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Vale: Peter Vaughan

Veteran British actor, best known for Porridge and Game of Thrones, has died.

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2016-12-07_0122

Veteran British actor Peter Vaughan, best known for Porridge and Game of Thrones, has died aged 93.

“He died peacefully with his family around him,” his agent confirmed.

Vaughan appeared in just three episodes of 1970s comedy Porridge. But he is still remembered for his menacing performance as the prison kingpin running operations from his luxuriously appointed cell complete with a budgerigar.

More recently he won over a new generation of global admirers in Game of Thrones, playing the elderly blind character Maester Aemon.

Other TV credits included Citizen Smith, Our Friends in North and Chancer.

Film credits included Terry Gilliam’s Brazil, Straw Dogs and Kazuo Ishiguro’s The Remains of the Day.

Throughout his 75 year career the actor worked alongside Sir Anthony Hopkins, Frank Sinatra and Ronnie Barker.

Source: Guardian

4 Responses

  1. I remember as a kid sitting down with the family to watch the first episode of Porridge. We had been used to British comedies such as Man About the House, On the Buses and No Honestly and we were expecting more of the same. It was a major disappointment and we turned it off after a few minutes. It reminded me of another British “dramedy” or black comedy at the time called Thick As Thieves, trying to blend comedy and drama but not quite pulling it off. The Americans started that with All In the Family and it resulted in quite a few bum series in the 1970s which could have been much more successful and more fondly remembered rather than being failed asterisks in the annals of TV history.

    1. Its a pity you didn’t persevere. The first “Porridge” episode was not hilariously funny per se, but it set the scene and established the characters. “Porridge” became one of the most successful comedy series for the BBC of all time. I suggest you forget your childhood pre-conceptions and beg, borrow or steal a DVD of the three series. The episode where the lads ‘set up’ Mr. Barrowclough to get rid of “Napper” Wainwright (right bastard) is one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen on TV.

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