THOUGHTS OF PETER

Welcome to my “Thoughts of Peter” Page

23rd March, 2023

While he was in the planning stage of writing his autobiography back in 2016, Peter asked me if I’d go through all his diaries, engagement and address books etc. (dating from 1954) to make an alphabetical list of every person mentioned in them. Given that he was nothing if not a diligent record-keeper, this would included every friend and foe, acquaintances and colleague, doctor, dentist, solicitor, vet, window cleaner and, indeed, anyone else that might merely have been passing through. In total, there was almost 200 volumes. To me, it seemed as if I was being asked to scale the North face of the Eiger with a hundred-weight of potatoes strapped to my back!

The purpose of this task was to make a kind of aide de memoire for him, so that he could decide who (if any) of these people he wished to reference in his book.

The entire project took me well over nine months, but eventually we had a comprehensive inventory of EVERYONE that had ever crossed his path during the last 60-odd years. It would include such luminaries as Dame Joan Collins, Lord and Lady Olivier, Lady Maude Cunard, Dame Diana Rigg, Sir Roger Moore, Dame Edith Evans, Sir Alan Bates and both Princess Anne and Princess Margaret, plus almost every actor, writer, producer, director, photographer and brusher-up ever to grace the entertainment industry. The next job was to go through the entire register, with Peter allocating the following ‘code’ to each of them:

• GFBD = Good Friend But Dead(!)
• GFA = Good Friend – Alive
• C = C**t(!!)
• DUOC = Dried Up Old C**t(!!!)
• SO = Strike Off

Of course, with every name that I read out, Peter had an anecdote which, I have to say, was not always complementary! I could’ve used many of those stories when I came to write my book, ‘Peter Wyngarde: A Life Amongst Strangers’, but chose not to if only to save a lot of unsuspecting people a great deal of needless embarrassment!

In addition to being of great help to me during the writing process this list – which was cross-referenced with the diary(s), engagement book(s) etc. in which a particular name was logged – it also proved invaluable when someone would pop up as if from nowhere claiming to have been a “close friend” of his[1]. If that person was included on the list, then I’d refer to Peter’s ‘Code’ to guide me on how I should respond. If however, they didn’t feature at all on the list, then I’d know with absolute certainty that they were either a crank or they were simply the machination[2] of one of the lunatics that had plagued Thomas Bowington[3] and myself since Peter’s passing in 2018. In those case, I neither recognised nor engage with them.

While it seemed like a monumental task when Peter first asked me to help him compile this inventory, I am so relieved that he did and, moreover, that we were able to complete it before he passed away. I’ve seen so many underhanded characters crawl from the woodwork since he died – all of them professing to have “known” him in some capacity or other. It’s a shame that these supposed “good friends” couldn’t be bothered to do anything for him in the final years of his life. At least one of these individuals fully deserved being put in the DUOC category – not least for his attempts to project his own fickleness onto those of us who remained at Peter’s side until the very end.

Notes: [1]: I was introduced to many of Peter’s friends by the man himself over the years, so was familiar with those that had remained in his life until the end. [2]: At least 3 separate entities were created by an absent faction from 2019 onwards to encourage a group of credulous malcontents to instigate and peruse an online witch hunt when, in reality, they didn’t exist. [3]: Peter’s friend and Agent.

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15th January, 2023

Thoughts of Peter on the fifth anniversary of his passing

As it is five years ago today since we lost Peter, I was inevitably I thinking, what would’ve been happening over the final few days I had with him.

For those of you who don’t know, the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital is on Fulham Road and just a short distance from Chelsea’s football stadium. As fate would have it, they were playing Leicester City that afternoon – a team I’ve supported since the age of 11. Because much of the hospital was closed at the weekends, they allowed football supporters to use the car park at a small charge – the revenue from which went back into the hospital. I recall watching from the hospital window on the 4th Floor, this river of blue and white all streaming down the road toward Stamford Bridge, and thinking how surreal it looked. Just a silly thing that sticks in my mind.

Above: Peter and I in happier times

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Birthday Thoughts, 2022

Stephanie Harpin: Happy birthday in heaven, beautiful one 

Diane Brierley: Happy heavenly Birthday Peter. I shall raise a glass to you. I think of you often, maybe somehow you know that as you often appear in my dreams. RIP lovely XX

Susan McFadden: Happy Heavenly Birthday Peter 

Annarita Ranalli: Happy birthday in heaven talented.

Jay Berrington: Happy Birthday Sire, very best wishes.

Toby O’Brien: Here’s thinking of you, Sir. Thank you for the art you left us, those immortal characters. Salute.

Sharon Kennedy: Happy heavenly birthday god bless xxx

Terry Haslem:

Ian Kelland: Happy Birthday dear Peter and love to Tina 

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5th July, 2022

An interesting and often heated debate took place on our Facebook group page this week concerning Wikipedia (WP) and the misinformation it has posted about Peter and others.

The conversation was sparked by an email I received from a gentleman by the name of Austin Makinson (see ‘To TheHeartOf’) who made mention of a story that first appeared on the aforementioned online encyclopaedia some years ago, which claimed that Peter had been arrested in Birmingham in 1975.

Whilst carrying out research for my book, ‘Peter Wyngarde: A Life Amongst Strangers’, I was to make numerous enquiries about the story which, Wikipedia claimed had originally been published in ‘Crime Through Time: The Black Museum’ – a 2003 publication by Stephen Andrews. However, no mention of such an incident was in that book.

During the recent debate between fans on our Facebook page one of our member’s, Andrew Humphries, who is himself a regular contributor to Wikipedia, suggested that the origin of the Birmingham story was probably the online version of The Mirror[1], which had supposedly referred to it in their article of 18^th January, 2018[2]. The question is, if the Wikipedia contributor had got the story from The Mirror, why did they state that they’d found it in the ‘Crime Through Time’ book?

There was, of course, no such mention in that article… that was until it was updated eight months later on 12^th September, which was AFTER it appeared on Wikipedia[3].

Needless to say, this story has since been republished in numerous other newspapers both in the UK and overseas and likewise, repeated by bloggers and those that frequent social media ‘sites and online forums.

Of course, this wouldn’t be the first time that Wikipedia have got it wrong. Professional music journalist and member of our Facebook group, James Gaden, had the following to say about his own experiences with well-known personalities and their gripes about WP:

“I have seven interviews under my belt where I published comments by artists who had false claims about them on their Wikipedia page. The most memorable was the late Alan Lancaster from Status Quo spending 20 minutes of a 45 minute interview listing the inaccuracies on the band’s page and telling me the actual events that took place for publication in an attempt to set the record straight. There was also Sebastian Bach, who transitioned from Metal band Skid Row to playing the lead in Jekyll & Hyde on Broadway and a citation listing on his Wiki bio that he was the lead singer of Dragonforce, a band he’d never even met, let alone sang for.

Literally anyone can edit Wikipedia, and that’s the problem. Another classic example was after Soccer Aid 2012, when Teddy Sheringham gave Gordon Ramsay a particularly rough challenge, resulting in the chef being stretchered off. Someone, as a joke, wrote on Ramsay’s Wikipedia page that Sheringham had killed him. It was on Ramsay’s page for over a week before it was noticed and rectified.”

Such is W.P. notoriety that a series on YouTube has sprung up which deals with the numerous lies and inaccuracies posted on Wikipedia website. Additionally, several well-known personalities have produced their own clips in an attempt to address these errors.

What may have begun as a noble idea, Wikipedia has become a byword for inaccurate reporting and the origin of many damaging rumours. The most disturbing thing is that those people who so jealously guard this online compendium and the Peter Wyngarde ‘biography’ in particular, are determined never to acknowledge or repair the damage they’ve done.

Notes: [1]. National British tabloid newspaper. [2]. Written by Steve Myall and Robin Turner. [3]. The article was updated for a third time in July 2021 and retitled.

I have been sleuthing again, because I found some blogs from 2013 and 2014 that mentioned a Kennedy Gardens incident. This was long before the 2018 Mirror article that I said was the original source, but I can see I was wrong about that. Looking at the Wikipedia article again, but going back much further, I can see that a user added the info on 28 Sept 2010, but with no source. It was only removed by another user in about June 2016 who noticed it was not sourced, or not sourced properly. It was then added back in after the Mirror article was published in Jan 2018, but without any citation of the Mirror. The true crime book was already a source for something else, and sloppy editing made it look like it was also being cited for this new info. I tend to agree with Tina now, that the earliest trace of this factoid is when a Wikipedia editor added it in 28 Sept 2010. It *appears* to have been sincerely added as a fact, and specific newspapers are mentioned, but without any proper verifiable source or citation. As for the Mirror, I think they probably had a pre-written obit for PW, perhaps prepared when that questionable info had been live on Wikipedia between 2010 and 2016. Andrew Humphries – Member of the Official Peter Wyngarde Appreciation Society and regular contributor to Wikipedia: 7th July, 2022.

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11th May, 2022

In light of the treatment meted out to veteran actor Frank Langella by Netflix recently, it’s difficult to imagine where Peter would fit in to this ultra left-wing, rabidly WOKE, ‘Cancel Culture’ that now exists in the entertainment industry. It would appear that producers and broadcasters are so terrified of being labelled “racist” or “sexist”, that any tiny faux pas – especially by a man – either presently or in the dim and distant past, will inevitably result in their being dismissed and blacklisted; an otherwise unblemished career of many decades in ruins on the word of one person.

 

In the 5 short years since Peter left us, things have become so unbearable for those working within the acting sphere that simply being in the public eye can be akin to a game of Russian Roulette: one wrong word, or at least something that might be perceived as being the wrong word, and you can kiss goodbye to the life you knew.

Peter was a very outspoken man who said what he meant and meant what he said. He cared little for other people’s delicate sensibilities, believing that if you have the nerve to get up on a stage in front of hundreds of people every night, your skin should be thick enough to handle a spade being called a spade!

It would appear that all male actors are now viewed as the next Harvey Weinstein until proven otherwise, while so-called ‘Keyboard Warriors’ around the globe sit poised, not only to act as judge and jury, but executioner too. NO ONE is safe. Should one of these self-appointed arbiters of justice take a sudden dislike to a particular performer (this can include musicians and sportsmen), they will dredge up just about ANYTHING regardless of how long ago a particular incident occurred or ‘offending’ word was uttered. One’s opinions at the age of 18 can be starkly different to those held a decade later. However, in the world inhabited by the WOKE combatant, a real or imagined indiscretion leaves no room for contrition or growth in a person. All conversation is immediately closed down because the idea is not to garner a response, it is simply to remain angry. Anger gives meaning to an otherwise mundane and empty existence. ‘Cancel Culture’ (or ‘Consequence Culture’ as it should really be described) is merely the revenge of the nonentity because he or she feels empowered by it. While there are roughly 1 million words in the English language, it would appear that there is someone, somewhere, who is offended by every single one of them!

There is something fundamentally rotten about an individual or group of people that will incite an online witch hunt. Unlike a court of law, there is no requirement for any kind of legal inquiry to discern whether or not the victim has actually done what they’re being accused of. Many an innocent head has been lopped off when the mighty sword of righteousness has been swung by the misinformed or easily lead. And if just ONE individual can convince others that the subject of this misguided hostility IS guilty of a perceived outrage, then they will ALL feel justified in doing whatever they damn well please to that unwitting person because they “deserve it!” THIS is the hysteria of the mob.

Left: Photofit of the common or garden online bully: A wimp that needs to abuse others online so he can feel more of a man.

But while there are many who are happy to play judge and jury online few, if any, are resolute enough in their arraignments to put their name to it – resorting instead to cowering behind a Username. The reason for such spinelessness is that they fear being scrutinised themselves. Certainly, if you’re prepared to scream “Witch!” then you’d better be as pure as the driven snow yourself or suffer similar investigation!

But, of course, being whiter than white is rarely ever the case. I myself have been harassed by a group of strangers that were recruited on social media to instigate a hate campaign against Thomas Bowington[1] and me shortly after Peter passed away. The trouble with launching a witch hunt online is that you open a door through which anything can pass, and what we were to get was a malignant gang of nonentities that were not only obsessed with the idea of persecuting two people who had done absolutely nothing to them, but who would inevitably turn their venom on Peter himself – a man who is no longer able to defend himself.

While one of their number had often been witnessed pontificating online about race and Racism, he himself appeared quite at home fraternising with this pack of anti-Semites, misogynists and homophobes. Evidently, the hypocrisy of his actions were to fly clean over his head! Needless to say, much of the claptrap doled out by these people had absolutely nothing to do with uncovering deceit or highlighting wrongdoing. It was wholly and entirely about getting a voice, and not only that, a voice that was louder and more powerful than either of the individuals they sought to persecute. What better way to get yourself noticed than to turn the volume up to 11![2]

Psychiatrists around the world have devoted much of their time to uncovering why certain people engage in this bizarre behaviour. While one conclusion is that the perpetrator(s) might themselves have been the victim of bullies at some point in their lives, and now the anonymity of the internet is affording them the opportunity to exact revenge – even on someone that is personally unknown to them and who has caused them no harm whatsoever. Another determination that many agree upon is that such people are often low achievers who, being unable to create anything of note themselves, seek to damage or destroy the very thing they cannot have. Many actors, including Peter, have experienced this to some degree from critics in the media. He was to identify several of these commentators as failed actors. While a critic might wield power over a performer with the threat of a bad notice, so bullying and intimidation online can be utilised to control and intimidate those who are perceived to have overstepped the mark. In effect, the bully is telling his victim, “I’m here to remind you of your place.”

Perhaps this whole malignant ‘Cancel Culture’/Online Bullying/’Trolling’ situation is down to something as fundamental as identity, which can often be a very elusive thing. By attaching oneself to a “movement”, regardless of it’s motives, the disenfranchised has finally found a purpose which enables him/her to run away from their own self-loathing. In the case of the Internet ‘Troll’, it’s easier to take on an identity that 99.999% of the population would find abhorrent than it is to have no identity at all! While maintaining this website, I was to received a series of emails some time ago from a woman who, in late-middle age, supposed to have intimate knowledge of the relationship I’d shared with Peter – this in spite of the fact that she’d never met or even spoken with either one of us. I doubt that you’ll be overly surprised to learn, dear reader, that even her own “partner” – by all accounts, a keen fisherman – would rather sit dangling his tackle in a freezing canal for hours on end than spend time with her, so perhaps she reasoned that by repeatedly sending pieces of fallacious mail to a complete stranger she’d somehow get noticed, and maybe she did within the circle she chose to move in: ‘SHOUT AND THOU SHALT BE HEARD!’ Mercifully, it took Pam[3] much less time to delete this woman’s inane bluster than it took the ridiculous mare to write it!

