‘A LIFE AMONGST STRANGERS’ COMPANION

If you’re visiting this section, then it’s likely that you’ve read, ‘Peter Wyngarde: A Life Amongst Strangers’.

Below you’ll find some of the letters and other documents referred to in the biography, plus additional information relating to the stories you’ve read.

Above: A photograph of Dorinda Stevens. The inscription to her husband, Peter, reads: “Darling – if you miss me – whistle…!

The data above is taken from the 1953/54 Electoral Register. Peter and his wife, Dorinda, are recorded as living at 9, Holland Park Road, London.

In a 1973 newspaper columnist and author, Ray Connolly, attempted to cast aspersions on Peter’s marriage to Dorinda, when the evidence of their relationship was already in the public domain.

In 2018, amateur journalist, Gavin Gaughan, referred to this obvious piece of nonsense in his censured ‘Obituary’* following Peter’s death. Gaughan had previously been insistent that Peter’s marriage had been a fable – suggesting that it was merely an invention to disguise the actor’s supposed homosexuality. He was wrong, and not for the first OR last time.

*See later in this section

Above: A letter from Dorinda Wyngarde to her husband while he was filming ‘Alexander the Great’ in Spain.

Above: Letter to Peter from (Sir) Peter Hall.

Above: Taken from the 1957/58 Electoral register: Peter living at 11, Newton Row, with his then girlfriend, Ruby Talbot.

Above: Letter to Peter from actor, David Peel.

Above: The original tenancy agreement that Peter signed for Flat 1, 1 Earls Terrace. In his book, ‘Otherwise Engaged: The Life of Alan Bates’, American author, Donald Spoto, insisted that Peter and Bates had moved into the flat in 1956 but, as can clearly be seen, Peter moved in alone in November 1958.

Above: Hardly a love-letter! A handwritten note to Peter from actor, Alan Bates.

Above: A cutting from the 24th November, 1960 edition of the Detroit Free Press.

Above: The handwritten poem seen at the beginning of Chapter Seven.

Above: Documentations that authorise Wyngarde Productions as a Registered Company.

Above: Peter’s handwritten lyrics for ‘Why Do Taxi Drivers Talk So Much’ – a song he’d written for his album, but which didn’t make the final cut.

Above: The contract between Peter Wyngarde and RCA for his (in)famous album.

Above: An original letter from Scoton Ltd. concerning Department S and Jason King.

Above: Original contract between Wyngarde Productions and Scoton Limited to secure the services of Peter Wyngarde for the Jason King series.

Above: Peter’s diary entry for Monday, 20th October, 1975: “A new life starts” (page 262).

Above: Peter’s mother, ‘Madge’, with his Afghan Hound, Yussef.

Above: A handwritten letter from Peter’s sister, Marion. It demonstrated how distant the family had become when she was obliged to ask their mother for Peter’s address, even though he’d lived in the same flat for almost 20 years by this point!

Above: Peter’s sister, Marion, and her husband, Charles.

Above: Having been the victim of a supposed ‘sex scandal’ himself in 1975, Peter comments on the incident involving actor, Hugh Grant, and LA call girl, Divine Brown (Estella Marie Thompson) in June 1995.

Above: Peter doesn’t mince his words when dealing with ‘Kenny Grice’.


Above: An email dated 9th January, 2000, in which Peter describes the difficulties he experienced with his computer. Page 323. He also makes mention of a story that had appeared in a local newspaper about him and me which, he claimed, had originated from celebrity photographer, Allan Warren.

The following article (see below, left) appeared on a website of entitled The Tap News Wire in 2012. The author of the piece had such confidence in his story that he chose to hide behind the username ‘Tapestry’. Pages 391-392.

Much of this supposed exposé (below, right) originally appeared on The Nottinghamshire Rainbow Heritage – The Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender history project website for Nottingham & Nottinghamshire, but as can be noted, it did not mention Peter at all.

When seen side-by-side, it’s easy to see how the story has been manipulated to fit the author’s obviously bigoted agenda. This article would inevitably be reproduced or referenced by others in blogs and on online forums. This, for instance, was posted on http://www.morrissey-solo.com – a website devoted to the singer, Morrissey – by a character from Birmingham calling himself, ‘Famous When Dead’:

“He certainly was a character. Renowned for picking up rent boys and getting arrested in the mid ’70s for ‘gross indecency’ in Gloucester bus station toilets (with the BBC bailing him out of all sorts of trouble). I can see how the juxtaposition of a ‘ladies’ man’ image being called ‘Petunia Winegum’ by his peers might appeal to Moz (Morrissey).”

This goes to prove how easily one malicious individual with an agenda but little knowledge, can influence the impressionable.

N.B. The atrocious spelling, grammar and layout in The Tap version are “Tapestry’s” own, as it has been reproduced verbatim.

Peter Wyngarde – ‘Petunia Winegum’

