Hammer Studios producer Anthony Hinds once declared him a "fusspot [and] terrible fusser about his wardrobe and everything, but never a difficult man. [87] Cushing played the role in Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. To his many fans, the British star was known as 'The Gentle Man of Horror' and is recognized for his work with Hammer Films which began in the late 1950's, but he had numerous memorable roles outside of Hammer. Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin exemplified how ruthlessly cold and callous the Empire's leadership really was. [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). [10] Cushing felt his first performance was much stronger than the second, but the second production is the only known surviving version. [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. Cushing had the look of those women with strange faces who tread the catwalks. [21] Cushing became very ill with dysentery during filming and lost a considerable amount of weight as a result. 2014-12-17 19:28:59. 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". Cushing and Lee did switch roles for one Hammer film . O'Brien, John (20 April 2002). [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. Parents who let children . 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. [10], Cushing continued to work in a few Hollywood engagements, including an uncredited role in the war film They Dare Not Love (1941), which reunited him with director James Whale. List of the best Peter Cushing movies, ranked best to worst with movie trailers when available. [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. (1972), a sequel to The Abominable Dr. Phibes, and then co-starred with Price again in the film Madhouse (1974). It is also difficult to visualise Cushing - at least for me - without also visualising Christopher Lee. He nevertheless maintained a belief in both God and an afterlife. Cushing played the lead role twice more in Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) and Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974). [21] One of Cushing's primary scenes involved Osric talking to Hamlet and Horatio while walking down a wide stone spiral stairway. The horror films were produced by Hammer Films in Britain.Peter Cushing, a British actor who chilled a generation of filmgoers as the evil Baron Frankenstein, died yesterday in a hospice in Canterbury, England. "[32], Hamlet won the Academy Award for Best Picture, and earned Cushing praise for his performance. In 1939, his father bought him a one-way ticket to Hollywood, where he moved with only 50 to his name. Mr. Beard's first marriage, to Minnie Cushing, the daughter of a distinguished Newport, R.I., family, ended in divorce, as did his second, to Ms. Tiegs, to whom he was married in the 1980s. Peter Cushing: A Life in Film Hardcover - April 16, 2013 by David Miller (Author) 24 ratings Hardcover $15.79 13 Used from $9.99 Peter Cushing was an unforgettable presence in cult cinema of the fifties, sixties and seventies, and remains one of Britain's best-loved film stars. [10], Cushing joined the cast in May 1976, and his scenes were filmed at Elstree Studios in Borehamwood. [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. [13] Cushing often learned and practised his lines in an attic at work, under the guise that he was putting ordnance survey maps into order. He also won best actor awards from the Guild of Television Producers in 1955,[39] and from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts in 1956. [70] Hammer decided to heighten the source novel's horror elements, which upset the estate of Conan Doyle, but Cushing himself voiced no objection to the creative licence because he felt the character of Holmes himself remained intact. [10] However, Cushing was very proud of his experiences with the Hammer films, and never resented becoming known as a horror actor. Given what we know of Vader any man who could control him was a man of great power and ability. He wanted to do Star Wars because he thought that children would love it. [10] Cushing accepted the role, and Hamlet (1948) marked his British film debut. Thus a grey pallor is added to his . Filmed on location in Munich, Cushing played Otto Wesendonck, the husband of poet Mathilde Wesendonck, who in the film is portrayed as having an affair with Wagner. [62] For the sequel, Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966), which marked Lee's return to the title role for the first time since 1958, Cushing granted permission for archival footage featuring him to be used in the opening scene, a reprisal of the climax from the first Dracula film. Peter Bogdanovich's passing was announced by one of his daughters, Antonia, on Thursday, January 6. Which means Cushing's career vampire kill count is - drum roll - fifteen - five of which were the same bloody vampire over and over. [41], Cushing appeared in the television film The Masks of Death (1984), marking both the last time he played detective Sherlock Holmes and the final performance for which he received top billing. Stevens cast Cushing in the second male lead role of Joe Shand, the husband of the Lombard character's sister. He portrayed heroes and villains with equal skill. Cushing appeared only briefly in A Chump at Oxford (1940) and his scenes took just one week to film, but he was proud to work with whom he called "two of the greatest comedians the cinema has ever produced. Peter and Helen Cushing with the neighborhood children Peter Vincent The Lovely Bones Peter Cushing English Gentleman Saint Peter Obe Memoirs That Way Candid More information . Peter Cushing was not a handsome man. He continued to perform in occasional stage productions, such as Robert E. MacEnroe's The Silver Whistle at Westminster's Duchess Theatre in 1956. The move proved to be a wise one, as Cushing was hired to complement the cast of a string of major theatre successes that were being adapted to live television. [13][18] While he was in Southampton he met an 18 year old fellow actor Doreen Lawrence and they were engaged to be married. 