The individuals that have the most to say about Peter online know no more about him than what they’ve garnered from the tabloids – certainly, they know nothing of the nuts and bolts of his life and yet often feel the most qualified to comment. Calling someone out, whether they’re a well-known personality or the average Joe on the street has become the latest spectator sport. The cessation of this terrifying trend, by common sense or litigation, can not come soon enough.  

Notes: [1]: Peter’s friend and agent. [2]: A reference to the 1984 spoof rockumentary, ‘This Is Spinal Tap’. [3]: A friend who looks after the mailbox of this website. She is NOT a police officer, nor is she an “employee”!

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6th April, 2022

Written by Tim V. – Lead Singer of the legendary British Punk band, ‘Sham 69’

Some years ago, I had the good fortune to work with Peter on an idea I had. With huge trepidation (and anticipation) at meeting someone who was, and still is, a big hero of mine, I rang Peter’s door bell and he answered.

Above: Tim on stage

When Peter passed away in 2018, I asked Tina about the possibility of resurrecting the play Peter and I had written all those years ago in the hope of putting it on stage as a tribute to him. Tina, in turn, introduced me to Thomas Bowington – Peter’s agent and friend – who has been incredibly helpful and supportive.

In the time that I had spent with Peter, I learnt so much, including that what you read – especially in the press – isn’t always what it true. Peter was an incredibly enthusiastic man with a huge amount of talent and skill. I watch the TV today when I get the chance and I feel that it’s missing actors of the calibre of Peter Wyngarde. He was a real actor who, I believe, not only deserves to be remembered but also brought to a new audience. It’s comforting to find that Tina has been so resolute in her determination to ensure that this will happen, even in the face of the appalling treatment meted out to her by the deluded and dim-witted in the wake of Peter’s passing.

God willing, Tina, Thomas and I can now work together to get this play onto the stage. I now have a few more doors open thanks to their kindness and support, so watch this space!

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23rd September, 2021

Yesterday, I had two rather interesting(!) exchanges with a couple of characters online concerning their supposed intimate ‘recollections’ of Peter ‘back in the day’. They were the type of people who believe that, having read a tabloid article almost half a century ago, or heard a bit of uncorroborated gossip back in the Sixties or Seventies, they’re acquainted enough with Peter’s life to make grandiose statements about it.

 

The first cab off the rank was a 75-year-old man who we’ll call ‘Bill’. According to him, Peter was a “Pervert” because – and I quote – “he was convicted of Gross Indecency in 1975 in Gloster (sic).” Well, yes, but that in itself doesn’t make someone a “Pervert”, so I enquired of ‘Bill’ what additional evidence he had that would justify him making such a damning declaration?

“Well, he was also cautioned for the same offence in Birmingham. That makes him a perv.” Really!?! And where did he acquire this information from?

“It’s on Google.”

“And where did Google get it from?” I enquired. Not unsurprisingly, the silly old bugger didn’t have an answer.

In actual fact, this particular yarn comes directly from that font of all knowledge, Wikipedia which, in turn, claim it was in a book entitled, ‘Crime Through Time: The Black Museum’ (Mirage Publishing, 2003) – penned by ex-con, Stephen Richards. In actual fact, Mr Richard makes no mention of this supposed incident in his tome and enquiries that I myself made of West Midland Police (when researching my own book) – or West Midlands Constabulary as they were known when this ‘incident’ allegedly took place – showed that no arrest or caution was ever made or given! Read about this Wikipedia invention here.

When I pointed this out to ol’ ‘Bill’, the accusatory swagger that he’d previously adopted seemed suddenly to desert him and he was to become far more contrite: “But it still says it on Google.” This line reminded me of my Granddad who would often seek to win any heated discussion about politics or some such with the same argument: “Well, it’s in the Daily Mirror, so it must be true!”

I was obliged to explain to poor ol’ ‘Bill’ that Google is a search facility that will continue to throw out such nonsense as long as arrogant, misguided gossips like himself persist in repeating the uncorroborated rubbish they hear. I asked him how he’d feel if some half-wit with too much time on his hands began repeating any piece of salacious claptrap they found online concerning one of his loved ones? Needless to say he had no answer to that either.

The second slice of poppycock on the menu came from a woman – I’ll call her ‘Margaret’ for convenience sake – who claimed that her brother had, at one time or another, had lived “near” Peter. He’d reported seeing our man in an open-top car driving around Kensington and Chelsea with his “toy boys”. When I queried this, ‘Margaret’ suddenly changed the supposed ‘eyewitness’ from her “brother” to herself: “The young men,” she asserted, “all looked foreign.” How in the name of all that’s holy could she possibly know that? Were they all wearing keffiyehs’ or silk kimonos and playing the Balalaika? And when exactly was this? “In the late 60’s or early 70s. He [Peter] then went to ground.”

In the late 60s and/or early 70s, the only open-top car Peter owned was a two-seater Austin-Healey ‘Frogeye’, so unless he was recreating an event from the classic British gameshow, ‘It’s A Knockout’, I’m not sure how many “foreign toy boys” one could possibly cram into such a car?!

Above: What Peter’s car must’ve looked like back in the 1960’s… at least according to dear old ‘Margaret’.

I assume that the message she was aiming to get across was that Peter spent much of his time cruising around the Royal Boroughs of London with a gaggle of young, exotic men which, in her mind at least, proved beyond any shadow of a doubt that they were his lovers. Did this, in her opinion, paint a complete picture of Peter’s life? I guess I’ll never know as ‘Margaret’ would suddenly ‘go to ground’ herself once she realised that she’d painted herself into a corner. Now, if I was to be unkind, I might’ve thought that her sudden disappearance had something to do with her argument going t*ts-up under examination, but let’s just give her the benefit of the doubt shall we?

For ‘Margaret’s’ information if no one else’s – during the late 60s/early 70s, Peter was at the height of his popularity. He was the highest-paid actor on British television and was playing to sell-out audiences in the West End of London. Quite how this equates to “going to ground” is anyone’s guess, but then the old dear was probably getting a bit confused.

It would seem that, over time, the human being have lost the ability to think for themselves – evidenced by the fact that people like ‘Bill’ will read a statement written by some random stranger online and immediately take it as gospel. And not only that, they’ll copy and repeat it. Never once does it ever occur to individuals like him to enquire how the person responsible for posting this stuff in the first place came by the information; were they directly involved in the incident they’re reporting on, or did they witness it first hand? Did they actually know Peter personally? Did they attend a court hearing in person, or do they have access to privileged information – for instance court papers, witness statements and transcripts etc? Given that 99.999% of the time the answer to such inquiries would be an unequivocal “No!”, what right has ANYONE to repeat salacious gossip? Certainly, you wouldn’t get the likes of ‘Bill’ or ‘Margaret’ approaching a random stranger on the street to suggest that THEY’D decided, based entirely on hearsay, that his or her husband/wife/brother/son/daughter/nephew/niece/cousin or friend was a “Pervert”. I suspect that ‘Bill’ would find himself nursing a broken nose if he did, which is probably why he chooses to make wild, baseless accusations about other people while skulking behind a computer screen in the safety of his own front room!

Update: The afternoon of 23.09.21: After contacting the website on which ‘Bill’ had TWICE referred to Peter as a “Pervert”, I was assured of the following: “I can confirm that we have now removed that post and reported the person responsible to the web host.”

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23rd April, 2021

As previously mentioned in these pages and in my book, some years ago Peter and I had planned to buy a home together in the Peloponnese. Given his love of writing, he would often pen short stories and scripts featuring our plans – both together and separately – expecting me to carry the story on. Below is one of those ‘scripts’ written in Peter’s own hand, which is a “scene” from the life he hoped we might have out in Greece.

I should point out a couple of things in way of explanation:

1. My surname was originally Bate.
2. For those people who know me as having dark brown hair – at the time that Peter wrote this, I had blonde streaks.
3. Peter had encouraged me to try writing a screenplay for a film, using the old but trusted adage of, ‘Write about something you know’. I still have the script (with all of Peter’s annotations and suggestions written in his own hand) which, with Peter’s help, was completed

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9th April, 2021

Above: Peter’s contract with Scoton for ‘Department S’

I was myself was to receive an email a couple of weeks ago from a fan who was under the impression that Peter had been in the employ of ITC whilst filming the aforementioned series (see Your Questions Answered), which appears to be a common misconception. He was in fact employed by Scoton – a production company founded by cinematographer, Monty Berman, and writer/script editor, Dennis Spooner. While it has been suggested by the misinformed that Sir Lew Grade would have a personal investment in the actors appearing in the so-called ‘ITC series’, this is completely untrue.

Whilst writing my book, I had the great pleasure of speaking with a number of well-known personalities within the acting profession, many of whom made mention of the appalling treatment that had been doled out to Peter by the press over the years, and of the wild misconceptions based on these stories. And it hasn’t just been Peter who has suffered at the hands of indolent journalist and vindictive gossips. While discussing the topic with actress Carol Cleveland, she told me that she’d been left reeling at times over what she had seen written about herself on the internet. Indeed, she’d often been left speechless by the places it’s said she’s had been and, more moreover, of her supposed behaviour whilst there!

Just yesterday my attention was drawn to an online article about the people who’d been closest to the late Freddie Mercury – most notably his boyfriend, Jim Hutton, and former girlfriend, Mary Austin. Since his death in 1991 fans of the rock star have, to all intents and purposes, divided themselves into two rival camps – one of which “supports” Hutton, while the other “defends” the honour of Ms. Austin. While there’s probably not one amongst either of these factions that had ever met Freddie or anyone intimately connected with him, every man Jack of ’em claim to know the “truth” about the other and are seemingly determined to force it down everyone else’s throat. There’s no doubt that social media can be a force for good, but there is a dark side to it which, as in this instance, serves only to divide those who should be as one – celebrating Mercury’s life and career, rather than lobbing abuse at each other from their respective living rooms. But regardless of who is right or wrong in this particularly argument, there is one thing that all those involved in this very public spat have failed to understand: NONE OF IT IS ANY OF THEIR BUSINESS!

It has been a long-held concern of mine that the arrogance, and in some cases, cowardice, of the minority will ultimately kill off ‘Fandom’. Over the past three or four years especially, I’ve heard from numerous former fan group admins and webmasters that have been forced to close their groups and forums et al. because of infighting. Take The Prisoner fan-base as an example. They have now divided themselves into two very distinctive contingents as a result of in-house friction. I recall Derren Nesbitt who, of course, played Number 2 in ‘It’s Your Funeral’, talking about an experience he’d had at a Prisoner convention at Portmeirion where no one from either of the two groups would acknowledge other. He described it as “totally bizarre!”

In the area of British Cult TV in general, I’ve heard from several people who are involved with associations and fan groups who’ve said that all the fun had gone out of it for them – not least because they, as admins and webmasters, have become reluctant to post even the most innocuous comment for fear of being attacked or abused.

As far as the Official Peter Wyngarde Appreciation is concerned, we’ve been obliged to ban a total of 9 people in the past five years for attacking Peter, myself or other members of the group. This is a comparatively small number compared to many other ‘sites, some of which have literally been “trolled to death”. At least two thirds of that number have used a fake account to gain access to our Facebook page, or are individuals that have been cajoled into joining for the sole purpose of posting personal abuse.

And yet this behaviour isn’t just confined to the Internet. When last year one particular idiot thought it would be a splendid idea to post an unprovoked tirade on our Facebook page, it was spotted by the actress, Jane Merrow, who happened to recognise the culprits name. She told me that this character – a man in his mid-60s (yes, you read that right!), was a regular at many of the film and Cult TV events held around the country each year. She went on to describe him as the most dour individual she’d ever had the misfortune to encounter. In point of fact, such was his ability to suck the air out of a room with his morose demeanour and incessant whinging, that when it appeared that he was about to approach one of the actors tables, everyone in the vicinity would scatter like ninepins to avoid him! Certainly, five minutes with this mope would have anyone reaching for a razor blade to slash their own wrists! But therein lies the problem. As Ms. Merrow was to point out, the lives of such people are often so shallow and meaningless that the only thing they can think of to enhance their lot is to make someone else’s life even more miserable than their own.

Thankfully, it does appear that some fan groups are beginning to fight back against the bullies and agitators by exchanging details about troublemakers. Since many admins are involved in the organisation of fairs and conventions, these names have been added to blacklists to ensure that the same agitators are kept from entering. This counteroffensive also involves agents – including Thomas Bowington – who have made it clear that they will immediately remove their clients should any of these troublemakers inadvertently gain entry. It’s a desperately sad situation, but these measures have had to be taken to ensure that the enjoyment of the majority’s is not ruined by the minority.

Peter genuinely enjoyed attending conventions and meeting his fans. I believe he’d be deeply saddened to see how low things have got over the past few years. He was extremely proud of his Appreciation Society and had been known to mention it in interviews and to his colleagues – the latter of whom have gone on to ask me to set up ‘sites for them. Fortunately, we have a large number of good and decent people supporting us, and I intend to keep fighting for Peter for a very long time to come.

Notes: [1]. Peter’s agent from 2007 to the present day. [2]. Peter never had a friend of the name given on the email. [3]. 13 x 2 Episodes in the case of ‘Jason King’.

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2nd March, 2021

The ‘papers hysterically announced recently that comedian and presenter, Rufus Hound, had been removed from ITV’s popular Sunday evening show, ‘Dancing on Ice’, after “a string of his old controversial tweets resurfaced” in which he’d, amongst other things, he’d “glorified” a particular track from Peter’s 1970 album.

