Gordon Peter Wilkinson (29 November 1926 – 15 June 2022), known professionally as Gordon Peters, was an English actor and comedian.

Early life

Peters was born in Shildon, County Durham, England on 29 November 1926. His mother was a piano teacher and his father a tenor-voiced butcher, both enthusiastic amateur performers, Peters spent much of his early childhood as a chorister at

Durham Cathedral The Cathedral Church of Christ, Blessed Mary the Virgin and St Cuthbert of Durham, commonly known as Durham Cathedral and home of the Shrine of St Cuthbert, is a cathedral in the city of Durham, County Durham, England. It is the seat of t ...

. Peters began his early career as a junior bank clerk after national service in the Royal Navy, at the Standard Bank of South Africa, in Harare, (

Rhodesia Rhodesia (, ), officially from 1970 the Republic of Rhodesia, was an unrecognised state in Southern Africa from 1965 to 1979, equivalent in territory to modern Zimbabwe. Rhodesia was the ''de facto'' successor state to the British colony of S ...

, now

Zimbabwe Zimbabwe (), officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country located in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Botswana to the south-west, Zambia to the north, and Mozam ...

). It was there he entered a talent contest, his comic miming to two songs securing him second place.

Career

Returning to the UK in 1951, he found his first job, a summer season with the Vincent Tildsley’s Mastersingers at Blackpool’s Opera House, after responding to an advert in

The Stage ''The Stage'' is a British weekly newspaper and website covering the entertainment industry and particularly theatre. It was founded in 1880. It contains news, reviews, opinion, features, and recruitment advertising, mainly directed at those wh ...

. Peters starred in a

BBC TV BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1927. It produced television programmes from its own studios from 19 ...

comedy series in 1973 called ''The Gordon Peters Show'', which was a

situation comedy A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ne ...

in which he played a character with his own name. The series was cancelled after one season. He devised and hosted a children’s quiz ''Around the World in 48 Hours'' for

Westward Television Westward Television was the first ITV franchise-holder for the South West of England. It held the franchise from 29 April 1961 until 31 December 1981. After a difficult start, Westward Television provided a popular, distinctive and highly regar ...

in 1976. Peters had many roles in other television shows over the years, including ''

Oh Brother! ''Oh, Brother!'' is a British television sitcom starring Derek Nimmo, which aired on BBC1 from 13 September 1968 to 27 February 1970. Synopsis The series was set in the fictional Mountacres Monastery, with Nimmo cast as the well-meaning but ine ...

'', two episodes of ''

Hi-de-Hi! ''Hi-de-Hi!'' is a BBC television sitcom shown on BBC1 from 1 January 1980 to 30 January 1988. Set in 1959 and 1960 in Maplins, a fictional holiday camp, the show was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, who also wrote ''Dad's Army'' and ...

'', four episodes of ''

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television British sitcom, sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard (United Kingdom), Home Guard during the World War II, Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft (TV producer), David Crof ...

'', two episodes of ''

Are You Being Served? ''Are You Being Served?'' is a British sitcom created and written by executive producer David Croft (Croft also directed some episodes) and Jeremy Lloyd, with contributions from Michael Knowles and John Chapman, for the BBC. Set in London, t ...

'', one episode of ''

Grace & Favour ''Grace & Favour'' (American title: ''Are You Being Served? Again!'') is a British sitcom and a spin-off of ''Are You Being Served?'' that aired on BBC1 for two series from 1992 to 1993. It was written by ''Are You Being Served?'' creators and ...

'' (also called '' Are You Being Served? Again!'' in the United States). He played Victor and Margaret Meldrew's family friend Ronnie in three episodes of the long-running BBC sitcom ''

One Foot in the Grave ''One Foot in the Grave'' is a British television sitcom written by David Renwick. There were six series (each consisting of six half-hour shows) and seven Christmas specials over a period of ten years from early 1990 to late 2000. The first fi ...

'' during the 1990s, five episodes of ''

Never the Twain ''Never the Twain'' is a British sitcom that ran for eleven series from 7 September 1981 to 9 October 1991. It was created by Johnnie Mortimer, and was the only sitcom he ever created without his usual writing partner, Brian Cooke. Mortimer w ...

''. Moreover, he featured in one episode of ''

Little Britain Little Britain may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Little Britain'' (sketch show), a British radio and then TV show ** ''Little Britain USA'', an American spin-off * "Little Britain", a song by Dreadzone from the 1995 album '' Second Light'' ...

'' in 2005, as a booking clerk in an episode of the BBC sitcom ''

Keeping Up Appearances ''Keeping Up Appearances'' is a British sitcom created and written by Roy Clarke. It originally aired on BBC1 from 1990 to 1995 with two specials airing in 1997 and 2008 on PBS. The central character is an eccentric and snobbish middle class so ...

'' and in one episode of '' HBO's Tales from the Crypt''. He voiced the narrator, male characters and all the Mr. Men in the 1995–1997 series ''

Mr. Men and Little Miss ''Mr. Men and Little Miss'', known in the United States as ''The Mr. Men Show'' and in French as ''Monsieur Bonhomme'', is a 1994–1997 animated children's television series based on the original '' Mr. Men and Little Miss'' books created in ...

'' save for the 1998 special ''The Christmas Letter'', where the roles of the narrator and Santa Claus were taken up by

Geoffrey Palmer Geoffrey Palmer may refer to: Politicians *Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 1st Baronet (1598–1670), English lawyer and politician *Sir Geoffrey Palmer, 3rd Baronet (1655–1732), English politician, Member of Parliament (MP) for Leicestershire *Geoffrey Pal ...

Personal life and death

Peters married Joan Mann in 1959, however the marriage ended in divorce. In 1969 he married Patrica Fraser and they had one daughter together.https://www.thestage.co.uk/obituaries--archive/obituaries/obituary-comedian-gordon-peters He published an autobiography, ''From Choirboy to Comic'', in 2004. Peters died on 15 June 2022, aged 95.Quinn, Michael (13 September 2022)
"Obituary: Gordon Peters"
''

''. Retrieved 29 October 2022.

References

External links

* *
Gordon Peters
at the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

Gordon Peters
(Aveleyman)
Obituary
at ''

'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Gordon 1926 births 2022 deaths 20th-century English male actors 20th-century Royal Navy personnel 21st-century English male actors Actors from County Durham English male television actors English male voice actors People from Durham, England