It’s a fan’s ultimate dream to finally get the opportunity to meet his or her hero, whether it’s by chance in on the street, or in a swish restaurant or bar. These are some of the stories from Peter’s devotees who had been fortunate enough to shake the hand of a legend.
Erica Pershky – a Technical Assistant at a London branch of the National Westminster Bank, has been a fan of Peter’s from the very first time she set eyes on him in the role of Jason King in Department S. Having seen her idol on stage no fewer than six times in ‘The King and I’, ‘Anastasia’, ‘Present Laughter’ and ‘Dracula’, Erica considers herself “very lucky indeed!”
“The first time I ever saw Peter was at the stage door after seeing him in ‘Anastasia’ in Bath. He called me “darling” and “lovely”, and I remember it took him three attempts to give me his autograph as he kept spelling my name wrong! I still treasure that sheet taken from the back of my theatre programme. I remember exactly what he wore. Two other female fans, who I’d never met before, were so carried away by the occasion (Peter spent some time chatting to us), that we followed him in their car for some way out of the city but, unfortunately, we were forced to give up the chase after a while as he was on his way to a party.”
But that wasn’t Erica’s only encounter with Peter, as she elaborates: “The second time I met him was a week or so later in Richmond, Surrey – again, after a performance of ‘Anastasia’. I was in my usual seat; second row, aisle. Whilst taking a curtain-call, I noticed him turn to his co-star, Nyree Dawn Porter, nodding and winking at me; he whispered to her that I was there, as usual. Nyree told me about this later when we chatted.
Above Right: Peter with a fan at a party in Oslo, 1970
“However, this time when he took his curtain-call, Peter appeared most displeased as he spotted two women leaving the theatre. They must’ve had a train to catch or something like that, even though it was pretty rude of them before the final curtain. I could read Peter’s lips, and he wasn’t happy, I can tell you!”
But that wasn’t the end of Erica’s adventures in Richmond, as she was fortunate enough to talk her way into Peter’s dressing room: “I found him sipping Champagne with two dressers, and I jokingly admonished him over his mouthed comments to the two women in the theatre earlier that night. I then gave him a sketch I’d done of him, which he said looked more like his father!
“After chatting for a while, I cheekily said ‘Give us a kiss then, I’ve got to go now!’ I then toured halfway across London as I’d missed my last train; I think I must’ve floated home!”
Apart from the fond memories that she still holds after all these years, Erica says that her most treasured possessions are three postcards which Peter sent to her in reply to her letters: “Oh, and the kiss that he gave me way back in 1976; I haven’t washed my lips since!” Erica says that her favourite of all Peter’s roles are those she saw him in on stage – particularly in his portrayal of the King of Siam in ‘The King and I’. And her favourite screen-role? “Who else, but Jason King – especially in ‘A Page Before Dying’. That leather outfit. Yum! Yum!”
One of her saddest moments as a fan came recently when she realised what she’d lost after throwing out all the posters and photographs of Peter which had covered her bedroom wall as a teenager. Never mind, Erica. At least you still have some wonderful memories.
Peter signed this for me at the NEC in 2013 (I think?). “You really want me to sign THIS?” he said.
“Yes, please, Peter”.
“Well it’s not me at all you know. It’s a dummy.”
“It’s a photograph of you from the National Portrait Gallery.”
“No it’s a waxwork. Madame Tussauds. I’ve always disliked it. Vanity, I suppose” he rattled on.
He begrudgingly signed it with his odd swan motif. After thanking him and wishing him well I walked away and soon became aware of a mesmeric stage-whisper calling to me across the crowded room – “Ian! Oh EEEEaaannnn”. I turned to see Peter beckoning me back to his table. “Look, Ian. You were right.” His next customer had presented him with a copy of the 1970 PW CD. “This is the dummy I was telling you about.” Very funny.
The queue to meet him was longer than anyone else that day. In fact two disgruntled ageing Bond girls were so sick of being overshadowed and bypassed by Peter’s fans that they packed up and cleared off. Peter was wonderfully charming to me. It is an encounter I shall always remember.
He was irked about a new book written about him “King Of TV”, I think it was called. “Who is this man who has written this?”
I said, “Oh it’s by that fellow who writes all the books about The Prisoner”.
“He didn’t ask my permission!”
I said, “Well, I think it was written more as an homage than a best seller”.
“Have you read it?” asked Peter.
“No”, I said.
“Is it any good?” he went on.
Very funny. Reading about Peter’s signing trips to the NEC in ‘Peter Wyngarde: A Life Amongst Strangers’, made me remember this. I met Fenella Fielding that day too, she was lovely, a very sweet lady. Happy days.
Ian Kelland, Worcester
In 1976, my mum once ran into Peter in the cafeteria at the Guild Hall, Preston, where he’d been appearing in ‘Anastasia’. Mum worked on the theatre staff as a cleaner. She said that Peter was extremely polite to her, and after signing his autograph, bought mum a cup of coffee.