Of course, the press managed to misreport the facts about the LP; Nine Shakhnazarova – supposed ‘Celebrity & Showbiz Reporter’ of The Mirror, for instance, asserted that the record was entitled ‘When Sex Rears Its Inquisitive Head’ and that it had been “banned” only days after release, which is incorrect on both counts! But I digress…

As far as I could tell from what had been said back in 2012 (yes, they were harking back 9 YEARS for this!), Hound hadn’t praised ‘Rape’ – the track in question – at all, but had merely expressed his astonishment at it. The fact that he recommended his followers purchase the CD version of the album so as to make up their own minds is really neither here nor there. By 2012 when Hound posted on Twitter, the record had already sold in its tens of thousands having been re-released on Compact Disc in the 90s.

As Peter once said of ’Rape’: “There are many types of rape. There’s the rape of countries, of cultures and of minds. It’s telling that some people’s minds are so limited that they can only conceive of one type.” In other words, you pays yer money and yer take your choice. Unfortunately these days, there are too many people who are willing to take offence on others behalf.

As might be expected, there was a difference of opinion on our Facebook group page when I mentioned the issue there last month, with fans both attacking and defending the track:

“I think the entire album is a work of genius and the track ‘Rape’”, James Gaden said. “Like it or not, it’s what made it so talked about. It’s clearly, to my ears, tongue in cheek. It’s interesting to read Peter’s thoughts in the sleeve notes of the reissue, where he says people take things so literally, and while of course rape is horrible, you can’t get into any kind of subject unless you make a joke of it. He then pointed out about how people ended up being gagged due to things being banned – how right he was. Speak about a subject now that people might decide they find offensive, it can literally cost you your job and leave you ostracised for daring to even bring it up.”

Reynard Toobes, meanwhile, replied as follows: “Nonsense the track means the album is remembered for all the wrong reasons.“

Deepinder Singh Cheema, on the other hand, felt it was Mr Toombes who was talking claptrap: “The track ‘Rape’ is, at best, challenging to these times. There are some timorous feelings which abound. You’ll actually get stronger stuff in the Bible and works of The Bard, not to mention the Greek underworld. I do like the drumming and production on ‘Rape’, All in all a great evening’s entertainment.”

If Peter had been here, I’m sure he’d have been bewildered by the whole thing. He had no truck with ‘Political Correctness’, and really couldn’t have cared less what anyone thought of him. He said it as it was, and if you didn’t like it – TOUGH! He was never the type of person to sugar coat his options, and loathed hypocrites; especially the type that will pontificate about one perceived transgression whilst they themselves perpetrate another.

Give the naysayers ‘The Twigs’ – buy a copy of Peter’s CD HERE!

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4th February, 2021

By Luther Bhogal-Jones

This is a story about how I came to be involved in filming Peter’s final ever performance.I have very fond memories of Basil, my boss and friend at Selectadisc (the much missed legendary record shop in Nottingham) being a fan of Jason King and watching episodes at his house. His favourite moment which I came to adore too was King walking into a café empty for a solitary woman, approaching her and asking “Do you mind if I sit here as all the other seats appear to be taken?” Classic.I also had a postcard of him framed on my wall for many years.

This was a pre internet age and it wasn’t always as easy to join the dots, so I’m not sure when I initially realised this was the same actor who played the karate chopping, guyliner-wearing Number 2 in the classic “Checkmate” episode of ‘The Prisoner’. This was one of my all time favourite programmes but for several years the only episodes I had on VHS were two lots of two episodes- the opening two episodes and then ‘Checkmate’ and ‘Hammer Into Anvil’ were on the same tape so I watched these four many times over and over. It took a while to twig that it was also Peter under Klytus’ golden mask in ‘Flash Gordon’, administering the Bore Worms.

He was one of those actors that I couldn’t understand why he had seemingly disappeared from TV and film, though with the internet you’d read of a particular “scandal” in the 70s which apparently derailed his career, when actually he carried on working into the 90s.

As a film maker I guess there was a pipe dream to bring him back to the screen, though I had no idea how to find him. Once we entered the internet age I discovered he’d appeared at a convention several years before and I intended to contact the organisers to see if they could give me contact details…but it was something I never pursued despite coming up with a short film storyline called ‘Trans’.

This was about a big businessman – think Alan Sugar/ Dragon’s Den style – who had trod on everyone on the way up and after losing everything was reduced to a small humble flat for his twilight years, surrounded by photos of when he was someone, rubbing shoulders with politicians and filmstars. His only contact was with a daughter who had taken too many life lessons from him in his prime and found his current predicament of literally thinking he was fading from the world an inconvenience to her busy business life. 

Events several years later would take a random turn. One day I was speaking to Andrew Calverley, who had starred in my film, Black Spot. He’d noticed I was a “friend” of Wyngarde on Facebook (which was actually managed by Peter’s friend, partner and custodian of his reputation and legacy, Tina). I mentioned my wish to make a film with Peter and briefly mentioned Trans. It turned out that Andy and Tina were close friends, and he mentioned me and the idea to Tina.

This all snowballed to me sending a copy of ‘Trans’ to Peter – can’t recall now if I forwarded it to Andy, or directly to Tina, who then passed it to Peter…and then one day I received a letter in the post with very tiny, spidery, hard-to-decipher handwriting. My parents were visiting at the time and I remember opening the letter, wondering who it was from and before interpreting the letter scanned straight to the bottom to see Peter’s signature, which just seemed mad that he was writing to me!

He partly dismissed my idea at the time as a “sketch” (which was a fair comment as it really was just a brief synopsis I’d written for the initial pitch for a funding application) but said he had a piece of his own – a monologue – that he wanted to make and was looking for a cameraman and assistance to make it happen. I think he was proposing I help him with this piece and we could take it from there. Although I had no equipment of my own, I asked my cameraman friend Darren who I’d worked with on several shorts if he’d be up for filming Peter.

So we found ourselves on an August Bank Holiday 2014 at Peter’s flat in Kensington, not far from my day job’s head office to spend the day working on Peter’s piece. I can’t remember if I knew vaguely what the piece was about beforehand – he may have briefly mentioned it – but I hadn’t seen any script. It turned out that he’d really wanted to adapt a particular book, which was based in Shanghai in the late 1930s, of which he had personal experience of the world of diplomats etc from living there as a boy. Unfortunately he’d discovered the rights to turn the book into a film had already been bought, so I think his plan was to do a monologue piece based on the book to pitch himself as the ideal person to play the lead role in the adaptation. This seemed odd to me – HE’S PETER BLOODY WYNGARDE – but perhaps it was his way of really selling that he knew this world and character inside out.

Unfortunately the script we were working from was handwritten by himself and was covered in asides, additions and amendments, which made it a challenge to follow.

It was without a doubt a “challenging” day. I could be wrong but I think we did a 2 camera set up, with one of us also doing the sound, but with no actual direction as Peter was directing himself, I was given the role of “script girl.” The only direction as such was at the end of a take when he’d ask us for our thoughts on his performance. Frustrations kicked in when it transpired the copy of the script he was working from wasn’t the same as the one I was working from which would lead to some issues. I was also, apparently, not very good at reading when Peter either paused for dramatic effect, or was awaiting my prompt. He’d get cross at this and I’d seethe, wondering why I was spending my Bank Holiday being shouted at by a man in his 80s!

Peter was obviously a perfectionist though and his script to him was gospel – it was vitally important that he got EVERY word and nuance down as he’d written it, which was difficult when I was trying to follow his script. And as the day wore on and tiredness kicked in, it became very difficult for a long passage to be completed without something being missed, or on the next attempt being remembered at the cost of another line or aspect, all of which were important. I recall two particular moments where Peter consistently forgot the line “shoot the bugger” which resulted in him becoming so frustrated at himself I was almost scared to mention when he’d missed it. We’d also come to loggerheads over, of all things, prawn balls, where I was paraphrasing “balls” and Peter was misunderstanding – thinking I meant testicles – and wondered where the hell I was getting BALLS from!

But it wasn’t all bad – outside of the filming when we stopped for a much needed break and food at teatime, Peter was absolutely charming and unsurprisingly, an enthralling raconteur – telling us stories of the people he’d worked with, many tales from the world of theatre. It was absolutely gold dust, and I wish now that we’d continued filming. His reminisces of these times, of working in a theatre, television and film world which no longer exists were wonderful and all I could think was that one day, when he’s gone, so will these stories and there are less and less people who were there remaining to document and record them.

We got some fun titbits about working on ‘Flash Gordon’, and then he also dropped the bombshell that the intended sequel was to star him as the lead villain (I’d never twigged that it was Klytus taking Ming’s ring at the end and laughing, I’d always presumed it was Ming who had somehow survived) and that he had the script to the sequel somewhere in the flat. Darren and I looked flabbergasted and wondered where, in Peter’s slightly chaotic home, was this priceless script that we had no idea existed.

He told a story of Christopher Lee approaching him at a studio in more recent times and portentously proclaiming, “We are the last of the few.” Peter strangely seemed to take some umbrage at that remark, when I’ve always felt Lee was completely right.

Peter also spoke quite a lot about Tina, and almost every time we stopped for a break he either called or texted her. Sadly, Darren and I missed her as she was only due back into London the following morning.

What also became apparent during this filming was that Peter could still pull out a mesmerising, full bodied performance and his voice was like polished mahogany with a wonderful purr and timbre. Once again, it frustrated me that he hadn’t had any exposure for years and if people like Lee etc could have some career resurgence in their twilight years, then Peter was more than deserving of a similar treatment.

The rest of the shoot continued in a similar difficult fashion and as the hours passed we were all getting tired and it was becoming more difficult. By the time we’d finished around midnight I was exhausted, fed up and ready to get home; I certainly wasn’t looking forward to a 2-3 hour drive back home at such a late hour. However, there were a couple of things I was determined to get before we left. I asked Peter if he would do a video message for Basil, repeating his Jason King line from the café. He obliged, but fluffed the line both times and then sharply told me he was done with it, so I couldn’t even get the main thing I really wanted, which in my current mood felt like the final straw. I was supposed to get a photo of myself with Peter, but by this point I decided I didn’t want one and just wanted to leave.

Upon my return home I posted the video message on Facebook, tagging Basil but with no description, as surely the piece spoke for itself. But then I received a message from Peter who seemed very cross that I’d talked about the project on Facebook and had blabbed about it. This really surprised me as I hadn’t put anything public about it, apart from this video clip of Peter which had nothing to do with his filmed piece. Infuriated by this I took the clip down and felt that the one thing I had got from that day’s shooting was now contentious.

I was going to be editing the piece for Peter and this became a long winded, frustrating process. The ageing Mac I was using struggled with the HD footage which made the editing extremely time consuming – even when making small adjustments. As we were far apart I would create an edit, face a long winded export of the footage (and hope nothing went wrong at this stage), burn Peter a DVD and post to him. I then had to await his comments and adjustments which I would have to decipher from his handwriting. Sometimes I would receive several letters in succession, chasing me for progress and updates, which I came to resent as I was trying to do this edit in my spare time, around my day job, young family and own projects.

I ended up calling Tina at the flat, who explained to me that when it came to his work, Peter was like “a dog with a bone”. He was obviously just keen and excited to see his performance piece. But as with the shooting, he had exact ideas of what he wanted – i.e. everything(!) – which was virtually impossible when it became clear that somewhere during the shoot, certain passages were either missed, or were included in one take and not the other (these couldn’t be cut together even when going to the other angle).

Eventually he did compromise on certain aspects which couldn’t be pieced together. There was the issue with the stills elements though; there were photos Darren had filmed at the time, but Peter also wanted some other images during certain sections which I had no idea how to source or what he specifically wanted, yet he would text me photos that he’d taken from the TV that he wanted included, which I found rather unorthodox, but as Tina was to explain, Peter and technology were not the greatest of friends. But, of course, bowing to his wishes, I put them in as he requested, even though I felt they were distracting and looked out of place.

One large sequence we realised we were completely missing was the recital of a letter – luckily I had my own sound recording equipment by then, so visited London and recorded this large passage, over which some of the photos Darren filmed would be placed. This was a very long sequence which I felt slowed the piece down – especially as Peter was not visible on screen. However, by now I’d found myself in a better place with the piece and always enjoyed chatting to Peter over the phone. Seeing him again after that was a much more pleasant experience as was recording this audio. As a thank you for all my hard work, he gave me a bottle of red wine which he told me was his personal favourite, and very nice it was too!

Eventually the piece was completed and I sent Peter a bunch of DVD copies of it. I always felt at around 22 minutes it was too long, but it was how Peter wanted it. As one of those rainy day back burner projects I’d always been meaning to go back and re-edit it (now I have a better Mac!) to cut it down more to an essence of the range of his performance, in part for the sad eventuality of today, but it’s one of those things I’ve never got around to.

Despite the issues I’d had in doing this piece, I was even more committed to the idea of Peter having some chance to really shine in a film to show off and remind the world what he was still capable of doing. Working around the physical limitations of his age and condition – no jumping out of an exploding helicopter shouting “Yippe kayay mutherfunsters” – I came up with a topical Operation Yewtree idea, a three-hander; almost a stage play but with flashbacks, and something that would deliberately blur the line between Peter, his acting persona, his public “perceived” persona and the character itself. In my daydream flights of fancy, I hoped if I could get this written with the ticking time-bomb of his age and the inevitable other takes inspired by the Yewtree fall-out eventually surfacing then perhaps we could pitch it to his worldwide fan base to fund it via crowd funding; for a chance to have Peter not just in a cameo in a film, but THE lead role. The role to give him his twilight years moment. A role that if it was to be a swansong would be something to show the world what fools they had been to have not been casting him for all these years “in the wilderness” However, I didn’t have the script, just the skeletal idea. Luckily, I pitched it to my wife’s friend Calie Rydings, a local writer, on the off chance that she would want to collaborate on it.