Tue 7.37 pm +00.00, 4 Dec 2012 13 blogged by Tapestry 

—– Peter Wyngarde – lover of rent Boys

The BBC used to go mental having to phone the police station to say look Peter Wyngarde was one of their top TV stars and could his latest arrest in a public toilet be overlooked, but Wyngarde,  real name (Cyril Louis Goldbert ) would be constantly at it with young lads, he had a bit of an entourage of rent boys that onlya top star could afford. Peter Wyngardes mad album When Sex Leers Its Inquisitive Head was originally commissioned by RCA to cash in on his popularity, it was released and quickly withdrawn a week later.  Presumably nobody had actually listened to it prior to its release.  Instead of the requested set of easy listening tunes, Wyngarde delivered a series of wild, pervy spoken word rants, backed by wild free-form noise jazz, tribal drums, lustful moaning, and shouts of exultation.  It’s practically impossible to describe the myriad fragments sufficiently, and it boggles the mind to think of how this got made in the first place.  One of a kind, for sure, but its become the record for gay parties and rent boy fests. In 1975, he was arrested and convicted for an act of “gross indecency” in the toilets of Gloucester Bus Station, which followed an arrest and caution for similar activities in the toilets at Kennedy Gardens in Birmingham the previous year,and several warnings brushed off by the BBC. After the first incident, Wyngarde was interviewed for the News of the World and the Birmingham-based Sunday Mercury, and asserted that the arrest was due to a misunderstanding; in his defence after the second incident he claimed he had suffered a “mental aberration”. Although it affected his image, particularly with his audience who largely identified him as ladies’ man Jason King, Wyngarde’s homosexuality was actually well known in acting circles, where he was known by the nickname of “Petunia Winegum”. From 1956, he had a stormy on-off ten-year-long relationship with fellow actor Alan BatesAfter losing his TV celebrity status, and squanderinga smal fortune on alcohol and bumboys, Wyngarde worked in Austria, acting and directing at the English Theatre in Vienna, and also in South Africa and Germany. He landed the role of General Klytus in the 1980 film version of Flash Gordon, though his face was hidden behind a mask for the part. His distinctive voice is clearly recognisable in the film, I remember a rather glitzy bisexual couple (I won’t say names, but they were well known on the ‘alternative’ scene in Nottingham at the time) who were usually in the Flying Horse on Saturday nights. They would often have a party at their house after the pub or even after the clubs once they had started business. They would particularly do this if a TV or stage star was in the Flying Horse bar and would invite him (invariably a him) back. I remember great excitement and a clamour for invitations to this couple’s  when Peter Wyngarde (TV’s Jason King) was in the Fly. The couple would also pick up a rent boy for their joint sexual pleasure. It was in connection with this couple that I first began to hear of drug use among fringes of the homosexual scene. I remember trying cannabis once with a boyfriend I met in the flying Horse, and was given poppers once by another boyfriend at the time, but that is all I  saw personally.There were loads of rent boys, often the dolly boys on scooter types, there were wealthy gay business men up from London looking for pretty boys to take to smart restaurants and be repaid by a nobbing in their hotel room.In those days a phone call from a BBC director would get you off parking charges or being caught out with bum-boys,but i am told it does not happen today.  The Tap Blog is a collective of like-minded researchers and writers who’ve joined forces to distribute information and voice opinions avoided by the world’s media.

‘Tapestry’ – The character responsible for writing the above obscenity.

The Flying Horse remembered

For me, having just left home to go to college, while Trent Polytechnic was where I received my professional training, the Flying Horse was my introduction to Life.

I was first taken to the Flying Horse one winter’s Sunday evening in 1968. The first thing that was extraordinary, was that most of the men in the back bar – the gay bar – were in suits. I was told this was the form for Sunday nights. I think I may have gone along with this once or twice as I was new to the scene, but I didn’t keep up that tradition for very long and I think it petered out once the 1969 refurbishments had taken place and the gay bar moved to the main part of the hotel. While the gay bar was still in the back bar, I remember that one night a number of police in uniforms were in observing what was going on. A lot of the older guys were spooked by this, but we younger ones were already feeling ‘political’ and some of us engaged these middle aged suit-wearing policemen in conversation, preaching to them about the theory of gay liberation. What must we have sounded like?

There were a few prostitutes who worked out of a pub further along the road. They would come into the Flying Horse between tricks for a drink and a chat. I, and my young friends, learned a lot about different aspects of life through their uproarious and sometimes tragic stories. But on the whole these women working as prostitutes were highly intelligent, well-dressed, clean, well manicured, and were working in the sex industry to fund their children through private schools, pay mortgages and build up savings. A very different lifestyle from the one I had been brought up to believe prostitutes led.

Lesbian couples would call into the Flying Horse either as a prelude to an evening at the Forresters or as an alternative to the Foresters or, more often than not, to avoid the ex girlfriend of one or other or both of the women who would be at the Foresters which was the only – or at least main – lesbian bar in town.

There were married couples where the husband was gay or bisexual, who would come out to ‘The Fly’ together with the husband’s male partner. I also remember couples where the husbands were gay using the Fly as a social meeting place where they could be socially open.

I remember a rather glitzy bisexual couple (I won’t say names, but they were well known on the ‘alternative’ scene in Nottingham at the time) who were usually in the Flying Horse on Saturday nights. They would often have a party at their house after the pub or even after the clubs once they had started business. They would particularly do this if a TV or stage star was in the Flying Horse bar and would invite him (invariably a him) back. . The couple would also pick up a boy or a girl or sometimes both for their joint sexual pleasure. It was in connection with this couple that I first began to hear of drug use among fringes of the gay scene. I remember trying cannabis once with a boyfriend I met in the flying Horse, and was given poppers once by another boyfriend at the time, but that is all I saw personally.

There were rent boys. There were wealthy gay business men up from London looking for pretty boys to take to smart restaurants and be repaid by a night in their hotel room

Of course, in those days, last orders were at 10.30. Before the clubs started business there was usually someone who would invite people back for coffee – and that is what it usually was. Just a nightcap before everyone went home. Once the clubs were running, of course, they had licenses until 2.00 am and, for young people at least, the after-pub coffee parties were no longer of interest.
 
Among other regulars I remember were an old lady with her gay husband. Again, I won’t name names, but she was from a well-known wealthy business family and was a great friend of Hilda Baker who I met at their house in the Park. Her much younger husband had been a Nottingham City bus conductor who had been kind to her when she travelled on his bus. She married him to give him financial security, but mainly so she would have someone to look after her in her disabled old age, which he was now doing. He was free to pursue his sexual interests as he pleased; which he did!