Cathy Leigh, Leyland, Lancashire.
I remember meeting Peter outside the Royal Court Theatre in Liverpool after he’d appeared in ‘The Merchant of Venice’ there. I shook his hand through his car window. The programme he signed for me is one of my most treasured possessions.
Brian Pearson, Huyton, Liverpool.
I recall Peter pulling up beside me at a set of traffic lights in Liverpool city centre. He wound down the window and called out to me: “How do you get out of this place?”
James McAteer, Liverpool.
I was a contestant in the 1972 ‘Centre Girl of the Year’ competition, on which Peter was one of the judges. I can’t remember where I was placed in the competition because I was so excited about meeting Peter Wyngarde! However, I do recall getting a kiss from him after the event!
Helena Melson, Bexhill-On-Sea, East Sussex.
I was fortunate enough to meet Peter in 1989 at a fund-raising event which had been organised by a local children’s nursery. Peter had been asked to open the fete, and was happy to oblige. He stayed for most of the day, and was absolutely wonderful with all the mums and kids, who adored him. He really is a lovely guy.
Carol Smith, Crawley, Sussex.
My only encounter with Peter was seeing him driving his Bentley off a cross channel ferry at Dover after a trip to France in 1970. I was only about 10-years-old at the time, but I’ve never forgotten that day and I never will.
Brian Jenkins, Dover, Kent.
As a British Telecom engineer, I was working in Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, one Wednesday afternoon in 1992, when a beautiful Triumph Frogeye pulled up next to me. When the driver rolled down the window to ask for directions onto the A411, I realised it was Peter Wyngarde! Since I was a stranger to that part of the country, I was unable to oblige, but I’ve dined out on that story ever since.
Pete Thurston, Southhall, London.
In September of 1971, my brother Andrew and I were excited to meet Peter while we were out shopping with our mum in South Kensington, London.
At the time, Peter was filming an episode of Jason King called ‘An Author In Search Of Two Characters’ at Kingston House in Kensington Road.
Left: Hilary and her brother Andrew, with Peter
I was only seven-years-old at the time and Andrew was just six, but we’d seen Peter on television many times in Department S, and since it was too good an opportunity to miss, we decided to go over and say “hello” to him.
Although we were both very nervous, Peter was really kind to us and gave us his autograph. We also ended up having our photo taken and put in the Kensington Post newspaper.
Our memory of that day will stay with us forever.
Hilary Stewart, London.
I was lucky to see Peter at the Theatre Royal in Bath, in ‘Present Laughter’ and ‘Anastasia’. The latter one was an evening performance and I went back stage to see him leave, well he spoke to me. ME!!!
I remember walking back to the car, but the only thing was I couldn’t remember where I had parked it!! So I strolled around Bath for a good hour or so, blissfully in oblivion of time, and where I was. All I could think of was, I (me!) had met Peter Wyngarde!!!!!! And he spoke!!!! Gosh I had it bad. I was looking at the pictures in the scrapbook and I use to have two of them one was with his dog (Youssef) and him in his chair at the end.
Linda Jones
I wanted to meet Peter as he played Klytus in one of my favourite films ‘Flash Gordon’.
Left: Xena Warrior Princess Lookalike – Jo Marriott with Peter
Got him to sign my Flash poster, he seemed very taken with me in my Xena kit saying Xena should have married Klytus! lol! Maybe bad Xena may have considered it, she could have then been known as Xena Destroyer of Galaxies!
Those magical days of Carnaby Street and the annual Radio Luxembourg conventions. Kensington Market with the smell of burning joss sticks, vast array of Afghan coats, tie-dye T-shirts and silver jewellery. Biba with its unique atmosphere and flamboyant fashions, set amongst ostrich feathers and groovy coloured glass jars. Not to mention Miss Selfridge, the place for miniskirts and hot pants!
And amidst it all, there was Peter Wyngarde. He stood out from the crowd with his, charm, sophistication and distinctive dress sense (I loved those turned back cuffs) – a real gentleman too.
Below Right: Peter at one of his fan club conventions in the 1970’s
I must have been almost 15 when ‘Department S’ first appeared on television and I was enamoured with Peter immediately. My whole family would sit round to watch the series (in the days of only one TV in the house) and they soon realised that I had fallen in love for the first time. Their teasing was relentless but, thankfully, my passion could be shared at school with my classmates – they either felt the same about Peter or his co-star Joel Fabiani.
Dedicated fans may remember the flat packed bubble-gum that came out at the time, featuring ‘Department S’ cards to collect. We girls would call into the sweet shop every day, on the way home from school, to make our purchases and swap cards until we had the whole set.