She did. And she took to it with incredible enthusiasm. Within a few days and weeks Calie whizzed through the first draft of the script and over the coming months we’d refine it further, eventually having a piece which we were both really proud of. With her enthusiasm for research she’d added plenty of thesp and theatre nods and winks which I hoped Peter would appreciate, she’d brilliantly done that blend of fiction and non fiction to where I wasn’t sure what was a piece she’d made up or something she’d found out. We had plenty of flashbacks for each character and medical procedure cutaways which provided a break from the dialogue heavy “main action.” There was a wonderful set up opening scene of an actor living surrounded by past glories; almost harking back to my original ‘Trans’ idea that I pitched to Peter, putting on a front even to his remaining friend. For the finale, Calie had written the most wonderful, literally curtain falling monologue that was incredible and we were both SO desperate just to hear Peter recite those words. If nothing else, I just wanted to have an audio recording of him saying that, for our own satisfaction The script was called ‘Poison The Well’. I sent it to Peter. Unfortunately we heard nothing back. I’d send him the odd text, asking if he’d had chance to read it. I’d get the occasional postcard from him. I’d hear that he had another script to read before mine, but he was so focused on his own writing (he may still have been doing his own take on the adaptation, I wasn’t sure), but that he hadn’t had chance to read it. Perhaps it was presumption on my part, but I guess I’d hoped that after spending many hours working on his project for him, I might have got a free pass to jump the queue in his attentions, but that wasn’t the case. Calie and I were both very proud of the script, but with the topical time bomb still ticking, I felt like I wanted to take it elsewhere while there was still time if Peter didn’t want to do it.

Peter apparently did send me one last letter some time ago but, unfortunately, it was lost in the post, so I’ll never know what that said. I did get one finally call, and I hoped it might be about ‘Poison The Well’, but when I answered I found that he’d dialled the wrong number, as he was asking for Mitzy! [1] Several weeks might have gone by and then I’d get the same Mitzy call again, which became a fun running joke. But then eventually he must have sorted my number from Mitzy’s in his phone and I didn’t hear from him again.

Not long ago I read J.G Ballard’s ‘Empire Of The Sun’ for the first time – as Peter was apparently interned in the same camp as Ballard (though he said he didn’t remember him). I meant to text Peter to say I’d read it and found the world of WWII Shanghai a fascinating and mad sounding time and place. Unfortunately I never did send that text.

Looking back, I guess I hoped in a way our working relationship/ brief friendship could have developed almost into him being the Bela Lugosi to my Ed Wood (without me wearing my wife’s underwear). Yes, I was initially grumpy about that day’s shoot, but I’ve come to look back on it fondly – it’s one hell of a story. But on this day I look back on that performance piece and still feel both sad and frustrated that it can’t be shared for people to see. I know he did various interviews for TV programmes and I believe another documentary on ‘The Prisoner’ since we filmed it, but as far as I’m aware ours was the last piece he did as a performance on camera. I feel sad that he didn’t get his twilight resurgence, though I don’t know how much of that was down to himself; not finding a project that he felt was his own and worthwhile committing to, rather than doing roles for the sake of it. I feel sad I didn’t get to film him in a script we wrote for him. I feel sad that those stories he briefly touched on for that 40 minute break are gone now, though he told me that Tina knew all his stories and is now their keeper. I feel sad that another legend has gone, another that we will not see the likes of again.

At the end of the performance piece I filmed, Peter is talking to a servant off camera and says “Arrive a derci – it’s Italian…for goodbye.” He puts on a hat, gloves, sunglasses and sings, in a tired, old and world weary way, a rather haunting song in Chinese before solemnly ringing a bell. If indeed this is his final performance, somehow it seems quite an apt finale.

Notes: [1]. See earlier post dated, 16th October, 2020

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21st January, 2021

One of the happiest memories I have of Peter was sitting on the balcony of the flat in Earls Terrace one afternoon, and our ‘performing’ the play, Dear Liar, with him in the role of George Bernard Shaw, while I tried my best to perform a rendition of Mrs Patrick Campbell. Peter had, of course, played Shaw opposite Ruth Brinkmann at the English Theatre, Vienna, Austria in 1977 to rave reviews.

The play recounts the (purportedly) unconsummated affaire de plume between the playwright and actress that lasted for over forty years. As in the much more recent Vita & Virginia, Dear Liar is what might be described as a “epistolary drama”, which involves the actors narrating and then reading aloud the letters exchanged between the characters.

Shaw was a prolific letter-writer, who traded correspondence with such luminaries as G.K. Chaterton, H.G. Welles and Michael Collins (amongst others), but it was Mrs Beatrice Sella Campbell, who proved to be his passion and muse.

At the time that Peter and I read the play, he and Fenella Fielding had been discussing the possibility of bringing the work back to the London stage. It was after we’d spoken of it that afternoon that Peter dug out the script in book form, and we took ourselves out onto the sun-soaked balcony.

While Peter has a worldwide reputation for his acting skills, my own left much to be desired and yet he persevered patiently. To be fair, my impression of Mrs Campbell portraying Eliza Doolittle in My Fair Lady could be described as adequate, it was the refinement of Campbell’s own elocution that proved to be the stumbling block. Nevertheless, the two of us had great fun, and I can claim to have worked on a play with the great Peter Wyngarde, even if our only audience we had were a couple of butterflies and a rather shy Jay from the adjacent Edwardes Square Gardens.

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12th January, 2021

Recently, I was looking through Peter’s original contracts with Scoton Limited[1] for both ‘Department S’ and ‘Jason King’, and was quite amazed by some of the clauses contained in them.

One of them, which was listed under ‘The Artist’s Warranties’, states that Peter – as the Artist in question – would have to remain both….‘a British Subject and resident in the United Kingdom until fulfilment of this Contract’, and that he was not to ‘leave the United Kingdom until fulfilment of this Contract’ etc. This would mean that, during the period that he was working on the series – i.e. 6 to 8 months, he was forbidden from taking a holiday or even a weekend break outside the country.

Additionally, ‘The Artist shall reside within a reasonable distance of the place where he is required to render his services and keep the producer informed of his whereabouts.’

While this seemed strange at first, it really does stand to sense given the tight schedule the production was working on. Imagine if he was to take a weekend break say in France or Spain, but his return flight was delayed or cancelled – as the star of the show, the entire filming timetable would be seriously disrupted. So jetting off to sunny climes for a few days of fun in the sun was strictly out of the question!

During the early 1970s, Peter had been looking for a holiday/semi-permanent home on the continent, and at one time had looked as far afield as Cyprus. It had been his hope that wherever he eventually chose, his Mother and Stepfather would join him there.

As it was, he had an old friend, Jeanne Ross, who owned and ran a real-estate company with her husband, based in Calpe – a small town between Valencia and Alicante in Spain. She had offered to help him either find a suitable property or, as was to inevitably happen, buy a piece of land and have a bespoke villa built on it.  

Above: The beach at Calpe

On those occasions he flew out there to see how things were progressing on the build, he would stay with Jeanne and her family. His letters to and from her bear witness to the enjoyable times he had out there – especially when he had the time between filming ‘Department S’ and starting work of ‘Jason King’, when he was able to spend several weeks out there.

It’s easy to imagine the life of a big theatre and TV star being glamorous and their being able to come and go as they please, but reading through those contracts suggest that it wasn’t always so. Certainly jetting off on a whim and being back in work on Monday morning, bright and breezy, was a absolute no-no!  

Notes: [1]: Scoton was the production company that made both the ‘Department S’ and ‘Jason King’ series.

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To mark the third anniversary of Peter’s passing – “Thoughts” from friends and fans

I have a funny one which often comes to mind now and again when thinking of Peter… I called him at home one evening and mentioned that I performed regularly at events for a particular charity in Mayfair. The events frequently attracted household names and were quite good fun. I invited Peter to come along to the next one and he seemed interested until I mentioned a certain celebrity that would be there.

At that point, he said, ‘Well, I won’t be going if HE’S there’. At which point, I was howling with laughter and said that I absolutely couldn’t blame him. The actor in question had appeared in a TV show that wasn’t to Peter’s (or my own) liking.

Peter stood up for what he believed in and was of the opinion that your work is a reflection of you as an artist. If one appears in something that is full of prejudice, then would it be fair to say that people may think that by appearing in something of that nature that hold those beliefs also?

Peter Wyngarde was a truly wonderful, wonderful man and his star continues to shine bright in a way that no other star does or ever will again! Adam Coxon – friend

Thinking of you today [15.01.21] Tina. You must have some wonderful memories.They will keep you happy.  Caron Gardner – friend

Remembering one of the most handsome and talented actors to ever grace the screen. My favourite picture of Peter Wyngarde,I have it printed off and framed on a wall in my house. My late mother loved this picture too (for her own personal reasons ). He will not be forgotten,we will always keep him in our hearts x. Stephanie Harpin – fan

Greatly missed. Roger Bayford – fan

Talent & class rolled into one. Truly missed. Vince Ferguson – fan

Gone but not forgotten. Robin Bass – fan

He will always enhance our lives, through his work. Tony Barlow – Fan

A wonderful man, great acting skill. Sexier than Brando, funnier than Hill (Benny).Always missed, an eternal presence. More interesting an actor than Donald Pleasence. Sadly missed, today and every day. Luckiest man on earth to have a love/soul mate/muse such as Tina. Pont Dance Survivors Group – fan

Peter Wyngarde, was one of those actor’s that gave you that warm feeling. His smile was so inviting, you automatically smiled with him. He was a man of great Stature, looked upon by his pears with utmost respect. His like will certainly never be seen again. How I wish i’d had the chance too see and meet him. We remember you Peter, with Much fondness. God bless him! x Dave Clarky – fan

A superb actor who I had the pleasure of meeting twice. Long live the King. Laurence Sumeray – fan

One of the highlights of my life getting to see Peter in the King and I! Long live the King. Ally Sillers

I can see Peter in an episode triumphing over an evil media oligarch who has ties to evil countries…. perhaps with the help of Steed… I just love his performance and character in Jeremy Brett version of Sherlock “tittle for tattle” what a DOLL~! He reminds me so much of my departed wonderful father, Bernard! Daniel Bernard O’Connell – fan

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1st January, 2021

A story about Peter from Thomas Bowington

And that is why he was The King….. taking Mr.Peter Wyngarde to a recording studio in west London in May 2016.

Peter was hired to record a 15 minutes monologue. In his usual fashion he had worked on this complex and rather emotional piece for several weeks. In the script there was barely a word not underlined, circled or a sentence that Peter hadn’t written a directors comment about.

When arriving at the studio and meeting the director and the recording team, Peter was unusually jovial. But as the actual recording was about to begin dear Peter was in a more, what can only gently be described as a rather “assertive” mood.

A lot of this I’d learned was simply to do with nerves. He had such very high demands on others but, as I and those closest to him knew, the highest demands were reserved for himself. Anything less than absolute and total excellence was not tolerated!

There was a special chair in front of the microphone, which was placed on a small table. Peter was not happy with this setup! He really didn’t want the chair nor the microphone place on a table. The microphone should be hanging slightly above him in front of him. I thought here we go, another “classic” Peter Wyngarde, ‘let’s refurbish the whole studio’. However, after a bit of time this was arranged for Peter. There were a lot of pale faces around that studio – some possibly even red.

He did the monologue twice. They decided to use the first take as it had slightly more energy. A few years earlier he could have done this twenty times with plenty of energy!

Now, the reason Peter wanted all the changes was simply because he knew that performing this standing up would give it more vigour and be more natural, especially since the character he played – an actor who was walking around alone on the stage and who knew that he was dying. This was so powerful and deeply moving, and totally different to anything he had played before. Everyone else in the studio, including myself, were utterly overwhelmed and I think most of us in tears as well.

A slightly tense start had turned out to be an afternoon of sheer and profound acting magic! And of course with all the re-arrangements, Peter as always knew what was best and how it all should be done! And not only that, but he had an ace up his sleeve. He had memorised the whole piece and did as a real full-out performance. Actors usually always reads the text when doing audio work. But not Peter Wyngarde! Hence the staggering realism and remarkable quality of his performance!

Everything with dear Peter was a life enriching experience on a level I have never experienced with any other actor, be it work-related or in life. The great wonders, work and wisdom of Wyngarde.

Wishing all Hellfire Club members a safe and happy New Year!

For Peter and Tina always

Thomas Bowington xxx

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20th December, 2020

Peter had a notoriously bad temper, as anyone who knew or worked with him I’m sure would testify. However, the red mist was almost always short-lived, and he rarely if ever carried on once he’d said his piece. I doubt that any of those us who were close to him that managed to avoid a tongue-lashing at one time or another, but while he was capable of using every expletive in the book with some people, he never once swore at me.

When Peter and I had our parting of the ways in the latter half of the Noughties, we exchanged a few barbed comments, all of which were designed to hurt the other as much as possible given the circumstances. We both said some terrible things to each other and, for my part, it’s something I’ve regretted to this day. The thing is that love makes us vulnerable, so the people who are most likely to cause us hurt are those closest to us. Of course, EVERYTHING gets thrown up and raked over during such a tirade. Anyone who doesn’t understand that, or who actually believes that everything that’s said in the heat of an argument is meant, really does need a reality check!

The one thing about Peter in situations like this is that he was always the first to apologise. When we were to make contact again with each other, in his opening letter to me, the very first thing he did was to express his remorselessness at what he’d said – explaining that he must’ve been “out of his mind” and “beyond hope” at my leaving to have uttered such things.

Of course, when someone passes away there are always regrets. While I’ve repeatedly been assured that I did everything possible for Peter during the years we knew each other, and especially during the final 18 months of his life, I still torture myself with thoughts of what more I could’ve and should’ve done for him. Things haven’t been easy since he passed away. Losing a person who had been in the public eye is something I wouldn’t wish on anyone. I recall sitting with Peter in his private hospital room during the final week of his life, when the lady with the refreshment trolley arrived on the ward. Peter had asked me to get him a copy of The Times. By that point he was confined to bed, and so I laid the paper out in front of him and turned the pages when he nodded. He didn’t read it – he couldn’t – so he just soporifically glanced at each page before slowly inclining his head to move on.

Exactly a week later to the day, news of Peter’s passing was in The Times and the Internet was alive with comment – good and bad; kind and cruel. EVERYBODY had an opinion, well-intentioned or otherwise. All I wanted to do was curl up and die.

I can’t believe that almost 3 years have passed since he went away, during which time I’ve seen the very best of people and also the very worst. While on occasion I’ve been shown the utmost kindness and support by a complete stranger, I’ve also experienced the most abhorrent duplicity and deceit from people I’d once called friends.