When I look back on it now, I think the Flying Horse was pretty amazing. It was openly gay. Some of the bar staff were openly gay – I remember one called Alex who was there for most of the time I was in Nottingham (68 – 72). For someone like me who had grown up in a country village it was a real eye opener. And it was a good place to meet people and make friends. I met several of my early boyfriends in the bar of the Flying Horse. And I am still in touch with one or two of them forty years later.
 
Regarding the Roebuck, apart from one of my 21st birthday parties being held there in October 1970, my most abiding memory is of ‘Rose Garden’ playing on the juke box and the whole bar bouncing up and down in rhythm to it. A lovely warm atmosphere. Lots of fun.

Reminiscence supplied by Chris.

Above: Peter on how the press, bloggers and gossips – none of whom could speak with any kind of authority about him – had blighted his life.

Above : Peter recounts the episode referred to in my book (Page 282) when he was taken to court by a young woman who claimed he was the father of her baby. Despite such evidence, some desperate and evidently misinformed detractors STILL persist in insisting that Peter was 100% homosexual, and had never so much as looked at a woman. Well here it is in his own hand! See also the story earlier on this page regarding his encounter in a classic Thunderbird car – again told in his own handwriting.

To give you an opportunity to see the photos from the book more clearly…

Below: Mini-plays and scenarios that Peter would write about the Greek villa he and I planned to buy together – (see pages 380-381)

Greetings Cards: From Peter to me

Above: While we were on holiday in Turkey in 2003, Peter gave me this birthday card along with a 22 carat gold pendent of a cat. The front had a woven cloth representation of a Turkish carpet. The reference to a “magic carpet” was in response to my buying a carpet for my mother and having it shipped back to the UK. Page 366.

Above: For Valentines Day, 2011. “To my valentine of the Lakes”. From Peter to me.

Above: Peter put our initials on this card which he found on a restaurant table on Valentine’s Day.

Above: A Christmas card from 2004

Above: A self portrait of Peter as a duelling cavalier. He sent it with a note as a promise to protect me, always.

Above: A message from Peter to me. It reads: “Tina, my baba, I love you and will always love you – never forget that you are the most important person in my life and always [will] be, no one, or anything will ever take your place in my heart and soul. I love you xxxxxxxxxx”

Above: One of the last little cards Peter sent to me. By this time he wasn’t able to steady his hand for long to write.

Above: A Valentine’s card that I made for Peter. He was concerned that the princess in the tower only had three fingers! Page 447.

Soul mates! I have been labelled everything from “a liar” to “deranged” by certain people online for mentioning my close relationship with Peter. Those same people didn’t know either of us; have never met or even so much as ever spoke to us. Above: THESE were Peter’s words! Page 340.

This reads: “I cannot tell you how shocked I was when I read what that American biographer had said those unbelievable things about me.

This reads: “The American author [Spoto] signed a letter to say he would adhere to my request about omitting material, but managed to send it to me after the book was published which was of course too late.

Above: Peter expresses his disgust at what he saw as Donald Spoto’s, duplicity over his 2007 book ‘Otherwise Engaged: The Life of Alan Bates’. He was, of course, referring to sections relating to the “relationship” that was said to have existed between the two actors. Pages 68-75, 95, 261, 374-375.

In the time since Mr Spoto’s book was published, authors, the media, bloggers and online encyclopedias have relied on it, serialised it and quoted from it extensively, resulting in a series of baseless myths being spawned about Peter as a result.

Above: Peter’s original handwritten notes for his autobiography. Page 31.

Above: The poem, ‘Ithaca’ that Peter had written out over the course of weeks, and which he latterly gave to me on New Year’s Eve 2017. Page 477 & 498.

On 18th January, 2018 – just three days after Peter passed away – The Guardian newspaper published one of the most disgusting attacks on the dead that I have ever had the misfortune to witness. Pages 489-490

This hatchet job, which had been penned by amateur journalist, Gavin Gaughan. He had clearly trawled the internet for any scrap of uncorroborated gossip and innuendo he could find and then cobbled together under the auspices of an “obituary“.

Gaughan (right) was barred from the Official Peter Wyngarde Appreciation Society in 2014 for repeatedly posting homophobic slogans on our Facebook page (see ‘Wikipedia: To ‘TheHeartOf‘)

The publication of Gaughan’s article was met with a record number of complaints from the public. Below are just a small number of comments left by readers on the Guardian website.

  • “This is a thoroughly mean-spirited ‘obituary’ by someone who seems to bear a personal grudge against Wyngarde. If indeed he was undone by ‘ego’, he is by no means the only actor to suffer that fate.”
  • “This reads less as an obituary and more as a rather nasty hatchet job.”
  • “Strikes me as a pre-prepared obit that didn’t get a second pair of eyes before being heading off to the presses. It is grossly one sided.”
  • “Disappointing that The Guardian should choose to run such a distasteful hatchet job under the guise of an obituary.”
  • How fitting that today’s Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday – for that Wyngarde obituary gives the impression that Gaughan is only a pen-name for Griswold. Of course, de mortuis nihil nisi bonum – Mr. Gaughan might, like Griswold, be dead for quite some time, as it seems to be rather common to write tosh like this for a newspaper’s stockpile and use it years after it was written. Either if Mr. Gaughan is dead or still alive, it would have served this obituary if the author would have been less obsessed by the “mystery” of Wyngarde and had instead tried to inform himself a little less roughly about his work and career. But then, the spirit of Griswold still walks amongst us and would rather stick his nose into a public toilet then into over 200 successful performances of “The King and I”. It possibly was less the intention to give a fair and interesting life’s review but rather to serve the yellow press and have the last snarl?”
  • Poor form writing this. Though there are many truths here there are some utterly pointless criticisms of a remarkable man who made a remarkable cultural contribution. Once again, a bad show from The Guardian.
  • “Recounting Wyngarde’s petty vanities at this time is at best bad form and at worst squeezes out of the obit what should have been a generous recognition of his talent.”
  • “What a tawdry and nasty obituary that concentrates mostly on the downside of Peter’s life. The author was allegedly banned from Peter Wyngarde’s Official Facebook page because he insisted on posting vindictive comments about the great actor on there. Peter Wyngarde was one of our finest actors.”
  • Just not good enough. Apart from the unnecessarily spiteful tone – sneering never becomes the obituarist – this cut-and-paste job is incomplete. Whatever the merits of Wyngarde’s curious LP When Sex Leers Its Inquisitive Head – and it did gain an audience on reissue in the 90s – it should have been mentioned, as should have been his gentle, amused presence, particularly in later years.”