I remember reading an article in ‘Weekend’ magazine about Peter which talked about his childhood and his suffering and courage in Japan. That endeared me to him even more. I joined the Fan Club and was determined to meet my idol one day. To my delight, I was able to achieve this on not just one but two occasions at the conventions held by the Club.
I bought a little black dress for the first occasion; extremely short, with the front panel in-set with a snake skin design (all the thing in those days). I had a Saturday job in R.P. Ellen’s shoe shop at the time and I can remember the perfect pair of snake skin shoes (fake of course) coming into stock – I purchased them immediately. I really felt the business when I arrived at the hotel in Kensington. I went on my own on this occasion (can’t remember how I got there – my Dad probably insisted on driving me) and I can recall strolling in very confidently to meet the other gathered fans. I remember standing, chatting with a small group of people and suddenly becoming aware of a very familiar, deep, velvet voice – and there he was!
The next convention was a year later, at a similar venue. I went with my cousin, Carol, and I wore a purple midi-dress and silver choker round my neck. We had our photo taken with Peter and had a wonderful evening.
‘Department S’ eventually faded from our screens, to my great disappointment, but I could still listen to my vinyl single of the opening music to the series and my Peter Wyngarde LP. I still have them tucked away today but unfortunately I no longer have a record player!
Sue Armstrong
I’ve been a Peter fan since I was a teenager who got hooked on the ITC Home Video releases of ‘Department S’ and ‘Jason King’. I was even one of the earliest members of The Hellfire Club, so I think my fan credentials are assured!
Now, since Peter has kept a low profile for many a year, I’d resigned myself to the fact that I would never meet the man himself. So imagine my surprise when Peter started to make appearances at memorabilia/celebrity autograph events.
I hadn’t been able to make any of the dates to work commitments, so imagine my excitement when I could attend Peter’s appearance at a Dr Who event in Barking, London.
I was fortunate enough to meet Peter when he visited Sydney, Australia, during a promotional tour in 1971.
Although I was born in England in 1962, my parents emigrated to Oz in 1966 (I’ve since moved back home to Berkshire), and both I and my sister used to watch department S on Channel 7 every week.
When my best friend, Anna and I heard that Peter would be arriving at Sydney Airport, we decided to bunk off school for the day in the hope that we might be fortunate enough to see him.
When we arrived at the Airport terminal at which his plane was due to arrive, we couldn’t believe our eyes as there were literally thousands of fans (mainly women!) who’d obviously had the same idea as us.
Right: Peter with Anita and her friend
Because we’d been unable to get into the arrival lounge due to the huge crowds, we decided to try our luck out on the concourse and were completely dumbstruck to see Peter and two airport security officers walking towards us (they’d decided to bring him through a side entrance for his own safety). I’m not sure what it was that possessed me, but suddenly I found myself running towards him – hair and arms flying.
The two security officers, who obviously saw little threat in two nine-year-old girls, did little to deter us reaching our hero, and within moments we were hugging and kissing him. Clearly from this picture, he didn’t seem to mind!
Although it was a long time ago, I’ll never forget that day as Peter was just so sweet to two love-struck little girls.
Anita Hunte
I’ve been a fan of Peter since seeing him way back in the 1960s in ‘Night of the Eagle’ and followed his career without pause enjoying every performance. Loved him in Jason King even if it was very campy and OTT, but what great entertainment just the stuff to blow away all the cares. And how scrumptious he always looked in his flares and furbelows. And that moustache and hairy chest!
On the serious side I battled my way to the box office to get tickets for ‘The King and I’ in 1973, and enjoyed every minute. I even met and spoke with him once. I was on the way to the Odeon cinema, Kensington, and he was cleaning his Bentley Continental. Beautiful car, does he still have it? He was so sweet and charming when I said “Hello” and mentioned how much I enjoyed his performances; so natural and unaffected.
I caught a glimpse of him last year in a programme about screen cads and he looked as gorgeous.
Jill Basten
I was just remembering the ‘Jason King’ and ‘Department S’ Series and wondering whatever happened to Peter – he really was an icon in those days!
I’ve a great memory of Peter around forty years ago. I am a musician and was invited to play for a production of ‘The King and I’ which was being produced by Triumph Productions at the Forum Theatre, Billingham-on-Tees. Peter played the King (of course!!) and Sally Anne Howes was Mrs Anna and a lady with the most fabulous contralto voice – Moyna Cope – played his no.1 wife.
I remember the first mornings’ rehearsal with the cast and Peter came in dressed in designer denim – to which one of my colleagues described as – “expensively scruffy!!!” Peter would come in to the Billingham Arms occasionally after the show – (the only pub!) and would always stand the musicians (it was our second home at the time) a round of drinks.
It was a great run and lots of fun – we had a fine Musical Director in Derek Taverner. I played the show in Nottingham and again in Wolverhampton and that was the last time I heard of Peter.
Tony Carter.
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