The years since Peter went away have been an enormous learning curve for me. I’ve found that the most sincere support and kindness can come from complete strangers, while sometimes those you thought were ‘friends’ are capable of the most abhorrent duplicity and deceitfulness.  

I’ve also come to realise that there are no depths to which some people will sink over money, and there are absolutely no limits to the deceptions, slanders and lies they will peddle in an attempt to deflect attention from their own lack of integrity. While it might be easier to project your own transgressions onto someone else than it is to be honest; reasoning with people that believe their own lies would be impossible!

Peter was a firm believer in what goes around, comes around. I personally look forward to the day when the fools that have jumped on this embittered part’s bandwagon finally realise that they’ve backed the wrong horse.

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12th December, 2020

He was a huge telly-bug who’d lie, not sit, along his Chesterfield sofa, which is where I like to think of him even now. His favourite programmes included the American comedy show, ‘Seinfeld”, and HSBO’s ‘True Detective’. He’d also enjoyed the first series of ‘Broadchurch’; not so keen on the second, and often waxed lyrical about ‘Inspector Montalbano’ and the original Swedish version of Wallander’.

It was of course a monumental disaster when the TV in the lounge gave up the ghost in July of 2017. Given that Peter’s birthday was just around the corner, I offered to buy a new set as a gift. The old one had been a 40″, and it was my initial intent to purchase the same. However, my internet search suggested that it wouldn’t cost much more to upgrade to a 44-inch. I remember Peter’s eyes lighting up like a 5-year old’s on Christmas morning when I mentioned this to him: “Oh, yes. I think I’d like that.”

The really sad thing was that he was taken into hospital during the first week in October, and so he wasn’t able to get the enjoyment out of the new set as I’d hoped. Of course, I was still living at the flat and was there to use the set in the evenings after I arrived home from spending the day on the ward with Peter.

The cost of using a TV in the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital was extortionate. We were obliged to pay £25.00 every 72 hours for a pass which, quite unfairly, ran concurrently, so it continued eating up time during the night or when it was switched off during the day. I’d often receive a call after I’d arrived back at the flat in the evening from a panic-stricken Peter, bemoaning the fact that his telly had run out of credit: “Darling, can you ring through and top it up for me?!” The same would happen if he was moved to a different ward; any credit would have to be transferred to the TV attached to his new bed. We could’ve bought a top-of-the-range, Ultra HD television for what we forked out for those blasted passes!

The shows that would often result in our locking horns included ‘Coronation Street’ (no self-respecting Northerner can go more than a day or two without a bit of “Corrie”); Peter LOATHED it, despite the fact that he’d never watched a single episode in his life! As I was quick to point out, ‘Coronation Street’ was TV’s first ever ‘Kitchen Sink’ drama, in the style of John Osborne who’d, of course, got his break at the Royal Court Theatre, which Peter had helped to establish. He, on the other hand, thought that, a-hem, ‘comedian’ (sic), Frankie Boyle, was an absolute genius of satire. Peter’s own sense of humour could often be quite pointed – sometimes cruel – which is probably why he enjoyed watching Boyle so much. Those times when Boyle was appearing on screen proved opportune to clear out the fridge or something equally distracting – anything really to get out of the room!

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4th December, 2020

Peter was nothing if not forthright. If he didn’t like a person, or was unhappy with the conduct of a friend or acquaintance, they knew about it in no uncertain terms. To illustrate the point, here is an excerpt from a letter he sent to a certain ‘Kenny Grice’ (see previous post) when he seemingly crossed the line. He really didn’t care who the recipient of one of these notorious “stinking letters” was – delivered with both barrels AND some!

It’s bizarre therefore to be told by a complete stranger (yes, you read that right!) that Peter was supposedly annoyed at my “repeatedly calling him”. If that had been the case, I can assure you that I’d have been the first person to know about it! But, of course, an empty vessels that make the loudest sound and those with the least knowledge, are often the greatest blatherers.

Peter would often say that hell was other people. Despite he himself falling victim to some truly appalling gossip and falsehoods, he himself would never say anything behind a person’s back that he wasn’t prepared to say to his or her face. But he’d always had a reputation for being a plain-speaker that has sometimes translated in to his being a difficult person to work with. That might’ve been the case in some instances, but he was always able to remain true to himself. One thing he couldn’t be labelled was a coward.

It’s oft been peddled, exclusively I might add by people who neither knew or ever met Peter personally, that he didn’t know his own mind, and that at the end of his life he was somehow manipulated or pushed in directions he didn’t wish to go. This is wholly untrue, and not only that, it’s a malicious slur on the man himself. I can well imagine his reaction if he’d been here to witness such idiocy. 

Peter was as open and honest in his work as he was in ‘real’ life. In 2012, he was invited to give a talk by the National Youth Theatre, in which he spoke about “truth”:

“Dame Edith Evans, who was probably the greatest English-speaking actress in the world, gave some marvellous performances on stage –in comedy and restoration, but especially in Shakespeare.

One of her triumphs was on stage was The Dark Is Light Enough by Christopher Fry. I was privileged to play opposite her in the television production. She had asked me because she’d seen me on TV in several of the performances I’d given in the medium, before I’d made Jason King a worldwide icon (call a spade a spade, I say!), and I hope not because we were neighbours in the country when I had a weaver’s cottage and she lived in the grand manor house.

She often visited, or invited me over, and on one occasion before we started rehearsals, she said, ‘You know about television, Peter. Can I put myself entirely in your hands? I need to learn the technique.’ My answer was, ‘You already have it, Edith. It’s called Truth.’

‘Yes, yes,’ she said. ‘I know all about that, but where do I put my truth?’

‘Where you’ve always kept it,’ I replied, ‘within YOU. The camera is sure to find it if you’re lying, or playing tricks. It only likes truth, and the ability to say lines as if you’ve only just thought of them – not as if you read them centuries ago, or if they’ve been written for you by someone else.’

‘Yes, but how do I do that when there are so many cameras and technicians about?’ she asked. ‘That’s the technique you must learn in rehearsal, but your director will guide you there.’ And he did, and she gave a magnificent performance which was influenced by the small screen.”

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4th December, 2020

ROYALTIES AND CHARITABLE DONATIONS

Yesterday, I received the first Royalties Statement from Austin-Macaulay for sales of my book between publication (27th February, 2020) and the end of August. As I stated when I first began work on the book, ‘Peter Wyngarde: A Life Amongst Strangers‘, I would be donating any and all royalties to the charities that Peter had passionately supported during his life.I just wanted to let you know that, this morning, I sent cheques for sizeable amounts to the following charitable organisations:

• The National Youth Theatre: https://www.nyt.org.uk/
• The Donkey Sanctuary: https://www.thedonkeysanctuary.org.uk/
• Hillside Animal Sanctuary: http://www.hillside.org.uk/

Since the amount received does not include sales from September 1st 2020 onward – (the book has been an almost constant feature in best-seller charts in the weeks from mid-November), I hope that I will be able to make additional donations to charity when the next Royalties Statement arrives in 6 months time.

Given the abhorrent, underhand tactics employed by a certain party in Portsmouth and the gullible miscreants they’ve encouraged to malign and harass Thomas Bowington and I over the past 17 months,* I have requested receipts from each of the organisations named above.

Should any of you wish to make a personal donation to any of the above charities in Peter’s name or your own, you can do so via the links provided.

*I was informed just last week that while hiding behind the username ‘Kenny Grice’, (real name Kevin Thomas) the ringleader of this obsessed and misguided rabble had twice DEMANDED to know what I intended to do with any royalties made by my book.

This individual did not appear to understand that he was not discussing public funds, but my own personal earnings – the destination of which had absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with him or his associates. However, such has been the arrogance of these people, none of whom has ever had any personal connection with either Peter or myself, that they actually believe they’re entitled to answers. THEY ARE NOT!

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30th November, 2020.

While Peter had something of a reputation within the film and theatrical world for being “difficult”, he was also a very kind an considerate man who would do all he could to help others achieve their dreams. As mentioned earlier in this column, he often gave lessons free-of-charge to budding young actors and actresses, and would assist them as best he could with travelling expenses and accommodation in London. These traits were evident when he first met fellow actor, Alan Bates.

Another of Peter’s ‘projects’ was a gentleman who I refer to in my book, ‘Peter Wyngarde: A Life Amongst Strangers’ – namely ‘Kenny Grice’. Given the type of person that he was and, quite possibly still is, I decided after consulting with my publisher to give this individual a pseudonym, not least because he has an ex-wife and several children who are completely innocent, and who did not deserve to be dragged through the mire.

Peter had met ‘Grice’ while he was working on a film script, and since the latter fitted the part of the former’s lead character, Peter asked ‘Grice’ if he would help him with his research. He agreed, and soon Peter was introduced to ‘Grice’s’ family, mates and, on occasion, his extremely dodgy lifestyle. Inevitably, Peter became increasingly embroiled with the family, and would end up forwarding money to the soon-to-become ex-wife and the children, in addition to bailing ‘Grice’ out of one disaster after the other.

Unlike any of those persons mentioned earlier in this piece, ‘Grice’ would repeatedly bite the hand that fed him, and yet in spite of being imprisoned twice within less than 4 years, Peter would persist in his attempt to get him clean of drugs so that he could become the father his young children deserved.

While this particular horse would be lead to water many, MANY times over the years, Peter would never fully succeed in making it drink. The most tragic thing about this entire scenario was that Peter would end up losing the family of children that he’d become so fond of. It was an incredibly sad situation. I can only hope for his sake at least, that he did enough to keep those kids from taking the same path to drug addition and crime.

N.B. The person referred to above should not be confused with the crazed internet troll who has adopted ‘Kenny Grice’ as a Username.

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19th November, 2020

As per a couple of my previous posts, I’ve been putting the current lockdown restrictions to good use by going through some old letters and cards that I’d been meaning to sort out for months. While doing so, I came across 9 letters and cards that Peter had sent to me during a trip to France to sort out his recently deceased stepbrother’s affairs.

Paul Edouard Juvert, was the son of Peter’s Mother, Marcheritta, and her second husband, Charles Juvet, and was some 10 years Peter’s junior. On leaving school, he’d joined the French Foreign Legion, rising to the rank of Sergent-Chef (Senior Sergeant). After leaving the Legion in 1960, he went to live in Geneva, Switzerland.

Following his death in 1998, Peter was left to arrange and pay for Paul’s funeral. It was a very difficult time for him, not least because he’d lost a brother who he’d been close to, but because he was left to take care of Paul’s concerns either by travelling to Geneva himself, or engaging a Swiss solicitor to deal with the probate – a cost which he had to shoulder alone.

Additionally, Paul had had business interests in France, which Peter was also obliged to wind up. He was to fly out to Marseilles for seven days following the funeral. Despite everything, he would write to me each day, and we’d talk every other day by ‘phone.

Peter would often say to me that I would’ve liked Paul but, sadly, we were never to meet. A visit to London had been planned for the Spring of 1998. Unfortunately, it was just after Christmas of 1997 that Paul’s health took a turn for the worse and he wasn’t able to make it. Not getting to meet him in the flesh was something I’ve always regretted.

On a happier note, whilst Peter was in France, he’d taken time out to look at some of the villas there, as we’d hoped to buy a property together somewhere in Europe. He did spot a really nice place near Mèze (see letter below) called ‘Cryla Vicca’ but, alas, it was just a holiday rental and not for sale. I did fly out there though, and we were able to spend a few days together on the Mediterranean coast. We returned there five years later – this time to Cap d’Age, which was less than 30 miles from Mèze. Happy days.

Above and Below: The letter heads from two of the letters Peter sent to me from France.

[1]: The gullible idiot referred to in the post dated 29th September, 2020, made a number of wild allegations based on what he’d been fed by a supposed “friend” of Peter’s. In fact, this “friend” does not exist and is merely a front – or ‘Sock Puppet’ – for another embittered party. While remaining unconvinced by the truth, this clown and his mob of bullies will trust the bad without a moment’s hesitation.

“It’s far easier to dupe a simpleton who has an agenda than it is to convince him he’s been duped” Peter Wyngarde

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15th November 2020

I was recently going through some letters and other odd and sods, and I came across this card (see below) which I received from Karen – the senior nurse of the Palliative Team at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital – a couple of weeks after Peter passed away.

At the time, I was living back at the flat in Earls Terrace, as Thomas (Bowington) and I were still paying the rent and struggling to empty it. I took the card home with me, but was too upset to do anything with it but to shove it away in a drawer.When I re-read it yesterday and actually took in what was being said to me, I realised that it mentioned you – Peter’s genuine fans, so I thought you might like to see it.

I hope to soon receive news of any royalties my book has earned since publication, and given that I would never attempt to make money from Peter’s name, I intend to donate anything I might receive to charity.

I thought that it would be nice to send something to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital to thank them in some small way for their care of Peter during the time he was there. The staff on the Intensive Care Unit where he was admitted following emergency surgery on Christmas Eve 2017, and the two young nurses on the St Mary Abbott Ward where Peter passed away, were faultless in their ministration.

In addition to Peter’s care, they were kindness itself to me as I lived on a permanent basis in Peter’s room during the last week of his life. While Thomas and I were to send the nurses a large bouquet of flowers each to thank them for their selflessness and compassion, I’d like to do something more if I can in Peter’s name. I hope you’ll agree.

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In February of 2017, Peter received a very kind letter from Conservative MP for East Yorkshire, Sir Gregory Knight, who was not only a life-long fan, but also shared a loved of classic cars. Indeed, it was in relation to the latter subject that the Chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Historic Vehicles Group (A.P.P.H.V.G.) had written.

It transpired that Sir Greg wished to invite Peter to an event at the Palace of Westminster by the A.P.P.H.V.G.. At the time, however, Peter’s health was really quite bad, and he was attending both the Charing Cross and Chelsea and Westminster hospitals, sometimes up to three times a month. It was decided that he should put the invite on the backburner for a while with the hope that his condition might improve enough to enjoy the day further down the line.

Above – left to right: Left to Right: Rt Hon Sir Greg Knight MP, actor Leslie Phillips, Derek Mathewson and DJ Mike Read.