Mr Gaughan had joined the Official Peter Wyngarde Appreciation Society in April 2014 with the sole purpose, it seemed, of posting the same homophobic slogan on the Society’s Facebook page. In spite of being cautioned no fewer than three times – once by Peter himself – Gaughan continued with his juvenile campaign until, inevitably, he was barred from the Society.

Despite having never met Peter, and without knowing anything of the nature of his relationship with me, Gaughan would declare to the me: “Your obsession with Wyngarde has driven you mad!”

On his departure from the Society, Gaughan was to make an ominous pledge: that come the day of Peter’s passing, he would write the most scathing “obituary” possible, and have it published in either The Guardian or Independent newspapers. Some days later, Gaughan and one of his associates was witnessed discussing the matter on social media, whereupon the latter declared, “Why doesn’t he [Peter] just hurry up and die!”

Mr Gaughan was dismissed by The Guardian in April 2018.


Above: Taken from a “stinking letter” that Peter sent to one of his acquaintances who had attempted to interfere in our relationship.

Above: Peter’s Last Will and Testament. He explains at the bottom that the poor handwriting is due to his being unable to wear spectacles due to an oxygen mask covering his face. He was also to restate these instructions on an audio digital recording that is in the possession of his agent, Thomas Bowington of Bowington Management. His estranged family would refuse to acknowledge it.

“It was telling that when Peter believed he was dying, the first and only person he thought of was Tina!” Thomas Bowington

Above: A typed version of Peter’s Last Will and Testament, which was passed on to me by the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in October 2018, after it was found in the ward safe. It is, presumed that it was typed up for him by one of the nurses or auxiliaries on the Acute Assessment Ward subsequent to 01.11.17.

Statement by Peter’s agent, Thomas Bowington of Bowington Management that Peter had made me the sole beneficiary of his estate.

Above: A solicitors letter dated 12th July, 2019 from Peter’s estranged family – nephews, Stephen and Ian Goldbert. It was to accuse Thomas Bowington, myself and others of theft from Peter’s home at 1, Earls Terrace*. When we requested that the Goldbert’s supply a list of all the items they were insisting we’d taken, they were unable to do so, which proved that the accusation had been wholly malicious.

*Despite the fact that their uncle had lived at 1, Earls Terrace for almost 60 years, the Goldbert’s were obliged to rely on Thomas Bowington to give them the address since they had no idea what it was!

Soon after we’d repelled this malicious accusation, both Thomas Bowington and I would suddenly find ourselves the recipients of a series of letters and emails from vendors and service providers who appeared to be under the impression that we’d either come into a substantial amount of money, or were in possession of property that had belonged to Peter which we might be willing to sell. These would include a message from a gentleman who was specifically interested in buying luxury timepieces, while another (see below), hired out private planes:

Dear Mr Bowington,

I hope you are well, and you are having a great start to the week.

I believe you are the manager of The Estate of Peter Wyngarde? I have been advised to contact you in regard to any of your private jet travel.

I can provide you with quotes on any destination around the world at a competitive rate, I am very well known in the industry for getting my clients the best deal.

If there isn’t a requirement for private jets, we can of course offer our concierge service SHY Lifestyle. They can look after everything from first/business flights, transfers, hotels and much more.

Do you have any flights or travel plans coming up in the near future that you need a quote on? I can send them across ASAP for your perusal.

Hope you have a great day. Please let me know if you have any questions.

Kind Regards,

Charlie Hobden

Charter Sales Manager


SHY Aviation
91–93 Buckingham Palace Road
London
SW1 0RP
United Kingdom

T: +44 20 8616 8821 (24 hrs)

WM: +44 7854 147 338 SHYAviation.com

“I’ve been in business for many years now,” Thomas revealed, “but I’m yet to hear any genuine salesperson adopt such an indecorous manner when approaching a potential client. I could only conclude that these merchants had been encouraged to contact us in the hope that we might expose ourselves as the thieves we were being portrayed as by the Goldbert’s.”

Needless to say, neither of us took the bait simply because we hadn’t any money to hire a private plane, nor did we have any “chattels” or “potentially valuable memorabilia” to sell. Indeed, we had receipts for every single piece of memorabilia we owned and had offered to send copies of ALL of them to the Goldbert’s solicitor.

“When toxic people feel they cannot control you, they will seek to control how others see you”

In spite of avoiding this latest snare we were under no illusions, given previous experience, that this would be the end of the matter. Our instinct was proven accurate when, in early September 2019, a vicious online smear campaign was launched against Mr Bowington and me. The opening salvo was fired on a Facebook group page entitled, ‘Department Wyngarde’ by a Mr. Joel W**a – a failed Birmingham bar manager who claimed to be a “close friend” of Peter’s. Given the number of libels and level of abuse aimed at us by Mr. W***[1], the vast majority of the Group’s membership was repelled and deserted the ‘Department Wyngarde’ group page in droves. What they were left with was the disenfranchised misfits; the knuckle-draggers and seasoned cyberbullies who are often attracted to a bit of trouble and knew from experience how to prosecute an online hate campaign. This, of course, was exactly what Mr W*** and those pulling his strings were looking for!