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. His next role was in Vigil in the Night (1940), which was a much larger part and played opposite Carole Lombard. Born in Kenley, Surrey, Cushing made his stage debut in 1935 and spent three years at a repertory theatre before moving to Hollywood to pursue a film career. [18] He found a modest success in a 1945 production of Sheridan's The Rivals at Westminster's Criterion Theatre, which earned him enough money to pay off some growing debts. A necessary requirement to having a family and children is of course, having a spouse. The former seaside home of film legend Peter Cushing has gone on the market for 1.4 million. He portrayed an English botanist searching the Himalayas for the legendary Yeti. [129][130][131] Joyce Broughton, Cushing's former secretary, had approved recreating Cushing in the film. [18], Cushing returned to England during the Second World War. [36] Other successful television ventures during this time included Epitaph for a Spy, The Noble Spaniard, Beau Brummell,[35] Portrait by Peko,[37] and Anastasia, the latter of which won Cushing the Daily Mail National Television Award for Best Actor of 195354. Hammer Studios' publicity department put out a story that when Cushing first encountered Lee without the make-up on, he screamed in terror. [28] In 1972, he was quoted in the Radio Times as having said, "Since Helen passed on I can't find anything; the heart, quite simply, has gone out of everything. Yes, it was small- but it was a valuable learning experience nonetheless. [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. Did Peter Cushing have any family? "Horrormeister Cushing belonged to gentlemanly school of actors". [11], Cushing wanted to enter the acting profession after school, but his father opposed the idea, despite the theatrical background of several of his family members. In my macabre pictures, I have either been a monster-maker or a monster-destroyer, but never a monster. Cushing later appeared in The Vampire Lovers (1970), an erotic Hammer horror film about a lesbian vampire, adapted in part from the Sheridan Le Fanu novella Carmilla. [39] Cushing was cast in the lead role of The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), marking the first of twenty-two films he made for Hammer. Torture Garden. Both he and his wife feared Cushing would become typecast into horror roles, but he continued to take them because they guaranteed regular work. Lee once again starred as Dracula. [69] Cushing drew generally mixed reviews: Film Daily called it a "tantalising performance" and Time Out's David Pirie called it "one of his very best performances",[74] while the Monthly Film Bulletin called him "tiresomely mannered and too lightweight" and BBC Television's Barry Norman said he "didn't quite capture the air of know-all arrogance that was the great detective's hallmark". 1959 - 1984. He was eventually noticed by a Broadway theatre talent scout,[25] and in 1941 he made his Broadway debut in the religious wartime drama The Seventh Trumpet. [114], Cushing got along well with the entire cast, especially his old co-star David Prowse who played Darth Vader and Carrie Fisher, who was appearing in her first major role as Princess Leia Organa. He repeated the role of the man who lost family in other horror films, including Asylum (1972), The Creeping Flesh (1973), and The Ghoul (1975). Cushing's estate owners were heavily involved with the creation which took place more than twenty years after Cushing died. Very few. [112] When Cushing smoked between shots, he wore a white glove so the make-up artists would not have to deal with nicotine stains on his fingers. 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. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. In May 1982, Cushing was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He achieved recognition in his home country for his leading performances in the Hammer Productions horror films from the 1950s to 1970s, while earning international prominence as Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars (1977). He got fair grades only through the help of his brother, a strong student who did his homework for him. Published in 1994, it was originally written specifically for the daughter of Cushing's long-time secretary and friend Joyce Broughton, to help her overcome reading problems resulting from her dyslexia. He appeared in the episode The Hidden Master (1940) as a young Clive of India, well before the soldier established the military and political supremacy of the East India Company. Cushing was just a fabulous actor. [33] A huge fan of Sherlock Holmes, Cushing was highly anxious to play the character,[69] and reread the novels in anticipation of the role. That person is so close to you that you are able to share so. [56][57], When Hammer sought to adapt Bram Stoker's classic vampire novel Dracula, they cast Cushing to play the vampire's adversary Doctor Van Helsing. It was so successful that he learned how to screen print and began designing scarves professionally. [15][26] In 1942, the Nol Coward play Private Lives was touring the military stations and hospitals in the British Isles, and the actor playing the lead role of Elyot Chase was called to service. At the age of 82, Peter died at his Los Angeles, California home. [8], He began his early education in Dulwich, South London, before attending the Shoreham Grammar School in Shoreham-by-Sea, on the Sussex coast between Brighton and Worthing. [106] After Cushing was cast in the role, several changes were made to the script at his suggestion. 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. ' publicity department put out a story that when Cushing first encountered Lee without the make-up on, he Baron... Frankenstein 's monster in Borehamwood the script at his suggestion - at least for me - without also Christopher... 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