He was extremely sympathetic to the state of affairs that had befallen the flat in Earls Terrace where Peter had lived from 1958. He listened as I told him how we’d fought tooth and nail to get our voices heard by Kensington and Chelsea Council, the Directorate of Environmental Health and the local MP to no avail. I then emailed him over a copy of the letter we’d received from Lady Borwick’s office.

Although Sir Greg was unable to help us directly, given that the flat was not in his constituency, he did offer to speak with Lady Borwick himself personally, and to ask her to contact us. Three days later, I received a call from her Borick’s office on my mobile, and an appointment was arranged for her Ladyship to visit the flat to speak with us.      

As fate would have it, Lady Borwick lost her seat in parliament in the General Election in June, to the Labour candidate for Kensington, Emma Dent Coad, and so we had to start all over again – contacting her office and repeating the entire story over again. At least on that occasion, our complaints had been made a matter of record with all the relevant offices and agencies in the Royal Borough.

Fast forwarding to Christmas of that year, and Peter’s readmittance hospital following emergency surgery on the night of 24th December: I’d spent Xmas Day with my Mum in Lancashire, but had raced back to London by the first available train on Boxing Day morning. When I went over to the flat for the night, I’d collected the mail which had been delivered during my absence, which included just 3 Christmas cards; one each from Fernella Fielding and Vernon Dobtcheff, and the third from Sir Greg. It took them with me, along with my own gifts and card, when I returned to the hospital on the morning of 27th December.  

When Peter passed away in January 2018, I received a very kind letter from Sir Greg who, of course, extended his condolences to me, and enquired whether the funeral had already taken place:

I responded as follows:

Monday, 12th February, 2018 Dear Sir Greg, Thank you for your letter. I hope that you will forgive the delay in my replying, but as I’m sure you’ll appreciate the past month has been both distressing and challenging, so this has been the first opportunity I’ve had to respond to any mail received in the wake of Peter’s passing. He’d been admitted to hospital back in October with a serious stomach infection, but had made enough progress to be discharged from the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital to a rehabilitation unit on 18th December. However, he was readmitted on Christmas Eve with what turned out to be a perforated bowel. Given the seriousness of his condition, there was little option but to operate even though the surgeon feared that his heart and kidneys might not stand up to the strain. I called the hospital at 4am on Christmas morning fearing the worst, but was both delighted and relieved to hear that he’d come through the operation and had been taken to the Intensive Care Unit. Indeed, he was doing well enough to be moved from the I.C.U. to a regular ward just a few days later. On 8th January, however, having believed that the worst was over, I was devastated to receive a call from the ward sister who advised that Peter’s kidney function had deteriorated almost overnight, and that he had only days left. I stayed with him at the hospital, day and night from thereon in, and was with him when he passed at 18.51 on 15th January. I was absolutely heartbroken, and have barely stopped crying since. I miss him SO much. His funeral took place at Golders Green Crematorium on Thursday, 25th January. Since he’d always been a very private man, it was decided that only those who’d been close to him, plus three or four family members, would be invited to attend. The main thing was keeping the date and time of the service away from the press. Sharing what I considered to be a very private matter with the rest of the world via the media was excruciating. Peter did receive your lovely Christmas card (I took delivery of it at his flat, and gave it to him at the hospital where it took pride of place on the window sill of his room). I’m sorry that he didn’t have the opportunity to express his gratitude to you in person. Thank you also for your kindness in relation to previous issues relating to building works. Yours Sincerely, Tina

I’m so desperately sad that Peter was unable to join Sir Greg at one of the All Party Parliamentary Historic Vehicles Group events at the Palace of Westminster. I know he would’ve loved it, as would I as his ‘Plus 1’.

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5th October, 2020

Peter would’ve had a wry smile at comments made by Gyles Brandreth in The Telegraph on 10th August, 2018, in which he claimed that Peter’s “wig” had caught fire during a performance of ‘Cyrano de Bergerac‘ back in 1959.

“Peter Wyngarde’s hair caught fire in Cyrano in Bristol,” the former Conservative MP cackled disparagingly. “He was reluctant to pull off his flaming wig lest his audience discover he was bald.” The only flaw in this hilarious(!) anecdote was that Peter, who was just 31-years-old at the time, had a full head of hair!!!

I responded to the story via our ‘Do They Mean Mean Me?” page on this very website which was, in turn, reported on Twitter by professional busybody, Gareth Bevan – A.K.A. ‘Man With A Pencilcase’.

man-with-a-pencilcase @george_cowley·Feb 28 Replying to @GylesB1 @SimonEvans25 and @The_GlobeHello @GylesB1 I think you should see this posted on the internet.

Mr Bevan is no stranger to this kind of infantile behaviour. He once attempted to contact actor, Sam J. Jones, to ask if he “recommended” my book. “Of course he recommends it,” Thomas Bowingdon exclaimed when he read Bevan’s query on Sam’s Twitter feed, “he wrote the f*****g foreword!” Thankfully, Sam had the good sense not to reply.

Back in February 2020, Mr Bevan – a civil servant from the north of England – had leapt on a comment by actress, Madeline Smith, which was in response to a question that had been posted on Facebook (FB) about me.

I first met Ms Smith at Peter’s funeral in January 2018. When, over a year later, she’d replied to the FB user, she hadn’t realised that the person referred to in the post and the individual she’d shared a meal with after the funeral, were one and the same. Alas, by that point in time, Mr Bevan had already scurried off excitedly to re-post Ms Smith’s response on several other FB pages.

Not unsurprisingly, when Madeline retracted her remark and issued a public apology to me, the curmudgeon that had hastily shared her original statement didn’t seem quite so eager to promote her amendment. I have a suspicion that the same will apply to Gyles Brandreth’s abjure below. At least the old Tory was man enough to admit when he was wrong.

“I could find no persuasive authentication for the story, and that, in fact, it appears Wyngarde played Cyrano when he was a lot younger and probably had a perfectly good head of hair”. Gyles Brandreth.

A message from Madeline Smith

Dear Tina, Firstly, I am so desperately sorry for the confusion. The way things were put to me I didn’t realise that you and the lady author were one and the same. You know now that I never meant ANYTHING other than good on your behalf. I asked a perfectly innocent question, but as you know, silly people will do as they will do, and say what they wish to say, and it just reflects appallingly on them. You have to switch off and ignore it all. There are ghastly people and kind people. Concentrate on the good. When I read what these atrocious people had written I thought, ‘Oh dear God!’ I hope that my support will help in some small way to help release you from these vile demons. Until now, I had never been privy to any of this unpleasantness or trolling, or seen nor read anything unkind towards you. I find the internet a source of joy, and am so so sad that these people have nothing better to do with their lives. Peter was an adorable man, and that is all that needs to be said. Your relationship is none of anybody else’s business. You must feel sorry for sad people who want to inflict hurt, and offer it up to God if you are a believer. Peter loved you and nobody can ever take that away. Wishing you the very best now, Tina. Maddy x

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30th October, 2020

Above: As Peter’s Next-of-Kin, I was notified that he’d been re-admitted to the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital (see 020 Number). I was advised to expect a call from Peter himself (see Private Number), who was desperate to speak to me. A phone was subsequently found for him to use.

I of course had spoken with the nurse who’d been assigned to him on the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) where he’d been taken after leaving theatre. She said that he’d smiled when she’d told him that I’d called.

Peter was still drowsy at the time and unable to speak after having a breathing tube removed from his throat (see later text below). To say I was relieved when I learned that he was “doing well” would be an understatement, and all I could think about was getting the first train to London on Boxing Day to be with him. From arriving at the hospital on 26th December, I barely left Peter’s side – only returning to the flat to have a shower or to pick something specific up for him. 

I need not describe the pain I felt when I was told by his nurse that recent tests had revealed that Peter was suffering multiple organ failure. It had come as such a shock, since he’d been doing so well following the surgery. While I was determined not to leave him, I still had to fight the urge to start running as far and as fast as I was able.

Although my finding the ‘phone did bring back some painful memories, it was also to remind me of what Peter and I had, it served to reassure me of what will never die no matter how hard others try. I know for certain that if there is a some other place we go to after death, I’ll be able to look Peter in the eye with the knowledge that I did my best.

Notes: [1]. ‘Peter Wyngarde: A Life Amongst Strangers’.

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22nd October, 2020

By Richard Taylor

I first met Peter when he was appearing in Butley at the Metro Theatre on Bourke Street, in Melbourne back in 1971. At the time I was working for Harry H. Miller Productions, the company that was staging the play. Peter and I had a similar sense of humour and so we got along like a house on fire. During his tenure at the theatre he’d often come over to dine with my wife and I at our home in South Yarra.

We kept in touch after he returned to England both by telephone and letter, and when he returned to Australia a couple of years later he stayed with us for a few days. At that time he had plans to buy a house on the Gold Coast, so we helped him as best we could with this venture. Regrettably his plans were to fall through not least because of his mother and stepfather’s reluctance to emigrate with him.

As a Brit, born and bred (I originally hail from Bexleyheath, Kent), my wife and I would visit England semi-regularly and Peter would insist on us staying with him when we visited London. It was during one of those visits around the time of the Millennium, that I first met Tina. It immediately became apparent to me why Peter cared so much for her, as she was and is a very affable, kind and generous lady who Peter often described to me as “having not a bad bone in her body.”

Sadly, the last time I saw Peter was in 2015. By that time my dear wife had passed away and Peter’s health was in severe decline. It was of great comfort to me as I left him for the last time to know that he still had his beloved “soulmate” by his side to care for him. It was Tina of course who informed me of his death in 2018. Due to my own faltering health (I’d only recently undergone heart surgery), I was unable to make the trip to London to attend the funeral, but I was able to speak with Tina that same evening. To say that she was distraught would be an immense understatement.

I have to say that I was absolutely sickened when I learned that Peter’s surviving relatives who had been absent from his life from the mid 1970’s onward, had chosen to deprive him of his dying wish by claiming his estate. I shudder to think of the barrage of profanity that would have poured from mouth as he peered down from on high. The subsequent abuse that has been meted out to Tina, the person he loved most in the world, has just heaped insult upon injury. There cannot possibly be any justification for the witch hunt that has been encouraged against her since Peter’s death.

The latest tactic of inventing phantom personalities to fool a pack of idiots into believing they’re conversing with “Peter’s friends” is wholly repugnant. Furthermore, the suggestion that Peter “detested” Tina and his agent, Thomas Bowington, is ludicrous in the extreme. I can testify that there has never been a more strong-minded or forthright person on the planet than Peter Wyngarde. If he didn’t like a person they would be the first to know about it! To insist that he did not know his own mind is a direct insult to the man, and proves if any more proof were needed, that those behind this smear campaign have absolutely no insight whatsoever into Wyngarde’s life, which is hardly surprising as none of them actually knew him.

I was blessed to have known Peter and I remember with great fondness the times that he spent with my wife and I. He was a splendid raconteur and had the memory of an elephant. I’m so happy that I was able to see him one last time in 2015. Despite his failing health he had lost none of his zest for life or anything of his wicked sense of humour.

God bless you Tina for continuing to stand up for Peter and for remaining the steadfast protector of his legacy.

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16th October, 2020

I don’t know how Peter would’ve coped with the current Covid-19 situation – especially with all the ‘in lockdown’/’out of lockdown’ business. During the time that I was part of his life, he signed up for several night school courses, including a computer class and French Composition. While he could speak French fluently, he wasn’t quite so eloquent when writing in the language. Given the existing state of affairs, these would be two activities that would almost certainly have to be put on the back burner.

Another thing he liked to do occasionally was give private acting lessons. Apart from the work itself, he enjoyed the chatting with younger people and they with him. I recall an incident when he was attending an appointment at Charing Cross Hospital several years ago when he managed to get two random teenagers involved in fixing his “wretched” mobile phone.

Those amongst you who have read my book will recall a lady I mention called Mitzi Kalinsky, whose father had been Peter’s accountant and friend. She had known Peter from birth, as had her own son, Adam. She recalled taking her son to see Peter play The Sheriff of Nottingham in ‘Babes in the Wood’ at the Richmond Theatre in 1985. When Peter – the villain of the piece – took to the stage and was roundly booed as tradition dictated, young Adam leapt up onto his seat and facing down the audience, roared, “No! No! Stop it – don’t boo him!”

Left: Mitzi Kalinski, MA – Sexton of the Jewish Joint Burial Society. Director at A Way With Tax Ltd.

It was only during the final weeks of his life, when both Adam and Mitzi came to the hospital to see Peter, that the Mitzi learned how Peter had allowed her so as a teenager to “have a drive” of his car. Mitzi was, of course, dumbstruck – albeit 30 years too late!

I believe that the reason young people liked Peter so much was because he was really a child at heart. I remember saying to him once when buying a T-shirt with an image of Sylvester the Cat on the front that I was, after all, in my 3rd childhood. “Well, if you’re in your 3rd, I must be in my 7th or 8th!”

He had, of course, missed out on much of his own childhood by being incarcerated in Lung Hau civil assembly centre in china during World War II. He was however, able to make up for lost time by enjoying the company of people like Adam and his God Children.

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8th October, 2020

When Peter and his agent at the time had a parting of the ways in 2005, he feared that he may never work again. It was fortuitous then that Bowington Management was recommended to him by a friend in the business, and so came a new beginning and a friendship that would last until the end of his life.

Thomas Bowington began life in the entertainment industry at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where one of his classmates was Ioan Gruffudd, who went on to star in the successful ITV series, ‘Hornblower’ and Hollywood blockbusters, ‘The Fantastic 4’ and ‘The Professor and the Madman’. Thomas, however, was soon to realise that his talents lay outside of the acting profession, and when the opportunity arose for him to buy the popular Westminster Film Fair, he jumped at the chance.

Thomas Bowington began life in the entertainment industry at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA), where one of his classmates was Ioan Gruffudd, who went on to star in the successful ITV series, ‘Hornblower’ and Hollywood blockbusters, ‘The Fantastic 4’, and ‘The Professor and the Madman’. Thomas, however, was soon to realise that his talents lay outside of the acting profession, and when the opportunity arose for him to buy the popular Westminster Film Fair, he jumped at the chance.

