Peter Cushing

Actor

May 26, 1913 (81 years)

† August 11, 1994

Kenley, Surrey, England, UK

Biography

Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor, known for his many appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played Baron Frankenstein and Dr. Van Helsing, amongst many other roles, often appearing opposite Christopher Lee, and occasionally Vincent Price. A familiar face on both sides of the Atlantic, his most famous roles outside of "Hammer Horror" include his many appearances as Sherlock Holmes, as Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars (1977) and as the mysterious Doctor…

Filmography

7.8

The Avengers

Paul Beresford

A quirky spy show of the adventures of eccentrically suave British Agent John Steed and his predominantly female partners. Jonathan Steed - an urbane, proper gentleman spy - teams with various assistants throughout the series' run, including Dr. David Keel, Cathy Gale, Emma Peel and Tara King, to repeatedly save the world from diabolical schemes plotted by equally diabolical evil-doers (among them robots and man-eating monsters).

6.8

Tales of the Unexpected

Von Baden

A British television anthology of stories, often with sinister and wryly comedic undertones, and a twist at the end. With early episodes written and presented by Roald Dahl, the series featured a plethora of big name guest stars.

5.3

Wogan

Self

Chat show hosted by Terry Wogan, featuring live studio interviews with famous and notable personalities.

8.2

Star Wars

Grand Moff Tarkin

Princess Leia is captured and held hostage by the evil Imperial forces in their effort to take over the galactic Empire. Venturesome Luke Skywalker and dashing captain Han Solo team together with the loveable robot duo R2-D2 and C-3PO to rescue the beautiful princess and restore peace and justice in the Empire.

7.1

Space: 1999

Raan

The crew of Moonbase Alpha must struggle to survive when a massive explosion throws the Moon from orbit into deep space.

4.2

Thirty-Minute Theatre

Leonard

An anthology of short plays shown on BBC Television between 1965 and 1973, used in part at least as a training ground for new writers, on account of its short length, and which therefore attracted many writers who later became well known.

3.5

Sunday Night Theatre

Winston Smith

Sunday Night Theatre was a long-running series of televised live television plays screened by BBC Television from early 1950 until 1959. The productions for the first five years or so of the run were re-staged live the following Thursday, partly because of technical limitations in this era, and the theatrical basis of early television drama. Some of the earliest collaborations between Rudolph Cartier and Nigel Neale were produced for this series, including Arrow to the Heart and Nineteen Eighty-Four. The Sunday night drama slot was subsequently renamed The Sunday-Night Play which ran for four seasons between 1960 and 1963. ITV transmitted its own unrelated run of Sunday Night Theatre between 1971 and 1974.

7.1

The New Avengers

Von Claus

The New Avengers is a British secret agent fantasy adventure television series broadcast during 1976 and 1977. It is a sequel to the 1960s series The Avengers and was developed by Albert Fennell and Brian Clemens. A joint United Kingdom-France-Canada production, the show picks up the adventures of John Steed and his team of Avengers fighting evil plots and world domination. Whereas in the original series Steed had almost always been partnered with a woman, in the new series he had two partners: Mike Gambit, a top agent, crack marksman and trained martial artist, and Purdey, a former trainee with The Royal Ballet who was an amalgam of many of the best talents from Steed's previous female partners.

6.8

Orson Welles' Great Mysteries

Count Gerard De Merret

Orson Welles’ Great Mysteries is a British television anthology series produced by Anglia Television for the ITV network and broadcast between 1973 and 1974. The series presents standalone adaptations of classic mystery, crime, and supernatural stories drawn from literary sources including Dickens, Conan Doyle, Wilkie Collins, Balzac, Maugham, O. Henry, and others. Each episode is framed by original introductory and closing sequences performed by Orson Welles, who serves as the series’ host and sole recurring on-screen presence. These segments, written and directed by Welles (uncredited), function as stylized narrative framing devices rather than dramatic participation in the stories themselves. The dramatic content of each episode is performed by separate casts and directors, with no continuing characters or serialized narrative, establishing the series as a unified television anthology rather than a collection of standalone films.