Due to the fact that Daniel Box, the sole administrator of the ‘Department Wyngarde’ group, had not only failed to discourage, challenge, prevent or remove libellous and abusive comments and statements that had been posted on his group page, but was to actively encourage and contribute to it in direct contravention of Facebook’s Harassment and Bullying policy, coupled with the 300+ complaints filed by those unfortunate enough to witness these abuses, Facebook had no option but to remove the group from its platform in mid-October 2019. Below are the reason given by Facebook for removing the ‘Department Wyngarde’ group:

The above is Facebook’s response to Thomas Bowington’s complaint regarding the misogynistic libels and filth allowed by admin, Dan Box, to be posted on his ‘Department Wyngarde’ group page.
Above: Response to Peter Wyngarde fan, Colin Hanson, who was one of the 300+ people complained to Facebook about the profanity-strewn content of Mr Box’s group page throughout September and October 2018. Colin was to describe the campaign of hatred aimed at Thomas Bowington and Tina Wyngarde-Hopkins as, “A witch hunt without a witch.”

Over the course of the next five years, the gang which the Goldbert’s proxy, Joel W**a, had recruited went on to set up at least FIVE more Facebook groups. plus a hate-filled, profanity-strewn website* hosted by Kevin Thomas from Hale, Cornwall, who was so true to his conviction that he chose to hide behind the username, ‘Kenny Grice’ (or variations thereof) that contained rabidly antisemitic, homophobic, misogynistic and anti-disability language which contravened The Malicious Communications Act 1988, Protection From Harassment Act 1997 and the Deformation Act 2013. Below is the response received by numerous Wyngarde fans (and others), that complained about the appalling content of Mr. Thomas’s website:

Hello,

Thanks for reaching out to us.
We had a look at this URL: http://peterwyngardethetruth.blogspot.com

We found that it violated our policy concerning abuse and speech that expresses hatred towards individuals based on their race, sex, disability, gender and sexual orientation, and that is of a harassing and intimidating nature. We have therefore removed it from our services.

Thank you for letting us know about this content.

Regards,

The Google Team

For more information about our content removal process, see g.co/legal.

During the same time period, Thomas Bowington and I also received several hundred abusive emails (via this website) from the same group that also breached the aforementioned laws (see example below). These vile message were often to arrive at a rate of 5 a day, and at every conceivable hour of the day and night:

The above was written by Kevin Thomas (A.K.A. ‘Kenny Grice’), but sent in the names of all those recruited by Joel W**a and Dan Box on the ‘Department Wyngarde’ Facebook group.

While it will doubtless be difficult for anyone with even a modicum of decency to comprehend, the above email is actually the LEAST offensive of the 150+ sent by this repugnant, foul-mouthed gang that were recruited on the ‘Department Wyngarde Facebook group during September and October 2019, while under the sole stewardship of Dan Box. It is even MORE appalling to think that the instigators of this atrocious witch hunt – out of sheer malice towards Thomas Bowington and Tina Wyngarde-Hopkins; two people who had done nothing but care for someone they loved in the final days of his life – was ultimately to bring this abhorrent abuse down on their own uncle!

Given the likelihood that Hate Crimes had been committed, ALL of those involved are currently being investigated by Devon and Cornwall Police, Greater Manchester Police, The Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, The Metropolitan Police, Merseyside Police and Thames Valley Police. It will come as no surprise to learn that at least TWO of the individuals involved with this horrendous campaign of harassment, abuse and intimidation were already known to to the police!

Click below for more information and original documents

Note to the Goldbert family: All of the documents displayed above are the LEGAL property of Tina Wyngarde-Hopkins, and are part of a collection that she has been building for over 30 years. They have NOTHING to do with you, and are not for you to lay claim to. You should therefore call off your mindless attack dogs and bring your senseless hate campaign to an end.


© Copyright The Hellfire Club: The OFFICIAL PETER WYNGARDE Appreciation Society: https://www.facebook.com/groups/813997125389790/

PICTURE SPECIAL: Peter in…

The following photographs were taken in central London in 1973.

Peter arriving at the exclusive Cartier shop on Bond Street

Instructing his driver when to pick him up again

Entering the exclusive shop and gallery

He’s greeted by the manager

…and is shown some of the latest pieces of artwork

He Inspects a potential purchase

Approving a landscape

Later, Peter takes a Stroll down Oxford Street

Crossing over Charing Cross Road

Lighting a Sobranie before crossing New Oxford Street

After picking up a copy of the Daily Mirror…

…Peter crosses Tottenham Court Road back onto Oxford Street

Chatting to a German journalist on Lambeth Palace Road, opposite the Houses of Parliament

Flashing a grin for the camera

Peter enjoying a final cigarette with the Houses of Parliment in the background

See the source image

Read about Peter’s other promotional tours by clicking below:

NIGHT OF THE EAGLE HALLOWE’EN SPECIAL

Norman Taylor (Peter Wyngarde) is a psychology professor lecturing about belief systems and superstition. After a scene in which his wife searches frantically and finds a black magic charm left by a jealous work rival, Flora (Margaret Johnston), he discovers that his wife, Tansy (Janet Blair), is practising ‘Obeah’, referred to in the film as “conjure magic,” which she learned in Jamaica. She insists that her charms have been responsible for his rapid advancement in his academic career and for his general well-being. A firm rationalist, Norman is angered by her acceptance of superstition.  He forces her to burn all of her magical paraphernalia.

Almost immediately, things start to go wrong: a female student (Judith Stott) accuses Norman of rape, her boyfriend (Bill Mitchell) threatens him with violence, and a strange force tries to break into the Taylors’ home during a thunderstorm. Tansy, willing to sacrifice her life for her husband’s safety, almost drowns herself and is only saved at the last minute by Norman giving in to the practices he despises. However Flora’s torment does not stop there…

Directed by Sidney Hayers

Based on ‘Conjure Wife’ by Fritz Leiber

Credits

​​Photographic tribute shot by O-Ten Photography – Lighting Asistant & Photo Editor by Micci Luise – Make-up & wigs by Katherine Gregory MUA – Wardrobe by No.6 Emporium – Interior Locations by kind permission of Linda & Rory, Hull – Hull Mag & East Riding Magazine – Exterior Location: Kim Hayman, Hull University

Hull Mag & East Riding Magazine

Firstly O-Ten would like to thank the editor of Hull Mag and East Riding Magazine, Nic, for his continued support of O-Ten Photography. 

