Peter Wilton Cushing was born on May 26, 1913, in Kenley, South London, England.
Peter Cushing was inspired to act by his aunt, a stage actress, though his parents would have preferred him to choose a more conventional job. In 1936 he started working in theater but in 1939 decided to move to Hollywood to work in cinema. In that year came his debut in “The Man in the Iron Mask” by James Whale.
Peter Cushing found roles of various kinds but without great satisfaction and when World War II started he returned to England. There he met Helen Beck, whom he married in 1943, a marriage that lasted until her death in 1971.
In 1948, Peter Cushing played Osric in “Hamlet” by Laurence Olivier, his first important role in a movie. In the ’50s he was active mainly in television productions, with roles such as Winston Smith in the 1950 adaptation of “1984” by George Orwell.
Towards the end of the ’50s, Peter Cushing was chosen by Hammer, a production house small but ambitious to be among the protagonists of various horror movies. In 1957 he starred in “The Curse of Frankenstein”, where he worked for the first time with Christopher Lee, who became his best friend. In 1958, the two actors were the stars of “Dracula” (or “Horror of Dracula”. These were only the first movies of two series dedicated to Frankenstein and Dracula produced by Hammer with Cushing during the ’60s and ’70s.
In 1959, Peter Cushing played Sherlock Holmes for the first time in the movie “The Hound of the Baskervilles”, the first movie dedicated to the famous detective produced in color.
Although he kept on acting in various TV shows, at some point Peter Cushing got identified with his characters in the Hammer movies. To try to overcome that typecasting situation, he agreed to play the Doctor in the movies “Dr. Who and the Daleks” and “Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 AD”. Those are adaptations of two adventures of the famous television series “Doctor Who”, respectively “The Daleks” and “The Dalek Invasion of Earth“. However, these movies are not part of the saga because in them the Doctor is a human scientist and not an alien like in the TV show.
In 1968, Peter Cushing played Sherlock Holmes again in a BBC TV show dedicated to the famous detective and one last time in the TV movie “The Masks of Death” in 1984.
In 1977, Peter Cushing appeared in the movie “Star Wars”, a role which increased his fame throughout the world.
In 1982, Peter Cushing was diagnosed with prostate cancer. His health deteriorated so his activity was reduced. In 1989 he received the honor of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in recognition of his work as an actor.
Peter Cushing died on August 11, 1994 in Canterbury, England. In addition to being a great actor in theater, television, and cinema he was also a painter and illustrator. However, it’s inevitable that he remains above all a symbol of the ’60s and ’70s horror movies.