Above: Peter and Thomas

Some of the first names on his books were ‘Bond Girls’ Caron Garder and Madeline Smith, followed in short order by Vernon Dobtcheff,  Derren Nesbitt, Julian Glover, David Warner and Jane Merrow. He now counts amongst his personal friends the likes of Sir Ian McKellern and Sir Patrick Stewart.

Thomas had been a huge Peter Wyngarde for decades, and so he was delighted when the actor contacted him in 2008. Despite his various health conditions, Peter was eager to get out to some of the events that Thomas was involved with, which included ComiCon at the NEC in Birmingham, where he’d enjoy meeting fans and old colleagues alike.

Thereafter, Thomas was to find numerous projects for Peter, which included his collaborating with explorative performer, artist, and stage and film designer, Marie Gabriella Blunck on Samuel Beckett’s play A Piece of Monologue, which Blunckused in her critically acclaimed exhibition at the Barbican in London.

He’d also work with creative artist, Graham Roos, on his album ‘Quest’, with Peter and actress, Fenella Fielding, performing a track called ‘Night Dragon’.

He also narrated an episode of the long-running series ‘Timeshift’ entitled, ‘How To Be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces Of A Master Detective’ for the BBC.

Peter was to make a guest appearance at the British Film Institute (BFI) in London during their two-month long season of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trangender+ (LGBT+) cinema to mark the 50th anniversary of the Sexual Offences Act. The seminal play, ‘South’ was screened and afterwards, took part in a Q & A session in front of a live audience.

2016 and ’17 would mark the 35th Anniversary and 50th Anniversary of ‘Flash Gordon’ and ‘The Prisoner’, respectively, and so Peter would make an appearance at events marking both. He’d also take to the small screen in Channel 4s documentary series, ‘It Was Alright In The 60s’

One thing that Thomas brought into Peter’s life that he’d genuinely enjoy was the opportunity to appear at conventions and film fairs across the UK. Although the travelling would often be gruelling for him, he loved chatting fans – some of whom had made their way from Europe and North America to meet him. During the time that he attended these events, Thomas never ONCE took a penny piece from Peter as was his right as an agent and manager. He always passed on the entire fee, whatever it might be, to the actor.

When we attended the ‘Fall In – The Prisoner at 50’ celebrations at Portmeirion in September 2017, the organisers – Network – was to take over two months to forward payments to the actors for their appearances. Thomas was to pay Peter on the day from his own pocket to ensure that he wouldn’t be forced to wait.  

Thomas had been hard at work making bookings for Peter long into 2018. He was due to play a judge in the long-running BBC1 drama series, ‘Silent Witness’, and to appear as a guest on Radio 4’s, ‘Desert Island Discs.’ We were all to head out to California in the spring where Peter would be a VIP guest at a large film fair there. Additionally, Thomas had been looking at suitable locations in London for Peter’s first ever one-man shown. Peter’s idea for the opening was to have a completely blacked out stage and auditorium, when suddenly the audience would hear Peter repeatedly growling the word, “RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPPPEEEEE!” through the PA, until finally the lights were to go up and he’d be standing on stage. Whatever would the papers have said?!

Tragically, none of the above was to come to fruition since Peter would pass away on 15th January, 2017. Thomas Bowington above anyone else, had given him hope and a last hoorah, however small it might’ve been. Peter died believing that there was something left for him to do, which made him incredibly happy. That, for me, was priceless.  

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25th September, 2020

Although Peter was a super confident giant on stage, the moment he stepped out of the limelight he was a very different person. As hard as it may be for fans to believe, he was actually a very shy man who hated being around people he didn’t know or feel comfortable with. He was also very respectful around women; he never swore in front of “a lady” or behaved in any way that might be described as disrespectful.

I remember an incident in the mid-1990 when he decided that he wanted to take an Advanced Driving Course, given that he’d just purchased a powerful new sports car. At that time, there was a branch of the British School of Motoring on High Street Kensington, were we called in one afternoon en route back from Waitrose. The assistant that greeted us was a rather plump lady who promised to make so enquires on Peter’s behalf. We were instructed to come back towards the end of that week.

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19th September, 2020

There are many things in life that are fact, and there are many that are fiction. The rest, as they say, is just opinion. There is one problem, however, and that’s when some people begin to believe that their opinions are facts and that everyone else is wrong!

The difference between fact and opinion is that the latter can change over time while a fact remains constant; it does not change from person to person, and can be proven with evidence. Nevertheless, there are some individuals that cannot help but fall into the trap of confusing one with the other. Of course in those instances there will inevitably be amount of arrogance thrown in there for good measure, or perhaps an agenda to colour the water. In those cases opinion can quickly become an outright lie, and there is no more dangerous a liar than the one that believes he’s telling the truth.

You might remember in Pixar’s 2015 film ‘Inside Out’ how Joy, while riding the “Train of Thought” with her imaginary friend Bing Bong, manages to knock over a stack of boxes – one of which is carrying ‘Facts’, and the other, ‘Opinions’. When the contents of both these crates end up strewn across the floor, Joy finds herself with a dilemma: how will she ever return them to their rightful place when they look so alike?  

Above: Joy and Bing-Bong attempt to sort Fact from Opinion

“Don’t worry,” Bing Bong tells her as he begins to toss both lots into the same box – some people will never notice the difference!

During his career, Peter was often to find himself the subject of opinions that would ultimately be marketed as fact. Not unsurprisingly, many of those opinions have now become so ingrained in the public’s psyche that some individuals cannot, or will not, consider any alternative.

When I’m asked about this type of behaviour in relation to Peter’s life and career, I’m put in mind of the notorious conspiracy theorist, Bart Sibrel, who was once knocked on his ignoble behind by astronaut, Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin.  

As many of you may know, Sibrel fervently believes that the NASA Moon landings of the late Sixties and early Seventies were faked. So strong is his opinion (for that is all it is) that he once accosted the Apollo 11 Lunar Module pilot outside a Hollywood hotel to demand that Aldrin swear on the Bible that he did actually land on the Moon. When Aldrin refused to do so, Sibrel was to launch a barrage of abuse and accusations at the 72-year old – labelling him not only a liar, but a coward to boot. It was then that the self-important windbag was to suddenly find himself on his rear.

I have to admit that I’ve never cheered so loudly or so enthusiastically as I did when Buzz punched Sibrel in the muzzle. For me, he had struck a blow for everyone that has found themselves the victim of a similarly deluded bully.

Regardless of whether Aldrin had been to the Moon or not, no one in their right mind could possibly label that man a “coward”. Before joining the Space Programme, he had occupied two of the most dangerous jobs on the planet. Not only was he a decorated fighter pilot, but had also been a test pilot with the United States Air Force. But as is usually the case, it’s those that have achieved the least in their own lives that are the first to point an accusing finger at others. Such behaviour brings me to the somewhat new phenomena of Denialism.

Denialism is both an extension and an escalation of denial, which is one of the many ways that human beings have developed over time to delude not only others, but ourselves. An example of Denialism is the means by which some people refuse to accept that someone else is speaking the truth   

At root, denial and denialism are simply a subset of the many ways humans have developed the language of deception. Denial can be as simple as refusing to accept that someone else is speaking truthfully, but it can also manifest as something far more dangerous. That is when a new “truth” has been created by the Denialist which can, in some instances, create an environment of hate and suspicion that leads to victimisation.  

For some people, it’s easier to call another person a liar than it is for them to consider the possibility that they themselves might be wrong. Sadly, Peter was to fall victim to arrogance, confused opinion and Denialism throughout his life, as those of us that were closest to him continue to do now.

At least now when things get tough and the lunatics again threaten to overrun the asylum, I just smile and think of Colonel Edwin Aldrin. Thank you Buzz!

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11th September, 2020

Following the sad passing yesterday of legendary actress, Dame Diana Rigg, I’m sure you won’t be surprised o hear that the most popular pages on this website over the past 24 hours have been those devoted to the Avengers episodes, ‘A Touch of Brimstone’ and ‘Epic’ – both of which Peter guest-starred in opposite Ms Rigg.

It’s strange how circles begin to form at times like this. For instance, Peter would regularly play Bridge with Ms Rigg when she had lived near to him in West London. She, in turn, was a close friend of actor, Vernon Dobtcheff, who shared the screen with Peter in ITV’s production of Tennessee Williams, ‘Camino Real‘.

When Peter was faced with a personal crisis in September of 1975, Dobtcheff was the only friend to contact him with a kind word. He was to be the only close friend aside from Thomas Bowington and myself to attend Peter’s funeral in January of 2018. Mr Dobtcheff has been a good mate of Thomas’s for many years, and is also on the books of Bowington Management.

“True friends say good things behind your back, and bad things to your face.” Anon

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7th September, 2020

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned, but WordPress, the company that hosts this website, has several interesting and useful tool that includes a Statistics page that not only gives details on where in the world every visitor is from, but how many people have visited a particular page.

Following the release of the Flash Gordon 4K boxset recently, there was a flurry of interest in those pages devoted to the film. Likewise, we had a large amount of interest shown in The Saint episode, ‘The Man Who Liked Lions’ when it was shown on ITV4 a couple of weeks ago.

It would appear that Jason King is currently being shown in the Ukraine, given the number of hits we’ve had on the JK-related pages, and we’ve also had over 200 people from Japan visit the ‘site in the last few days, although I’m yet to discover what’s going on there.

Since I moved to Chester back in March, I often think about how much Peter would’ve loved it here. He spent almost a year in Rep in York during the late 1940s, and loved the history of the place.

When we were driving to Portmeirion at the end of September 2017, he asked if our route would take us through Chester which, unfortunately, it didn’t. We agreed that when he was feeling better we’d have a weekend there but, sadly, things were to take a turn for the worse with him health wise, and it was only a few days after we returned from ‘The Village’ that Peter was taken into hospital. He was never to see his home again.

There had been a plan for him to attend an event in Hollywood during the spring of 2018, which he was greatly looking forward to. Several of Thomas (Bowington’s) other clients were due to attend but Peter, who the organisers had been desperate to have on their guest list for years, would be the star turn.

Both Thomas and I were, of course, also to make the trip to California, and Peter was determined to get himself well and fit for the event. It was so desperately sad that he was unable to make it.

A work colleague of mine recently found a programme from one of Peter’s plays at the Theatre Royal, York, which he gifted to me, and asked if he’d ever performed at any of the theatres in Chester, to which the answer was no. The nearest he ever got was in either Liverpool or Llandudo, North Wales.

While I’ve already mentioned Portmerion earlier in this article, I thought I’d recount an amusing story about Derren Nesbitt, who was also attending the 50th Anniversary of the Prisoner in ‘The Village’.

All of us were staying in the main hotel, when one morning I was on way to get some breakfast for Peter, when I bumped into Derren and his lovely wife, Miranda in the corridor. They were kind enough to ask how Peter was, and then Derren said to me: “I bet you don’t know who I am.”

I said that I did, and recounted to him a story about how my Mum had seen him back former hometown of St Helens back in the early 1970s, where he was appearing at the Theatre Royal. The thing she remembered most about him was that he was wearing purple boots.

“Purple boots?” Miranda exclaimed.

“Oh, come on,” Derren retorted, “everyone wore purple boots in the 70s!”

Well quite. 

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1st September, 2020

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24th August, 2020

Just recently, a review of my book was posted online which contained the following enquiry from the lady concerned: “I finished reading this book some time ago. But looking at some of the reviews it has taken me a while to get my thoughts together. What became immediately obvious is the fact that the reviews were from men in the majority. Which made me wonder – why? A great deal of the comments were quite nasty. Bitching and catty. If someone disliked the man that much, why bother reading his book, I wonder? There was a lot of fault picking about Tina (Bates as I knew her, having been in the fan club since she set it up) and her relationship with Peter. Do these men have other information and knowledge of Peter that they weren’t letting on? “

This passage, of course, refers to some of the dross that appeared on the Internet following the publication of said book – all of it penned by either disgruntled former members of the Official Peter Wyngarde Appreciation Society who, having been barred for their puerile or abusive behaviour sought to exact revenge, or by those to whom the book held up a mirror and they did not like what they saw in it; again, prompting thoughts of retribution.

And to answer the lady’s question, no, none of these men have any “information or knowledge of Peter they’re not letting on,” since none of them knew or ever met him. Basically, it’s all a lot of hot air!

That now clearly established, the point regarding why some individuals seemingly cannot stay away from people and subjects that they profess to dislike, is something that I myself have often pondered. Why would anyone wish to spend endless hours sowing discord and attempting to ruin the enjoyment of others, rather than perusing something more constructive with their time? Well, that’s the $60,000 question!

I have to say that, over the years, the Official Peter Wyngarde Appreciation Society Facebook page has seen its own fair share of ignoramuses and time-wasters. However, with the experience I’ve gained over the years, and with the aid of FB’s improved security tools, such half-wits have been shown the door far more effectively than in the past. Where I’d once ran a ‘three strikes and you’re out’ rule, certain people would perceive this as a licence to continue with their infantile games. These day, I simple ban them without notice. Sadly, some juvenile individuals refuse to go quietly, hence the kind of response referred to above. The most alarming thing about this kind of incomprehensible behaviour is that the people responsible are not schoolgirls bickering over which member of One Direction is the better looking. They are, in fact, MIDDLE-AGED (and often older) men and women who really should know better. It does make me wonder what their friends and family would think of them if they knew what they get up to when they’re online.

Only recently, I spotted the following review of the ‘Life After Flash’ DVD on Amazon, which illustrates the confusion the rest of us feel when we encounter the kind of people described previously. While this particular gentleman is obviously no fan of actor, Sam J. Jones, or of the film, ‘Flash Gordon’, he STILL went out and purchased the aforementioned disc – seemingly for the sole purpose of complaining about it:

“Flash was lame in 1980 and it’s still lame today. It was a B film at best and I do not understand this hero worship of Sam Jones. This is purely a circle-jerk geek-off, narrated and commented on by a bunch of wanna be denizens who haunt any Comic Con. Why Sam has to pray to Jesus before he engages in his racket of selling over-priced signatures and photo ops to desperate nerds is beyond me.