2019 marks the 10th year of O-Ten so I felt that this was the perfect year to put together a tribute to one of my favourite horror films.

This has been a labour of love and could not have been possible without the support of Tina Wyngarde-Hopkins and the stellar cast whom in my eyes mastered their roles impeccably. 

Last but not certainly least I would like to thank Micci who was my lighting assistant on this shoot, post production and web designer.

A huge thank you to all involved xx

Exterior Location:  Kim Hayman, Hull University

The Cast

Wardrobe

The distinctive shantung silk jacket which he wore throughout this film was co-designed by Peter and his Saville Row tailor.  Also he co-designed with the same tailor on his wardrobe for Department S and Jason King in the 1970s.

Everything Peter ever wore including rings and cufflinks were always his own accessories and never owned by the wardrobe department. ​

I did a lot of research to find a similar wardrobe and the identical Majex watch, to make this as authentic as possible and holding to the true production values of the film, and in particular to Peter’s eye for detail. 

The distinctive shantung silk jacket which he wore throughout this film was co-designed by Peter and his Saville Row tailor.  Also he co-designed with the same tailor on his wardrobe for Department S and Jason King in the 1970s. Everything Peter ever wore including rings and cufflinks were always his own accessories and never owned by the wardrobe department. ​

I did a lot of research to find a similar wardrobe and the identical Majex watch, to make this as authentic as possible and holding to the true production values of the film, and in particular to Peter’s eye for detail. –Chris O’Ten

Peter Wyngarde 

“The name Peter Wyngarde elicits an image of Seventies psychedelia, handlebar moustaches and flares under which one could easily house a family five. But long before he lit his first Sobraini cigarette on the ITC series, Department S, Peter had appeared in over 120 television and stage plays, and was already a star of the big screen.”

​”One of his most fondly remembered cinematic characters was that of Norman Taylor in ‘Night of the Eagle’ (A.K.A. ‘Burn, Witch, Burn’) – an obstinate psychology professor, who steadfastly refuses to accept that his wife is a witch.”

“Prior to being offered the part of Taylor, Peter had seen success playing the ghost of Peter Quint opposite Deborah Kerr in ‘The Innocents’. When the script for ‘Night of the Eagle’ arrived, he initially rejected it – fearing that he might find himself being typecast in one horror genre film after the other. However, after giving the offer further consideration he asked director, Sidney Hayers, if he might work on the script himself.”

“Re-working screenplays and theatrical scripts was something that Peter had done since his early days in Rep. After spending long days on the set of a film or TV episode, he’d often return home to re-write much of the action and dialogue for the following day’s shoot.”

“I was fortunate to know Peter personally for almost 30 years and learned almost immediately that his work was the most important thing in his life; nothing else compared. Everything he appeared in, from a simple Question and Answer session at a fan convention to a lavish West End production was meticulously planned out in the minutest detail. Nothing was left to chance. He cared deeply about “the work” and was determined never to short-change his audience.”

“‘Night of the Eagle’ has become a firm favourite around the world, and is regularly shown in cinema’s both here in Britain, and especially in the US, around Hallowe’en. Peter was delighted to learn shortly before he passed away in January 2018, that the film had returned to a cinema on Broadway where it’d originally been premiered in 1962.”

“I’m sure that he’d be delighted with this article, and grateful for all the work that Chris has put into it. I hope that it will inspire those of you who’ve never seen the film to seek it out, and those who have to revisit it and Peter’s other work.”
– Tina Wyngarde-Hopkins

LONG LIVE THE KING!


O-Ten Photography 2019.  All Rights Reserved.

Chris Oaten is a professional photographer and musician.

http://www.otenphotography.co.uk/

http://www.otenphotography.co.uk/music-videos.html

http://www.shesgotclaws.co.uk/

Click below for more information on Night of the Eagle/Burn, Witch, Burn

‘WYNGARDE! A CELEBRATION’ – Retrospective

Lot’s of laughs… but for all the wrong reasons!

Clearly written with almost indecent haste by Peter Mountford (Artistic Director of the G. Bod Theatre), and actor, Garth Holcombe, the play ‘Wyngarde! A Celebration’ was brought to the Sydney stage within weeks of Peter’s passing.

Although both writers professed to be “great admirers” of Peter they would, nonetheless, employ every grubby tabloid prevarication to promote this production, prompting one antipodean Wyngarde fan to exclaim that it had “made me ashamed to be Australian!” 

Like all good fairy stories, the play opened with the following line: “It’s lovely to see you – here’s to a pleasant evening and a few surprises. There we are. Are you comfortable? Now where shall we begin…?”

“Peter Wyngarde was best known for playing the character Jason King,” the promotional blurb informs us, “a bestselling novelist turned. sleuth, in two television series: Department S and Jason King, in the late 1960s and early 1970s, but was an accomplished theatre actor until his fall from grace: 2 arrests and convictions for gross indecency in public toilets in 1975″. N.B. (This contentious conviction was quashed by the UK Government in July 2023).

