Peter Woodthorpe

Peter Woodthorpe

Biography

[Written by Robert Ross for the UK Monkey DVD boxsets]

Peter Woodthorpe: Pigsy (b. 1931-2004)
Busy stage and screen character player who is, perhaps, best known as the disgruntled pathologist Max in the classic John Thaw crime serial Inspector Morse. Early credits include ATVs Man in a Suitcase: Night Flight to AndorraEand the Stanley Baxter comedy film Father Came Too. He enjoyed three horror films for director Freddie Francis: Hammers The Evil of Frankenstein and Hysteria, and Amicuss The Skull. In 1978 he provided the distinctive voice of the Gollum in the BBC radio presentation and animated version of The Lord of the Rings. He joined a starry cast, including Elizabeth Taylor, Tony Curtis, Rock Hudson, Kim Novak and Angela Lansbury in Agatha Christies The Mirror Cracked (1980) and guest starred as Del Boy and Rodneys roguish father in Only Fools and Horses.

Sad news

Here's some sad news I received from Fabulous Films on Friday 13th August 2004:
"This morning I was called by Peter Woodthorpe's agent Rosie who let me know Peter passed away last night (12th August) aged 72. Peter had not been too well for a while and he had bravely fought on to complete the dubbing of the lost 13 episodes of Monkey, where he so famously was the voice of Pigsy. Peter had the last session ever on this project, which was less than a month ago. I was fortunate enough to have to drive him back to his Oxfordshire home that day. He was an extremely funny and extremely friendly chap who had had quite an illustrious career on stage, screen, televison and radio. I asked Peter if he was enjoying living in the country and enjoying his retirement. He said he was but he didn't do much nowadays. He said he spent most of the time reading."
(news item also featured on the BBC - Cult Television web site: BBC - Cult Television - Voice of Pigsy dies)

Obituaries:
The Independent (UK) - Peter Woodthorpe - Mesmerising actor with a dazzling early stage career
The Herald (UK) - Peter Woodthorpe, actor; born September 25, 1931, died August 13, 2004
New York Times (USA) - Obituary text [in Google Groups article]
The Guardian (UK) - Obituary: Peter Woodthorpe | Film | The Guardian

I would like to pass on best wishes to Peter's family on behalf of all his fans all over the world.

Other information

Peter has appeared predominantly in films, and his distinctive voice can also be found on the 1978 animated film of the Tolkien book "The Lord of the Rings", in which he did the voice of Gollum.

Filmography for Peter Woodthorpe




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