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). 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. Peters starred in a BBC TV 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 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!'', four episodes of '' Dad's Army'', two episodes of '' Are You Being Served?'', one episode of '' Grace & Favour'' (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'' during the 1990s, five episodes of '' Never the Twain''. 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'' 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.

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. He published an

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

, ''From Choirboy to Comic'', in 2004. Peters died on 15 June 2022, aged 95.Quinn, Michael (13 September 2022)
"Obituary: Gordon Peters"
'' The Stage''. Retrieved 29 October 2022.

References

External links

* *
Gordon Peters
at the British Film Institute
Gordon Peters
(Aveleyman)
Obituary
at '' The Stage'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Peters, Gordon 1926 births 2022 deaths 20th-century English male actors 20th-century Royal Navy personnel 21st-century English male actors Male actors from County Durham English male television actors English male voice actors People from Shildon English male comedians Actors from Durham, England Comedians from County Durham