While we were to write to both Garth Holbrook and Peter Mountford via the G.Bod Theatre, neither of them had the good grace to respond – perhaps because they knew they had no justification for staging this production. We did, however, receive an email from some nameless person at the theatre:

Offending Publicity Blurb

‘G.bod Productions throws two icons onto the stage for this Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras season: the lesser known Peter Wyngarde (Garth Holcome) and the idolised Bette Davis (Jeanette Cronin) in monologues devised by the actors with the director Peter Mountford. The very different styles of the monologues rather cleverly showcase the acting styles of each: Wyngarde believed an actor should make the character fit the actor; Davis believed the actor should “rise up into the character”. Wyngarde did not believe in acting lessons, Davis was passionate about refining her craft. Both bear an uncanny resemblance to the their source material.


What follows is Kate Stratford’s review – Theatre Now: 24th February, 2019

“One could not be part of Western Culture without knowing who Bette Davies was. Most of us have a favourite quote of hers (I’d love to kiss ya but I just washed my hair). But one might easily not know who Peter Wyngarde was. Mike Myers famously based his Austin Powers on him. An actor and style icon of the 70’s, he is best remembered as Jason King, a suave novelist turned sleuth. Holcombe gives us a Wyngarde whose brash, cool hipness is a façade for the lonely, traumatised man within(?!). Purporting to be a ladies man (he was hospitalised after a mob female fan attack in Australia) he hid his homosexuality as many were forced to do at the time; charges of gross indecency telling their own story. Holcombe gives us a Wyngarde whose brash, cool hipness is a façade for the lonely, traumatised man within(?!). Purporting to be a ladies man (he was hospitalised after a mob female fan attack in Australia) he hid his homosexuality as many were forced to do at the time; charges of gross indecency telling their own story.

Here are two very different but equally compelling performances; insightful glimpses into “what made ‘em tick”. There is an intelligence in the material chosen (how do you encapsulate a life in an hour?) and the choices made reflect thoughtful, well-researched discussion between actor and director. Now, if we can just get the tech cues right ….”

(?): I knew Peter for a few months short of 30 years, and never felt for a single moment that he was in the least bit “traumatised.” In fact he was a very positive and forward-thinking man who exuded confidence. Tina Wyngarde-Hopkins

Above: The REAL Peter Wyngarde and what he’d have probably thought of this play

Theatre Review

‘Peter Wyngarde gained mainstream popularity in 1969 as Jason King, a novelist turned sleuth, in the UK television series Department S. A flamboyant actor, known for his horseshoe moustache and bronzed skin, he is one of innumerable twentieth century celebrities who had never come out of the closet, yet remains an integral part of British gay culture. His 1975 arrest for gross indecency in a public toilet forms part of his mystique, but as was typical of the times, his queerness was kept obscured, refused acknowledgement by wider society. The public would only allow a sex symbol who could not threaten their heteronormativity, and Wyngarde acquiesced.

Garth Holcombe and Peter Mountford’s Wyngarde! A Celebration is a re-framing of the personality, an insistence that we look at old narratives with new eyes, to form a history that makes sense in terms of how we experience the world today. As though a private audience with Wyngarde himself, in which his inhibitions are shed, and we witness him able to be his true self at last. Holcombe has the right charisma for the role, but is occasionally hesitant. The cocky debonair masculinity of a bygone era is portrayed alongside a camp sensibility, to make a statement about the evolution of gay identities, and to form a reminder of a community’s legacy of struggle.

Above: Garth Holcome – more Leonard Rossiter a la Rigsby than Peter Wyngarde (Photo by Richard Hedger)

For all the bravado that Wyngarde enjoys putting on display, there is a loneliness that pervades. There is an unmistakable pride in his long career in stage and film, but we sense something unfulfilled. Wyngarde! A Celebration can feel too gentle in its approach. We want a bawdy tell-all, but it gives us instead, something with more integrity than we are perhaps accustom to, in this age of ubiquitous intrusion and humiliation. It is our nature to seek authenticity, but it appears that revealing everything often serves to distract from the truth. Many things are left unsaid in Wyngarde’s story, and that is perhaps his very essence, and the most accurate representation of the man we have come looking for.’

Some Points

FILM POSTERS

These posters are from my own personal collection which will be added to periodically

Above and below: Poster under the America title, ‘Beyond Soho’

LOBBY CARDS AND MINI POSTERS

1956 Alexander The Great

1960 The Siege Of Sidney Street

German mini lobby posters for ‘The Siege of Sidney Street’

Above: A full set of lobby cards with the Irish film title, ‘The Siege of Hell Street’.

1961 The Innocents

1962 Night of the Eagle/Burn, Witch, Burn

Above: Full set of American cards

Above and Below: ‘Night of the Eagle/Burn, Witch, Burn’ card from Mexico

Italian mini lobby posters

1980 Flash Gordon


REVIEW: Himmel, Scheich und Wolkenbruch*

The Story

Franz Xaver Oberholzer (Felix Dvorak), is Tyrolean innkeeper and family man from the Tyrolian Stubai Valley, who wins a dream holiday on the passenger liner, SS Calypso – the destination being the Arabian country of Ölscheichtum.

Above: Cover of German promotional brochure and, Below: Inside

AN ARCHIVE FULL OF MEMORIES

THE ENTIRE PETER WYNGARDE ‘GOING OUT’ WARDROBE

13087678_1344876015539151_7760196240765462338_n

20190705_161534_hdr_resized-1

Left: Peter had originally loaned me the hat when we attended a firework display in November 1999, but insisted that I kept it as he said it looked better on me than it did on him! 

