Peter Barkworth

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Peter Wynn Barkworth (14 January 1929 – 21 October 2006[1]) was an English actor.

Peter Barkworth was born at Margate, Kent. Soon after, the family moved to Bramhall in Cheshire and Barkworth was educated at Stockport School. His headmaster wanted him to go to university but Barkworth had set his heart on a career in acting. In 1946 he won a scholarship to RADA. He spent the next few years in repertory in Folkestone with the Arthur Brough company, and also Sheffield and from the mid 1950s to the early 1960s he taught acting technique at RADA.

A string of television and film appearances followed spanning four decades. He is perhaps best remembered for playing Mark Telford in the TV series Telford's Change (1979), watched every week by seven million viewers. This series followed the life of a senior banking executive as he downsized to Dover to start his life over again, leaving his wife in London. Barkworth co-starred with Hannah Gordon and Keith Barron.

A BAFTA winner for his roles in Professional Foul and The Country Party, Barkworth was also a regular character in the 1965 ground-breaking boardroom drama The Power Game. In the late 1960s he appeared in the World War II drama series Manhunt on LWT and various episodes of the The Avengers. He also had a part in the Doctor Who serial The Ice Warriors as Leader Clent. Later TV included the part of Stanley Baldwin in Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years (1981), and the serials The Price (1985) and Late Starter (also 1985) in both of which he played angst-filled, middle-aged, middle-class characters beset by marital problems. Both these series and Telford's Change were based on original ideas of his own.

Back on the stage, Barkworth appeared in numerous plays in the West End, notably as Edward VIII in Crown Matrimonial at the Haymarket Theatre in 1972, a role which he repeated on TV two years later. He also devised a one-man show based on the work of Siegfried Sassoon.

His film career began in 1951 with A Touch of Larceny. He had subsequent roles in International Velvet, Patton and Where Eagles Dare. His last appearance was in the Stephen Fry film Wilde in 1997.

In the 1980s and 1990s Barkworth served as a member of the Council at RADA for 16 years. His book About Acting – formerly titled The Complete About Acting – is often recommended reading for students and professional actors alike.

In the Sunday Times, John Peter wrote:

“ Peter Barkworth: an actor of the utmost skill and refinement, whose physical control and spiritual awareness has always had a jewel-like gleam and precision." ”

He also wrote For All Occasions: A Selection of Poems, Prose and Party Pieces. He then retired from acting. He died at the Royal Free Hospital in London of bronchopneumonia 10 days after suffering a stroke.

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Daily Telegraph Issue 47,338(16/8/07) p28 reported that he left estate valued at 2,256,862 GBP and a collection of paintings and drawings to the National Trust

[edit] External links

Persondata
NAME Peter Barkworth
ALTERNATIVE NAMES
SHORT DESCRIPTION English actor
DATE OF BIRTH January 14, 1929
PLACE OF BIRTH Margate, Kent
DATE OF DEATH 21 October 2006
PLACE OF DEATH Hampstead, London
Languages