Seriously, just look at this brief list of films from 1980 and you’ll wonder what all the fuss is about: The Empire Strikes Back, The Shining, Airplane!, Friday the 13th, Raging Bull, The Elephant Man and even Caddyshack. Flash is a turd in a punch bowl and I do not find the Sam Jones worship remotely interesting.”

While everyone entitled to his or her opinion, why in the name of all that’s holy would someone spend £14.99 on a DVD that they’ve already decided they going to hate?

As our American cousins would say, “Go figure!”

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17th August, 2020

Sadly, this isn’t the first time that I’ve had to address the topic of Peter’s biographical information nor, I suspect, will it be the last. And so here I go again – having to explain to those that should really have the intelligence to understand – how many of the details concerning Peter’s life have become so confused.

Back in the day, should a budding young actor be fortunate enough to find himself professional representation, his or her agent would not only encourage a change of name if he felt it necessary, but would often pen a ‘biography’ expounding the glamorous life his client had supposedly enjoyed up to that point.

Take Errol Flynn for instance. Who could forget about his adventures on the high seas as he made his way by boat to America from his native Tasmania. And then, of course, there was Marlon Brando, who claimed early on in his career to have been born in exotic Egypt, when in fact he was born and bred in Omaha, Nebraska.

And, of course, it wasn’t only Peter who would change his name to something that was a little more aesthetically pleasing. Take John Wayne, for instance, who had previously had the less than macho name of Marion Morrison, while Cary Grant had once been Archibald Leach. Sofia Loren was born, Sofia Costanza Brigida Villani Scicolone, Henry Darrow was formally Enrique Tomás Delgado Jiménez, and Kirk Douglas – Issur Danielovitch Demsky.  

There was absolutely nothing that Peter said or did that was different to any number of other actors of his generation, and yet he is repeatedly singled out? Anyone who cannot understand the has no business writing about actors!

With regard to the confusion regarding Peter’s DAY of birth: this is due to his choosing to use his mother’s birthday – 23th August – as opposed to his own 28th August. It was as simple as that.

As a result of my determination to respect Peter’s prerogative to hold true to the biography that had been written for him back in the 1940’s, I myself have been pilloried and labelled. I would ask those detractors: what would THEY do under the same circumstances – defy and embarrass Peter by contradicting him? How would THEY respond if he had been one of THEIR loved-ones? I will not apologise for remaining loyal to Peter, and I haven’t a single regret for resolutely defending him, regardless of what others might think or believe. If I had that time over again, I’d do exactly the same thing.

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12th August, 2020

The long-awaited Flash Gordon 40th Anniversary BluRay boxset was finally released this week, and for the first time since he passed away over two-and-a-half years ago, I was able to bring myself to watch a film with Peter in it.

The set included on disc 4 of 5, the full-length documentary, ‘Life After Flash’, which was produced over the course of several years by Sam J. Jones, and directed by Lisa Downs. Peter was interviewed for the programme in July 2016 but, sadly, didn’t live to see its original release on DVD/Blu-Ray in March 2019.

Needless to say, I was surprised but delighted to see a snippet of Peter, Sam and me chatting together in happier times. These two men were as different as chalk and cheese, and yet got on famously, with both sharing an interest in keeping fit (they used to visit the gym together while filming Flash Gordon), and both were firearms experts – Sam having trained to use a rifle while in the US Marines.

Of course, when I called him back in 2019, Sam was more than happy to write the foreword for my book, and also to related several anecdotes about Peter’s on-set shenanigans which I was able to use.

I do believe that the interview Peter did for this documentary is the closest that fans will ever come to witnessing the real Peter Wyngarde. He was extremely candid, and displayed many of the attributes that had become so familiar to me over the 30 years I knew him. Certainly, he was to show no reluctance in using profanity, or in sharing the fact that he was obliged to wear a jockstrap under the Klytus costume!

Below is a card that Peter gave to me in 2015 of Pablo Picasso’s ‘Grand Nu Fauteuil Rouge’:

On the reverse he wrote: ‘This was done of me by Pablo near the end of his life when I was supposed to be painted by Salvador Dali who didn’t and ended up giving me a dilemma. He asked me if I’d drape my cock over the arm of the chair but I refused. He said he’d put it in anyway.’

This, and the kind of candour observed in the ‘Life After Flash’ documentary referred to above, typifies the sort of personality traits (in this instance, humour) that I hoped to bring to my book but, alas, it would go clean over the head of one self-appointed ‘critic’ who, out of arrogance or spite (probably both!), would write that HE believed I was suffering from “Narcissistic Personality Disorder and Erotomania.” Little wonder he chose to conceal his identity behind a Username!

“Those that know the least often know it the loudest.” Peter Wyngarde

Call me old fashioned, but I’d always saw the purpose of a biography was to enlighten a reader by offering a taste of that subject’s nuances. In this instance, our pseudo-psychologist – though lacking even the most rudimentary understanding of Peter – was obviously far more interested in point-scoring than he was in reading and understanding.  

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6th August, 2020

Peter was a keen letter-writer who, apart from the occasional email, would always write longhand using a fountain pen.

From an early age, he kept a record of every letter he wrote – the earliest being copied verbatim by hand and then, latterly, he’d photocopy each one and file it away. Over the course of his lifetime, he wrote over 2,000 letters. Sadly towards the end of his life he was no longer able to hold a pen without suffering pain in his fingers, and so he lost the ability to write lengthy letters, and his once beautiful copperplate script became more of a scrawl. 

He bought his first Blackberry in 2012, and although he’d never fully master the wretched thing, he did learn to text reasonably well, although his messages would often require decoding! The fact that I was able to download all his texts proved to be incredibly useful, not least because he’d frequently ask me when he’d done this or that, whereupon I’d look back at his messages to find the exact date. Those texts were to become an invaluable aide du memoir when I was writing my book – ‘Peter Wyngarde: A Life Amongst Strangers’.

Looking back now, I’m grateful that I had the foresight to keep a record of all those messages which would otherwise have been lost. When Peter passed away, I printed all 2,000+ out and put them into files which I look back on from time to time.

In addition to the texts, I have several thousand handwritten letters and cards from Peter, which are incredibly precious to me. Whenever we were apart, he’s write every day – sometimes two or three times a day.

Given the huge success of my book, it was recently suggested that I publish all Peter’s letters as a follow-up, but I could never do that in view of the person nature of many of them. Even in death, I believe that people are entitled to privacy.

Below are some of the original texts that I used in my book

Below can be found on Page 425

‘Got your note this morn and am devastated. It felt as if u were upset about something and you’ve capitulated – abandoning me. I feel left out. please tell me this is not so. And u really needing to accept this German offer. We are soul mates and must never be separated for too long. ‘Ken’* is part of the family. I told u he goes way back and if you’d seen what he’s been thru  your heart wld go out to him as, only yours cld.On top of that his bitch wife managed to put everything in her name so he has nothing so her lover can move in.’ 4 November, 2014

**“Ken” = ‘Kenny Grice’. Pseudonym for an individual that had a significant role in my book. It was decided after discussions with my publisher to use an alias for this person since he has a partner and several grown up children who we did not wish to identify or embarrass. The name ‘Kenny Grice’ was chosen at random.

Below can be found on Page 438

‘Because, Little Bear. we are one in spite of psychological temporary embellishments, contradictions, impossible misunderstanding.gruelling, infuriating differences because there is nothing we can do about it,  as it’s the will of whosoever fixes these things to accept as graciously as possible! Just bear in mind it is rare as hell and not plain sailing but we have been chosen and should be thankful though it can be hard work which is part of the deal I’m afraid. That’s it! Accept it or I don’t know what or where – another planet? Sleep tight and thanks for helping me out with Paul French . I need to tell him what Mike Hodges advised but I’ve never sent an email as I’d like to not a clue mainly ‘cause I haven’t registered with my pc since I don’t know when on account of being in hospital for six months  .Really can’t wait after uve had a good rest and not before please so saying you’ve been on an exhausting shoot and u need a well earned respite meantime loads of xxxxxxxxxxxx. Thought I d add my stupidity at completely misunderstanding the Q and A!’ 30 November 2015 – 12.59

Below can be found on Page 449

‘I thought email was the point? I was. Been interviewed all afternoon by a fan purporting to be a film interviewer for mag called film retro but really a photographer using thomas to get to meet me. Crashing bore I showed my contempt which washed over him like yer showing me how to bring back the light on this keyboard”he he!” Don’t look now but I think you’re innumeracy  is showing. Must be the black eye how is it? Only kidding Just using my baby bear as a boxing bag over that waste of a whole afternoon. Ignore please . I’m still trying to obliterate the memory and attacking u and above all kicking myself for being. So used and hating taking it out on u. There’s a nasty side to me that hates to be taken for a ride by the mediocre.’ 28 November, 2016 – 18.58

Below can be found on Page 14

‘Bless you and bless Lucy**. She’s a clever gal.She knows if she doesn’t get better she won’t be enjoying bed/b’ast so she’s pulled her socks up and is on the way to her normal healthy self. I told u she wld. It’s a fabulous day here Perhaps u cld persuade her to do a few trips here as a sort of weekend towards recovery? You’ll have to get her to bring her normal seed as I won’t have her diet.    –I fully understand now yer persistence in defending me against the hoi poloy of evil shitters and believe me am so very grateful. The world ain’t full of sweet smelling people but instead are a pack of small minded worms; drilling away; hurting and mauling reputations as best they can .Thank god for u my own Joan of Orleans. I just about and enjoy the sun and await Lucy’s imminent arrival. ta ta xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx’ 7 June, 2017 – 15.04

**Lucy was a pet Cockatiel

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31 July, 2020

A couple of days ago, I happened upon an online forum on which a heated debate about Peter’s album was taking place. While one particular lady was to wax lyrical both about the disc and the artist that recorded it, a second person (Username,‘em diar’), while voicing outraged at this female “fawning over a man who made a comedy song about what fun it is to rape woman of various ethnic backgrounds, without a trace of irony,” would himself go on to abuse her with, “Fuck off luv. Haven’t you got chores?” The words ‘Pot’, ‘Kettle’ and ‘Black’ suddenly sprang to mind.

Alas, such hypocrisy is not uncommon on the ‘net these days nor, it would seem, is the culture of believing that the more abuse one throws at another party, the more right one becomes. While I’m all for people having an opinion, quite often these days people tend to confuse their belief with fact.

As the aforementioned ‘discussion’ rumbled on, with each party becoming increasingly incensed, our potty-mouthed friend ‘em diar’ suddenly declared while appraising the track, ‘Rape’, that Peter had sunk to the level of lampooning the Holocaust, and to illustrate his side of the argument, he posted the offending verse:

In Germany it isn’t always remembered,

What with Liszt, Wagner and Tannhauser,

The Rape is synonymous with whips, bunkers and Mauser.

Which makes it all comparatively kinky –

With gas thrown in to get rid of the stinky!

I imagine it would be clear to most people that the segment in question, rather than making light of the Holocaust as asserted, is in fact referring to the rather sleazy reputation of Berlin both prior to the Nazi era, and after the Second World War. Germany’s capital during those times was notorious for its brothels, fetish clubs and Burlesque joints; the whips were more the province of the dominatrix than the concentration camp guard.

“There are many types of rape,” Peter once said. “There’s the rape of countries, of cultures and of minds. It’s telling that some people’s minds are so limited that they can only conceive of one type.”

Well, quite!

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22 July, 2020

To begin this new page, I’d just like to thank you for visiting this website, and for your interest in Peter Wyngarde.

With the 40th Anniversary of Flash Gordon coming up at the end of the year, there is plenty for both Wyngardian’s and fans of the cult classic to look forward to during the coming months.

News that the film is to shown again in selected cinemas around the UK reminded me of its original release back in 1980, when the main attraction for me personally was the soundtrack which had, of course, been written and performed by Queen.

I’d been a fan of the band since I first saw them perform ‘Seven Seas of Rhye’ on ‘Crackerjack’ (CRACK-ER-JACK!) in 1974, and by the time the soundtrack was was released in early December 1980, I’d already seen the band perform live 8 times. I latterly went on to see them on stage a further 22 times in the UK and across Europe.

During their 1982 European tour, I went over to Germany to see them play at the Westfallenhalle in Dortmund, Germany, and was delighted when they opened the set with the ‘Flash Gordon’ theme[1] Little did I know then that I’d end up so indelibly tied to Peter Wyngarde – the actor who’d given life to one of Sci-Fi’s most popular characters, General Klytus, and that I’d also become acquainted with Sam J. Jones (Flash Gordon and Melody Anderson (Dale Arden).

I can remember like it was yesterday, the Friday evening in December that I went to “pictures” to see the film for the first time. I saw it around 20 more times thereafter, as my friend and I would go into the cinema first thing on a Saturday morning; sit through the Pearl & Dean adverts, “forthcoming release” trailers and ‘B’ flick (the topic of which, if I remember rightly, was racecourse bookies(!?!), and then the main feature itself. Once the film ended and everyone else began to leave, we’d conceal ourselves under the seats until the next “house”, when we’d re-emerge and do the whole thing over again. Happy days!

Fans of the film had to wait almost two years for it to be released on video[2], after seeing it go through the lengthy process back then of being issued for rental only then, 12 months later, going onto ‘Sell-Through’. As it was, I couldn’t wait that long, and so I bought a rental copy for the princely sum of £32.00, which was a veritable fortune given that I’d only left school in 1980 and was only earning a pittance.

I still have the soundtrack on limited edition yellow vinyl, although I did invest in a CD version a couple of years back. Like many other fans, I’m very much looking forward to both the Ultra HD 4K Blu-ray 40th Anniversary Box Set and John Walsh’s book, which is due to be published on October 27th.

We played ‘Flash’s Theme’ at the end of Peter’s funeral at Golders Green Crematorium on Thursday, 25th January, 2018. The thread that’s had run through the last 40 years had finally come full circle.

Notes: [1]. I also saw them at Elland Road, Leeds, on 29th May, and at the Milton Keynes Bowl on 5th June, 1982. [2]. In the olden day, a film would be released on video around 12 months after the cinematic release, and then it would take a further years for it to go on general sale.

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