BOOTS
BED1

scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

1

A: Handmade, raw silk shirt. Zip front – button sleeves. B: Silver button on sleeve of shirt.

scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

2
scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

3

A: Gold and ebony bracelet. B. Bracelet showing leopards with onyx eyes.

scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

20190707_122541_HDR_resized

Above: Some of my collection of film, theatre and television scripts, which include:

  • ‘Department S’ (various episodes)
  • Doctor Who: Planet of Fire
  • ‘The Duel’
  • ‘Flash Gordon’
  • ‘The Good Woman of Setzuan’
  • Jason King (various episodes)
  • ‘The King and I’
  • Sherlock Holmes ‘The Illustrious Client’
  • ‘Anastasia’
  • ‘Dracula’
  • ‘Underground’
scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

B

A. Call sheet from the Jason King episode, ‘Nadine’. B. A script for the Jason King episode, ‘Flamingos Only Fly On Tuesdays’

scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

HOUNDS

A: 1902 First Edition copy of Arthur Conan Doyle’s ‘Hound of the Baskervilles’ which Peter gave to me for my birthday in 2015. The inscription, which is a reference to my ability to garner information for his stories and scripts, reads: ‘To my darling “sleuth”! See if you can work this out? All my love and congratulations, Yours… always Peter’.

scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

A. Egyptian cotton shirt with front pleating. Because of the size and shape of the collar, it was clearly designed to be worn without at tie. B. The sleeves are, naturally, turned back and sewn into place.

In the top right-hand corner is a photograph of Peter in the Jason King two-parter, ‘All That Glisters’. In it he’s wearing the same design shirt but in mauve.

scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

A. “Rehearsal Script” for ‘Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes: The Adventure of the Illustrious Client’. B. The finished screenplay. C. Inside the script (B): Peter’s amendments in his own hand.

scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

Above: Lyrics for the songs on Peter’s LP, written in his own hand. ‘Hippy and the Skinhead’; ‘Rape’; ‘The Way I Cry Over You’; and ‘Try To remember To Forget’

The lyrics for all of the tracks are in the collection, plus those for songs that didn’t make the album.

scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

Above: Peter’s ‘Neck-Tie Man of the Year’ Award – (West) Germany. It reads as follows:

“The German tie institute choose Mr Peter Wyngarde tie-man of the year 1971.”

Below: Peter receiving the award on 14th November, 1971.

scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

Above: A: Flash Gordon‘ First Draft script. B: Final script.

Above: A. Amendments to ‘Flash Gordon’ script in Peter’s own hand. B. Shooting Schedule. C. Inside Shooting Schedule. Updates by Peter.

scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

Left: A genuine white Jason King tie – screen-worn.

Below: Peter wearing the tie in an episode of ‘Department S’.

scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

Above: Chinese chainmail white metal belt. B – The buckle features a bird centre, surrounded by intricately-cut feathers. Also above, Peter wearing the belt in an episode of ‘Department S’.

scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

Above: The bespoke fangs that Peter wore when playing Count Dracula on stage in 1974 and, below, pages from the ‘Dracula’ original script which has been partly written in Peter’s own handwriting.

Above: Peter’s hand drawn sketch of the stage layout for Dracula‘.

scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

Right: Silver cigarette case used in ‘Jason King’.

Left: Silver, engine-turned butane cigarette lighter used by Peter in numerous episodes of ‘Department S’ and ‘Jason King’.

scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

Above: The original painting of Peter Quint as seen in the film The Innocents – painted by Stella MacMahon – with the photograph of Peter from which the artwork was made.

Above: The locket in a scene from the film.

scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

Above: Peter’s shooting jacket from Enfield Gun Club with his name embroidered on the front, and Team Enfield on the back.

scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

Left and Above: A selection of silk handkerchiefs and cravats.

scott-canoe-scott-canoe-prospector-16

Right: Raw silk scarf.

Above: Peter wearing the scarf at the premier of ‘Flash Gordon’ in London, 1980. He is with Lady Victoria Berkley.

FANS GALLERY

This page is an ongoing project which will added to in the coming months. Any contributions can be sent to us by using the button at the bottom of this page.

John Formby with Peter

“I corresponded with dear Peter and met and chatted with him [photo]. I was always trying to get him to write his memoirs “Oh but Ian (he said) it’s sooooo boring writing about oneself!” I told him it was a crime that he had not been given more work over the last 30 years “I quite agree” he said. He was a charming man, a theatrical legend (“you toured with Vivien Leigh in Duel Of Angels”, I said. “Happy days” he replied.) He was a wonderful actor. Bless him. Ian Kelland

With Simon Avery at Comicon – Birmingham NEC, 2016

“The day I met dear Peter and Tina – Westminster Hat: Saturday 12th November, 2016. I had a BRILLIANT day…..despite having an eight hour wait for my coach for the journey home! Both Peter and Tina were quite lovely. Dear Peter signed two photographs and my CD copy of his superlative album sleeve.” Chris Honey

Mark Anthony Curzon with Peter

Stuart Clarkson with Peter: “He was so nice. It made my day to meet him.”

Vince Ferguson with Peter at Westminster12th November, 2016

Tony Richards with Peter at the British Film Institute – September 2013

Steve Cannell with Peter in 2008
And with Peter in 2014

Scott Martin with “The wonderful Mr W taking a shine to my Night of the Eagle poster.”

Uwe Sommerlad came all the way from Germany to see Peter at the Westminster Film Fair

David McConkey with Peter at Weston Super-mare, July 2014.

Above and Below: Peter with Alan Hoare

With Jez Fielder at the National Film Theatre

With John Botten at the Westminster Film Fair – 12th November, 2016

Christian James met Peter at Birmingham (above), and Portmeirion.

Mark Dewhirst and Peter at Westminster

Click below to email your photograph(s). Please remember to include your name and where you met Peter...

THE FILM ROOM

Alexander the Great

Alexander the Great: Original trailer

The Innocents (documentary)

An interesting and informative documentary about the making of ‘The Innocents’ with Dr. Christopher Frayling

The Innocents trailer


‘The Innocents’: How To Create Ambiguity – Film Analysis

The Siege of Sidney Street trailer

‘The Siege of Sidney Street: Original trailer

Night of the Eagle trailer

Flash Gordon trailer

‘Flash Gordon: Original US trailer

Life After Flash trailer

Click below for…