“Peter Wyngarde is an incomparable player of dashing, juicy rakehells, men on the edge, pagan creatures. A star in the grand style, with the ability to lengthen his vowels and pierce with his eyes,never afraid to add touches of the absurd and the surreal. Remembered now for his extraordinary range and charisma during the 1950’s, but for his campy thriller-writer sleuth Jason King in the early 1970’s.”
Keith Howes – Broadcasting IT
"I always felt that any success the show (Department 'S') had was due in no small part to Peter's ability and imagination." Joel Fabiani - Co-Star, Department S
"Watch that young man, he is the best emerging actor in the country today." Sir Tyrone Guthrie - Theatre Producer
"I remember working with Peter was always fun - he is such a stylish actor." Dame Diana Rigg - Actress and friend
“Peter Wyngarde defined the complete, bravura actor who dominated a stage with an incomparable, elegant, physical presence and a voice which defied emulation, a voice akin to music.”
Steven Berkoff – actor, author, playwright, theatre practitioner and director
"Working with Peter was a scream - he's such a hoot!" Felicity Kendal - Actress
"If I were a film producer I would sign Peter Wyngarde up right away. He has everything - looks, height, a black magic voice... and he can actually act." Patricia Laffan - Actress
"Peter is a wonderfully professional actor - a serious man who sends himself up. He has a wonderful sense of humour, and a great stage presence with a beautifully melodious voice." Anne Sharpe - Regular, Jason King
"I toured with Peter for six months in the revival of 'Anastasia'. He really is an outrageous character. You couldn't believe the clothes he wore. We played a West End season at the Cambridge Theatre. He played the principal lead character, which Yul Brynner played and which I played before him. Peter was flamboyant and didn't like the designs for his costumes when he saw them on paper. He didn't say anything, went off and engaged a designer to design all his uniforms, which looked over-the-top!" David Nettheim - Actor
"My diaries bear evidence of determined encroachments on my resolve; Vivien departs, Vivien back; Peter away, Peter back (this was evidence of another encroachment from another quarter)." A cryptic reference to Peter's relationship with Vivien Leigh from Lawrence Olivier's autobiography, 'Confessions Of An Actor'
"Peter was always a very courteous man, easy to work with, and who behaved off screen with the same suave sophistication that some of his on-screen roles demanded." Dennis Spooner - Producer, Department S/Jason King
"Peter Wyngarde is probably this country's most underrated actor." Sir John Gielgud - Actor
"Ah, now I did see Jason King. It was something I had to see as everybody was talking about it. 'How much further can he take it? How much larger can his moustache get?' His swank. His sheer swank!" Fenella Fielding - Actress and Friend
“He is a visual speaker; an artist with words; a born raconteur, telling self-deprecating stories with neat epigrams.” John Stewart – Journalist
"He was one of the most unique, original and creative actors that I have ever seen. As a man, there were few things in life he didn't know. I sometimes nicknamed him the King because he simply knew everything. He was a mentor on everything you can think of, from sports cars to how to make a good cup of tea and how to do a tie and shirt. He died at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital, and even then he was saying that you shouldn't button the upper button on a shirt. As a person he was the most exceptional person I met in my life and a great mentor and teacher." Thomas Bowington - agent and friend
“The notices are appalling, apart from the Mail and the Times. The rest are spiteful and rude. Second house at tonight’s performance was mediocre. We haven’t had a easy night in London yet. Nothing to compare with a good night at Brighton. After, I saw Peter Wyngarde & Alan Bates. They were both charming, & wise & understanding about it all & made the evening a great delight. They came back to the flat for a drink and a chat, leaving about 12.45. It was a delight.” February 29th, 1963, entry from ‘The Kenneth Williams Diaries’
"Peter Wyngarde gives a performance of near genius." Harold Hobson - Theatre Critic (Speaking of Peter's role in 'Mother Adam')
"I don't think Peter could play a fool if he wanted to. He's all elegance, relaxed and silky, a cerebral actor rather than a beefcake. He moves with a studied grace. Even to watch him light a cigarette or scratch his ear is a pleasure. There's that air of authority, of superiority, of exotic eroticism." Sylvia Margolis - Journalist
"Peter Wyngarde played Langdale Pike - a Victorian Nigel Dempster in 'The Three Gables', which opened the 1994 season of 'The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes'. As always, Peter was distinguished by his rapier wit and style. A memorable performance." June Wyndham-Davis - Producer, 'The Three Gables'
"I think that Peter is probably the finest actor, technically, that I have ever worked with. I'm not trying to belittle any of the others, it is just that Peter is an outstanding actor." Dennis Spooner - writer and producer, Department S/Jason King
“No dramatics in dress. No champagne with oysters. The man himself – in casual, rolled-up jeans and open floral shirt with unfreaked hair combed soft just as it grows – is more devastating than all the images we have of him on stage and screen rolled into one.” Joy Jones – Journalist.
"He was funny and quick and bright. I think the professionals are professionals, and he's one of those. He hasn't any inflated idea's about himself. He's completely unpompous, and I didn't find him the least bit phoney." David Bailey - Photographer.
"In the mid Sixties, it was the fashion, on a Saturday afternoon, for young people to parade up and down the King's Road, Chelsea, in fancy dress and crazy hairstyles. They were doing their own thing, to the astonishment and disbelief of tourists. One such afternoon, Benny, in brown suit, brown shoes, white shirt and plain tie, was about his business on the famous thoroughfare when he espied, amongst the brightly clad revellers, Peter Wyngarde, a darkly handsome brute of breathtaking panache, who had played Oberon in the television 'A Midsummer Night's Dream'. Peter, looking like a prince in a Russian fur hat and an overcoat with a fur collar and trimmings. He held on a leash, as his accessory, a large hound of exactly the same fur. Had he, Benny wondered, as Peter approached, killed the animal's mate to make that hat and trimming? When Peter deigned at last to see Benny, he stopped in exaggerated horror and declaimed to the gods with actors resonance, 'Oh Benny! Look at you! You're outrageous!" From 'Saucy Boy' - The Benny Hill Story
"On tour, of a play about juvenile delinquency by Elsa Shelley called 'Pick-Up Girl', Peggy joined late to replace an actress who had fallen out with the director. A young Peter Wyngarde was in the cast. One day he missed a matineé performance because he had mixed up the days and had gone to the cinema instead. Peggy decided to help and covered up for him. When he returned to the theatre for the evening performance, he found a note from Peggy. 'I told them you had gone to the pre-London tour of the Old Vic with Olivier and Richardson in the same production. And that I thought you'd learn more from that than our matineé. Back me up. Peggy.' The fact that the Old Vic was not expected in town for another two weeks seemed to have escaped her and landed Wyngarde in even deeper trouble. 'I was severely reprimanded for making up such a poor excuse,' says Wyngarde. Peggy simply roared with laughter. From 'The Life And Times Of Margaret Ramsey - Play Agent'
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