Peter Copley

For the British composer, see Peter Copley (composer). For the Australian ecologist, see Peter Copley (ecologist).

Peter Copley (20 May 1915 – 7 October 2008) was an English television, film and stage actor.^[1][2]

Peter Copley
Copley in an episode of Sherlock Holmes (1954)
Born	Peter Francis Gabain Copley 20 May 1915 Bushey, Hertfordshire, England, U.K.
Died	7 October 2008(2008-10-07) (aged 93) Bristol, England, U.K.
Years active	1934–2008
Spouses	Pamela Brown ​ ​ (m. 1941; div. 1953)​ Ninka Dolega ​ ​ (m. 1953, divorced)​ Margaret Tabor ​ (m. 1967)​
Children	1

Biography

Copley was born in Bushey, Hertfordshire, son of the printmakers, John Copley and Ethel Gabain.

After changing his mind about joining the Royal Navy, he studied at the Old Vic School and started out as a stage actor in 1932.^[3] He made his first film appearance in 1934, going on to play a wide variety of characters from the villainous to the meek and mild. In 1946, he appeared on stage in "Cyrano de Bergerac" at the New Theatre in London.^[4] In 1951 he appeared at the Duchess Theatre in London's West End in the comedy play The Happy Family by Michael Clayton Hutton.^[5]

TV credits include: Thorndyke, Danger Man, The Saint, The Avengers, The Forsyte Saga, The Troubleshooters, The Champions, Department S, Doomwatch, Z-Cars, Fall of Eagles, Survivors, Bless Me, Father (episode "A Legend Comes to Stay"), Father Brown (episode "The Curse of the Golden Cross"), Doctor Who (in the serial "Pyramids of Mars"), Sutherland's Law, Tales of the Unexpected, Miss Marple (episode "Nemesis"), Lovejoy, The Bill, Cadfael, The Diamond Brothers: South by South East and One Foot in the Grave.^[6][7]

Copley continued to act well into his nineties.^[8]

A resident of Bristol, Copley was awarded an Honorary Degree of Master of Arts by the University of the West of England in 2001.^[9]

Filmography

Year	Title[10]	Role	Notes
1937	Farewell Again	Minor Role	Uncredited
1950	Golden Salamander	Aribi
	The Elusive Pimpernel	Tailor	Uncredited
1952	The Promoter	Shillitoe	Uncredited
	The Hour of 13	Cummings
1953	The Sword and the Rose	Sir Edwin Caskoden
	The Clue of the Missing Ape	His Excellency	Uncredited
	Saadia	Leader Mokhazenis
1955	The Woman for Joe	Mr. Worthington	Uncredited
1956	Foreign Intrigue	Brown
	Peril for the Guy	Ritter
1957	Time Without Pity	Prison Chaplain
	The Smallest Show on Earth	Hank in 'The Mystery of Hell Valley'	Uncredited
	The Man Without a Body	Leslie
	Just My Luck	Gilbert Weaver
1958	A Tale of Two Cities	Mellor	Uncredited
	The Strange World of Planet X	News Editor	Uncredited
	Rockets Galore!	Scientist	Uncredited
1959	The Mystery in the Mine	Tom Abbott
1960	Follow That Horse!	Garrod
1961	Victim	Paul Mandrake
1964	The Third Secret	Dr. Leo Whitset
	King & Country	Colonel
1965	The Knack …and How to Get It	Picture Owner
	Help!	Jeweller
1967	The Jokers	Defence Lawyer	Uncredited
	Quatermass and the Pit	Howell
1968	The Shoes of the Fisherman	English Cardinal
1969	Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed	Principal
	Mosquito Squadron	Mr. Scott
	Walk a Crooked Path	Dr. Oberon
1970	Jane Eyre	John	TV movie
	All at Sea	Mr. Gordon
1972	What Became of Jack and Jill?	Dickson
	That's Your Funeral	1st Funeral Director
1973	Gawain and the Green Knight	Pilgrim
1975	Hennessy	Home Secretary
	Doctor Who	Doctor Warlock	Episode: "Pyramids of Mars"
	Survivors	Dr George Bronson, Deaf School Teacher	Episode: "The Fourth Horseman"
1976	Shout at the Devil	Admiral Howe
	Peer Gynt
1977	The Black Panther
1978	The Famous Five	Mr Finniston	Episode: "Five on Finniston Farm"
1980	Little Lord Fauntleroy	Rev. Muldaur
1982	Witness for the Prosecution	Dr. Harrison	TV movie
1983	The Forgotten Story	Mr. Cowdray	1 episode
1986	Miss Marple: Nemesis	Archdeacon Brabazon
1987	Empire of the Sun	British Prisoner #10
1992	A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia	Maitland	TV movie
1994	Second Best	Percy
	Cadfael	Abbot (later Brother) Heribert	4 episodes
1999	Janice Beard 45 WPM	Sean's Father
2005	Kingdom of Heaven	Old Pilgram	(director's cut)
	Oliver Twist	Dining Hall Master

References

1. "Peter Copley". Archived from the original on 9 December 2017.
2. "Peter Copley - Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
3. Unwin, Paul (10 October 2008). "Obituary: Peter Copley". The Guardian.
4. "Production of Cyrano de Bergerac - Theatricalia". theatricalia.com.
5. Wearing, J.P. The London Stage 1950–1959: A Calendar of Productions, Performers, and Personnel. Rowman & Littlefield, 2014. p.94
6. Tribute Archived 11 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
7. "Peter Copley". aveleyman.com.
8. "Peter Copley".
9. Hayward, Anthony (29 December 2008). "Peter Copley: Prolific character actor whose career lasted more than 70 years". The Independent. Archived from the original on 30 December 2008. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
10. Scott, A. O. (25 September 2006). "Peter Copley". The New York Times. Retrieved 25 September 2006.

External links

• Peter Copley at IMDb
• Peter Copley at the TCM Movie Database
• Peter Copley at the British Film Institute^{[better source needed]}
• Guardian Obituary