Please note that some of the additional information provided here by the journalist named below may not be accurate, so it should be treated with caution.
Monday, 25th May, 1970
Marriage Keeps Peter Single
An Australian female fan magazine voted him ‘The Man We’d Like To Lose Our Virginity To’ and his hotel was besieged with applicants. “Which is all very complimentary,” says Peter Wyngarde, who recently returned from a personal appearance tour of Australia. “But it only aggravates my basic problem: I desperately want children of my own but I can’t bear the thought of getting married again. I know that nowadays a wedding ring has become unfashionable, and although I’ll swing along with the best of the 70s crowd, when it comes to being a father, I’m positively Victorian”.
We were talking in Peter’s flat… a bachelor haven stacked with tasteful bric-a-brac, off beat antiques and expensive cut glass, enhanced by the faint tang of expensive leather.
Two teenage girl organisers of his fan club had just called, leaving engraved pencils and membership cards. Peter was overwhelmed. “What a marvellous lot kids are these days,” he mused. “I’m often on the verge of contemplating marriage so that I might one day have children like them. Then I recall my own unhappy married life and I cry off the idea. My wife and I were divorced some years ago after 5 years of marriage and she now lives in Rome. But the past is the past and I don’t see any point in talking about it even to mentioning her name”.
And his age? “What does it matter? “How does he ward off the onslaught of one of the largest female fan followings in show business? “It can be difficult,” he says. I’m staggered to find myself swamped with female affection after my role in TV’s Department S. One girl offered a pair of panties for me to sign, so I did – on the back. Of course, there’s always the thought that it’s not really me thereafter, but my TV Jason image”.
The phone rang. Peter ignored it. “I had to install an answering machine because no matter how I changed my number the girls always found it. They still put messages on the tape, but it’s not as embarrassing as having to answer calls personally. Some of them are so obscene I can’t believe I’m listening to a woman”
“But it’s not this genuine fans who do the worst pestering. For instance, arrived home on one occasion to find a £750 package of China. I thought it was a wonderful present until I found out that a couple of girls had ordered it in my name.
“Another time I was told by a window cleaner that I had cost his pal a divorce. It seems that this lad started dressing and making up to look like I do on TV. The girls apparently liked it. He became a raver and his wife divorced him and blamed me. I’m grateful for that Jason image, an yet I’m worry at making it stick too close.
“I’ve been invited to do my own singing show, but what intrigues me most is the offer of a horror film. In this I play a deformed character with an acid-scarred face who can only jabber. At the end of the film he’s cured by miracle surgery and only then would it be imperative for me to act in person. So I’m going to suggest that an understudy plays me until the last scene and I’ll just pop into the studio for a day to finish off the film. Movie making the easy way and… and do you know, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if the film company agreed!”
Neither would I… unless there’s a protest from the leading ladies!
Interview by Jack Bentley
PETER WYNGARDE: The Official Website 
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