Clegg.. a gentle star who aged like fine wine
‘Cleggy’ actor Peter Sallis dies at 96
PETER Sallis was no spring chicken when he found fame as mildmannered Clegg in Last of the Summer Wine in 1973, but he spent 37 years charming the nation with his escapades on the much-loved show.
Growing old on screen without ever growing up, he aged like a vintage wine.
Clegg’s antics in the Yorkshire Dales with Bill Owen as Compo, Brian Wilde as Foggy Dewhurst, and Kathy Staff as Nora Batty, made the show such a success it became the longest-running sitcom in British TV history.
He was the last surviving member of that gang of four until his death yesterday at the age of 96. Bill died aged 85 in 1999, while Kathy and Brian passed away in 2008, aged 80 and 81.
Peter has also became an unlikely Hollywood star as the voice of absentminded inventor Wallace in the Oscarwinning Wallace & Gromit films.
Creator Nick Park led the tributes last night, saying Peter had “naturally funny bones”. He said: “Working with him was always a delight and I will miss his wry, unpredictable humour.”
Peter, who had retired in 2015 after losing his sight to macular degeneration, passed away peacefully with his family by his side at Denville Hall, a retirement home for actors in North London.
He may have mastered a Yorkshire accent for his two most famous characters, but he was born in Twickenham in Middlesex, the only son of banker Harry and housewife Dorothy.
He had no interest in acting at school and followed his father into a banking career with Barclays and might have stayed there for life were it not for the Second World War.
He joined the RAF, later remarking in his autobiography, Fading Into The Limelight: “I thought, if I’m going to be killed, I’d rather be killed sitting down.”
But when a blood disorder that could cause him to black out meant he could no longer fly, he became a wireless mechanic, then a radio instructor at RAF Cranwell in Lincolnshire.
It was there Peter caught the acting bug after a pupil offered him the lead in a production of Hay Fever in 1943.
He once said: “When I went on to the stage and spoke the lines, people laughed. That night, in my bunk, I couldn’t sleep. I had definitely caught the bug. So I decided that after the war, if I survived it, I would become an actor.”
After being demobbed he won a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. He became a successful stage actor, working with Judi Dench, Sir Laurence Olivier, and Orson Welles.
When auditioning Peter for Richard II, John Gielguld told him: “We have two very beautiful men playing Bushy and Bagot. You might make a good contrast.”
Peter also had roles in Z Cars, The Avengers, and Doctor Who.
He married an actress, Elaine Usher, and they had a son, Crispian, before divorcing in 1965. They later reconciled, but split for good in 1983.
Then in 1973, when he already had 25
years of acting experience, he was cast in a pilot for Last of the Summer Wine.
As Norman “Cleggy” Clegg in his familiar flat cap, Peter was the only cast member to appear in every episode. Fittingly, he was given the final words in the last episode in 2010.
Last of the Summer Wine creator Roy Clarke, 87, paid tribute. He said: “I admired him enormously, he was a very nice guy. I used to give him the best lines, because he always knew what to do with them.”
Peter, who was awarded an OBE for services in drama, himself loved the show.
He once remarked “It’s basically Wind in the Willows, isn’t it? It’s like Badger, Ratty and Mole messing about in boats and passing the time of day.”
It wasn’t all plain sailing though. Peter once had to be rescued by Bill Owen.
They were to paddle a canoe under a bridge, but Peter could not swim and told the director: “If I fall in, I want the entire unit to come to my rescue.” He said: “When we were in the canoe, it started to shudder from front to back. I said, ‘We’re going over!’ In the event it was Bill Owen who saved my life.”
In 1983, Nick Park wrote asking Peter to be the voice of a clay character called Wallace. Peter agreed to it in exchange for a £50 fee to his favourite charity.
It took six years for the first Wallace and Gromit film, A Grand Day Out, to reach the screen.
Nick said: “He was my first and only choice for Wallace.
“His silliness started the moment he greeted you at the door and didn’t stop when the mic was switched off. He had naturally funny bones and was a great storyteller.”
The film was nominated for an Oscar and the follow-ups The Wrong Trousers and A Close Shave both became Oscar winners in 1993 and 1995. Each of them also won a Bafta.
Nick said: “I’m so blessed and fortudo nate Peter had the generosity of spirit to help out a poor film school student back in the early 1980s, when neither of us had any idea what Wallace & Gromit might become.
“It is an absolute honour to have known him.”
Wallace and Gromit’s first featurelength movie, The Curse Of The WereRabbit, was released in 2005 and when it was nominated for the Best Animated Feature Oscar, Peter was Nick’s plus one and was there to see the film win.
Peter said later: “I was so grateful just to be there.”
’Allo ’Allo! star Vicki Michelle, 66, a friend of Peter’s, last night Tweeted: “Sad to hear about Peter Sallis. Fabulous actor loved by the nation.”
Shane Allen, controller of comedy commissioning for the BBC, said: “He will be forever fondly remembered.”