Peter Cushing Biography

Birthday: 1913-05-26
Place of Birth: Kenley, Surrey
Height: 5' 11½" (1.82 m)
Wiki Biography: Peter Wilton Cushing was born on May 26, 1913 in Kenley, Surrey, England. He and his older brother David were raised first in Dulwich Village, a south London suburb, and then later back in Surrey by his mother Nellie Marie and father George Edward, who was a quantity surveyor. At an early age, Cushing was attracted to acting, inspired by his favorite aunt, who was a stage actress. While at school, Cushing pursued his acting interest in acting and also drawing, a talent he put to good use later in his first job as a government surveyor's assistant in Surrey. At this time, he also dabbled in local amateur theater until moving to London to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on scholarship. He then performed in repertory theater, deciding in 1939 to head for Hollywood, where he made his film debut in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939). Other Hollywood films included A Chump at Oxford (1940) with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, Vigil in the Night (1940) and They Dare Not Love (1941). However, after a short stay, he returned to England by way of New York (making brief appearances on Broadway) and Canada. Back in his homeland, he contributed to the war effort during World War II by joining the Entertainment National Services Association.
After the war, he performed in the West End and had his big break appearing with Laurence Olivier in Hamlet (1948), in which Cushing's future partner-in-horror Christopher Lee had a bit part. Both actors also appeared in Moulin Rouge (1952) but did not meet until their later horror films. During the 1950s, Cushing became a familiar face on British television, appearing in numerous teleplays, such as 1984 (1954) and Beau Brummell (1954), until the end of the decade when he began his legendary association with Hammer Film Productions in its remakes of the 1930s Universal horror classics. His first Hammer roles included Dr. Frankenstein in The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), Dr. Van Helsing in Horror of Dracula (1958), and Sherlock Holmes in The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959).
Cushing continued playing the roles of Drs. Frankenstein and Van Helsing, as well as taking on other horror characters, in Hammer films over the next 20 years. He also appeared in films for the other major horror producer of the time, Amicus Productions, including Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) and its later horror anthologies, a couple of Dr. Who films (1965, 1966), I, Monster (1971), and others. By the mid-1970s, these companies had stopped production, but Cushing, firmly established as a horror star, continued in the genre for some time thereafter.
Perhaps his best-known appearance outside of horror films was as Grand Moff Tarkin in George Lucas' phenomenally successful science fiction film Star Wars (1977). Biggles: Adventures in Time (1986) was Cushing's last film before his retirement, during which he made a few television appearances, wrote two autobiographies and pursued his hobbies of bird watching and painting. In 1989, he was made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his contributions to the acting profession in Britain and worldwide. Peter Cushing died at age 81 of prostate cancer on August 11, 1994.
Peter CushingPhotos & Pictures






Filmography
TV Title | Appeared As | Year | Genre |
---|---|---|---|
Pebble Mill at One | 1973 | Talk Show | |
Hammer House of Horror | 1980 - 1980 | Drama | |
Top Secret | Bookstore Proprietor | 1984 | Action |
The Restaurant Inspector | 2011 | Reality Tv | |
Fashion Star | Himself | 2012 | Reality Tv |
Pengene på bordet | Harry Fordyce | 2012 | Family |
Movies Title | Appeared As | Year | Genre |
---|---|---|---|
A Chump at Oxford | 1940 | Comedy | |
Fear in the Night | 1947 | ||
Alexander the Great | 1956 | 0, 0, 0, Biography | |
Magic Fire | Otto Wesendonk | 1956 | Drama |
The Abominable Snowman | Dr. John Rollason | 1957 | |
Time Without Pity | 1957 | ||
The Curse of Frankenstein | Victor Frankenstein | 1957 | Sci Fi, Horror, Drama |
The Revenge of Frankenstein | Doctor Victor Stein | 1958 | Reality Tv |
Cone of Silence | Capt. Clive Judd | 1960 | |
The Brides of Dracula | Dr. J. Van Helsing | 1960 | Horror |
The Naked Edge | 1961 | ||
Sword of Sherwood Forest | Sheriff of Nottingham | 1961 | Adventure |
The Gorgon | Dr. Namaroff | 1964 | |
The Evil of Frankenstein | Baron Frankenstein | 1964 | Reality Tv |
Dr. Who and the Daleks | Dr. Who | 1965 | |
Island of Terror | 1966 | ||
Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD | Dr. Who | 1966 | Sci Fi |
Torture Garden | 1967 | ||
Frankenstein Created Woman | Baron Frankenstein | 1967 | Horror, Sci Fi |
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed | Baron Frankenstein | 1969 | Reality Tv |
The Blood Beast Terror | 1969 | Crime, Mystery, Horror | |
The Vampire Lovers | General von Spielsdorf | 1970 | |
The House That Dripped Blood | 1971 | ||
Dr. Phibes Rises Again | 1972 | ||
Twins of Evil | 1972 | ||
Dracula A.D. | Professor Van Helsing | 1972 | Horror |
Horror Express | 1973 | ||
The Creeping Flesh | 1973 | Reality Tv | |
The Satanic Rites of Dracula | Prof. Lorrimer Van Helsing | 1973 | |
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires | 1974 | ||
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell | Baron Victor Frankenstein | 1974 | Horror |
At the Earth's Core | Dr. Abner Perry | 1976 | |
The Great Houdinis | Sir Arthur Conan Doyle | 1976 | Drama |
Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope | Grand Moff Tarkin | 1977 | |
Shock Waves | 1977 | Horror, Mystery, Sci Fi | |
Legend of the Werewolf | 1978 | Horror, Mystery | |
House of the Long Shadows | Sebastian Grisbane | 1983 | |
The Masks of Death | 1984 | ||
Top Secret! | Bookstore Proprietor | 1984 | Action, Comedy, Romance |
Sword of the Valiant: The Legend of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight | 1984 | Action, Adventure, Fantasy | |
The Lost | Narrator | 2006 | Horror |
Joe Strummer: The Future Is Unwritten | Winston Smith | 2007 | 0 |