
Peter Sallis
Born February 1, 1921 · Twickenham, England, UK
Peter Sallis, OBE (February 1, 1921 – June 2, 2017) was an English actor and entertainer, well-known for his work on British television. Although he was born and brought up in London, his two most notable roles required him to adopt the accents and mannerisms of a Northerner. Peter John Sallis was born on 1 February 1921 in Twickenham, Middlesex (now in Greater London). He was the only child of bank manager Harry Sallis (1889–1964) and Dorothy Amea Frances (née Barnard; 1891–1975). His first big television role came in 1958 where he played the role of Samuel Pepys in the BBC serial The Diary of Samuel Pepys. Sallis was best known for his role as the main character Norman Clegg in the long-running British TV comedy Last of the Summer Wine, set in a Yorkshire town. He was the longest serving cast member, appearing in all 295 episodes, and by the end of the show's run was the only one surviving from the programme's first episode in 1973. He also appeared in all 13 of the episodes of the prequel series First of the Summer Wine as Norman Clegg's father. He was also famous for providing the voice of Wallace in the Wallace and Gromit films, again using a northern accent. Sallis also starred alongside Richard Pearson, Michael Horden and David Jason in Cosgrove Hall's The Wind in the Willows (1984-1990) as the voice of Rat/Ratty. In 1975 he appeared in the BBC Wales, TV play The Snowdropper as Spicer, a snowdropper that where's Overalls/Dungarees. In 1976 he played Mr. Gudgin/Arnold Gudgin in the children's series The Ghosts of Motley Hall (1976–78). The character Gudgin Sallis played in the series was a estate agent who did not want to see the hall fall into the wrong hands. Sallis also appeared in the TV series Yanks Go Home (1976-1977) where he played Randell Todd in four episodes of the series. Around the same period, he starred alongside Northern comic actor David Roper in the ITV sitcom Leave it to Charlie (1978-1980) as Charlie's pessimistic boss. The programme ran for a total of 26 episodes over four series, ending in 1980. He also played the part of the ghost-hunter Milton Guest in the children's paranormal drama TV series The Clifton House Mystery (1978). Sallis was married to Elaine Usher in 1957 until they eventually divorced in 1965. Sallis and Usher eventually reconciled and decided to come living together until 1999. Sallis continued to remain close to Usher until eventually she died on 1 January 2014 at the age of 81. They both had one son named Crispian Sallis who was born on 24 June 1959 who later became a British art director and set decorator. Sallis and Usher also had two grandchildren from Crispian. Sallis also lived with three small cats in a small cottage. Description above from the Wikipedia article Peter Sallis, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Notable Appearances
Movies

Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

The Bible: In the Beginning...

A Night to Remember

A Matter of Loaf and Death

A Grand Day Out

The Wrong Trousers

A Close Shave

Hitler: The Last Ten Days

Taste the Blood of Dracula

The V.I.P.s

The Day the Earth Caught Fire

Who Is Killing the Great Chefs of Europe?

Scream and Scream Again

Wuthering Heights

A Taste of Honey

The Curse of the Werewolf

Witness for the Prosecution

My Lover, My Son

Anastasia

Comedy Classic: Keeping Up Appearances

Full Circle

Last of the Summer Wine: Getting Sam Home

The Mouse on the Moon

The Scapegoat

A Grand Night In: The Story of Aardman

Saturday Night and Sunday Morning

Frankenstein: The True Story

The Millionairess

No Love for Johnnie

Last of the Summer Wine: Big Day at Dream Acres

Colour Me Kubrick

Royal Variety Performance 1984

Nightmare at 43 Hillcrest

I Thank a Fool

Wallace & Gromit's Cracking Contraptions

The Third Secret

Mr. Denning Drives North

The Prison

Last of the Summer Wine: Uncle of the Bride

Orson Welles Over Europe

The Obelisk

Wallace & Gromit: The Best of Aardman Animation

Doctor Who: The Ice Warriors

The Wind in the Willows: A Tale of Two Toads

A Wicked World

The Incredible Sarah

Doctor in Love

The Secret Diaries of the Film Censors

The Funny Side of Christmas

Last Of The Summer Wine: 30 Years Of Laughs

The Loves of Joanna Godden

The Making of Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit

Easy

Marie Stopes: Sexual Revolutionary

You're Not Watching Me, Mummy

The Crane

A Midsummer Night's Dream

Nineteen Eighty-Four

The Road Builder

Twentieth Century Theatre: Colombe

The Drummer and the Bloke

Charlie Bubbles

Who Killed Lamb?

The Doctor's Dilemma

Maigret at Bay

Frankenstein

How Wallace & Gromit Went to Hollywood

The Amazing World of Wallace & Gromit

Drama '63: A Well Dressed Man

Wallace & Gromit's World of Invention

628-E8

The Reckoning

Stranger from Venus

Inside the Wrong Trousers

Wallace & Gromit: The Collection

The Wind in the Willows: Winter Tales

Hotel!

The Price of Coal, Part 1: Meet the People

Thora Hird Tribute
TV Shows

BBC Play of the Month

The Avengers

60 Minutes

Crown Court

Tales of the Unexpected

The Wednesday Play

Eureka

Playhouse

Z-Cars

Doctors

ITV Playhouse

Last of the Summer Wine

The Oscars

Omnibus

Thirty-Minute Theatre

Songs of Praise

Rumpole of the Bailey

Maigret

Danger Man

This Is Your Life

Sunday Night Theatre

Justice

The Persuaders!

Public Eye

The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes

Room 101

HBO First Look

The Troubleshooters

Noel's House Party

Softly, Softly

Mystery and Imagination

Budgie

The Pallisers

Lady Killers

Kingdom

Callan

Harry Hill's TV Burp

Sergeant Cork

Softly Softly: Task Force

The New Statesman

Hallmark Hall of Fame

Comedy Connections

Paul Temple

The Wind in the Willows

Balamory

Catweazle

Hadleigh

Raffles

The Ghosts of Motley Hall

Murder Most English: A Flaxborough Chronicle

British Film Forever

Charlie Brooker's Screenwipe

Rex the Runt

Armchair Theatre

Zero One

Wallace & Gromit's World of Invention

Wallace & Gromit's Cracking Contraptions

Troldspejlet

Operation Good Guys

Frankenstein: The True Story

Time Trumpet

Britain's Best Sitcom

Frankenstein

The National Television Awards

Yanks Go Home

Call My Bluff

Armchair Cinema

The Moonstone

First of the Summer Wine

Strangers and Brothers

Strange Experiences

The Clifton House Mystery

Sylvanian Families

Room Service

Spyder's Web

Rocky Hollow

Auntie's Bloomers

Aardman: A Cracking Collection

What We Were Watching
More Movies

She Loves Me

Heart to Heart

The Lark Ascending

Inadmissible Evidence

Second Time Around: The Troughton Years

Belonging

Wind Versus Polygamy

Moby Dick—Rehearsed

The Incredible Adventures of Wallace & Gromit

Rapture

The Price of Coal, Part 2: Back to Reality

Lady Killer

The Big Flame

Displacements

The Capone Investment

Brand

Song at Twilight

The Hallelujah Handshake

The Daedalus Equations

Sweeney Todd

Wallace & Gromit - Hearts of Clay

Clash by Night

Beyond Our Means

Child's Play

Back of Beyond

Wallace & Gromit’s Cracking Contraptions: Behind the Scenes

Gromit's Tail-Waggin' DVD

Quay South

Cream: Farewell Concert

Cinderella

The Concert

The Zoo Story




