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 ATV’s Man in a Suitcase: ‘Night Flight to
Andorra’ and the Stanley Baxter comedy film Father Came Too. He enjoyed
three horror films for director Freddie Francis: Hammer’s The Evil of
Frankenstein and Hysteria, and Amicus’s 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 Christie’s The Mirror Cracked (1980) and guest starred as Del Boy and
Rodney’s 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]
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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