7.1

Hammer House of Horror

Martin Blueck

Each self-contained episode features a different kind of horror, varying from witches, werewolves, ghosts, devil worship and voodoo, but also includes non-supernatural themes such as cannibalism, confinement and serial killers.

7.1

Top Secret!

Bookstore Proprietor

Popular and dashing American singer Nick Rivers travels to East Germany to perform in a music festival. When he loses his heart to the gorgeous Hillary Flammond, he finds himself caught up in an underground resistance movement. Rivers joins forces with Agent Cedric and Flammond to attempt the rescue of her father, Dr. Paul, from the Germans, who have captured the scientist in hopes of coercing him into building a new naval mine.

6.8

The World of Hammer

Self (archive footage)

The World of Hammer is a thirteen-part British documentary series created and written by Robert and Ashley Sidaway for Channel 4. Initially broadcast from 12 August to 4 November 1994, the series is narrated by English actor and frequent Hammer collaborator Oliver Reed.

6.7

Sherlock Holmes

Sherlock Holmes (also known as 'Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's Sherlock Holmes') is a series of Sherlock Holmes adaptations produced by British television company BBC between 1964 and 1968. This was the second screen adaption of Sherlock Holmes for BBC Television.

5.9

Corruption

Sir John Rowan

A surgeon discovers that he can restore the beauty to his girlfriend's scarred face by murdering other women and extracting fluids from their pituitary gland. However, the effects only last for a short time, so he has to kill more and more women. It is ultimately a killing spree which ends with considerable death and disaster.

7.8

The Zoo Gang

Judge Gautier

Six resistance fighters, known by their animal-based code names, fought during World War II. Their efforts came to a stop when one of their number, "the Wolf", betrayed them to the Gestapo. In their interrogation, one of their number, Claude Roget, the husband of Manouche was shot before her eyes. Thirty years later, Thomas Devon spots the Wolf in his shop. The surviving members of the Zoo Gang drop what they are doing and rendezvous for vengeance. The series follows the adventures of the remaining gang of four resistance fighters reunited 30 years later to scam habitual con artists and criminals in order to take their money and use it for good causes. Despite their ages, they put their skills and experience to use to raise enough money to construct a hospital in the memory of Claude. The gang is aided by the son of Manouche and Claude, an inspector in the French police.

6.8

The Hound of the Baskervilles

Sherlock Holmes

When a nobleman is threatened by a family curse on his newly inherited estate, detective Sherlock Holmes is hired to investigate.

6.4

The Gorgon

Dr. Namaroff

In the early 20th century a village experienced a series of inexplicable murders. All the victims were young men who had been turned to stone. The perpetrator of these deaths was a being so repulsive that she transformed the onlooker using the power of her deadly stare. Much of the time the creature took the form of a beautiful and seductive woman, but during periods of the full moon she becomes a living horror, vicious and deadly. A professor has come to investigate the deaths, bringing with him his beautiful assistant whose knowledge of the Gorgon is more intimate than anyone would ever realise.

7.3

Dracula

Doctor Van Helsing

After Jonathan Harker attacks Dracula at his castle, the vampire travels to a nearby city, where he preys on the family of Harker's fiancée. The only one who may be able to protect them is Dr. van Helsing, Harker's friend and fellow-student of vampires, who is determined to destroy Dracula, whatever the cost.

5.5

I, Monster

Frederick Utterson

Christopher Lee stars in this Amicus production of “Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde” where the names have been changed to Dr. Marlowe and Mr. Blake. Lee as Dr. Marlowe experiments with intravenous drugs that are suppose to release inner inhibitions. So comes forth Mr. Blake (also Lee) who gets more monstrous with each transformation. Peter Cushing plays his friend and colleague, Dr. Utterson.

6.2

The Evil of Frankenstein

Baron Frankenstein

Once hounded from his castle by outraged villagers for creating a monstrous living being, Baron Frankenstein returns to Karlstaad. High in the mountains they stumble on the body of the creature, perfectly preserved in the ice. He is brought back to life with the help of the hypnotist Zoltan who now controls the creature. Can Frankenstein break Zoltan's hypnotic spell that incites the monster to commit these horrific murders or will Zoltan induce the creature to destroy its creator?