Peter Cushing was born in 1913 in Kenley, Surrey, in England. He and his older brother David were raised first in Dulwich Village, a south London suburb, and then later back in Surrey by his mother Nellie Marie and father George Edward, who was a Quantity Surveyor.
At an early age, Cushing was attracted to acting, inspired by his favorite aunt who was a stage actress. While at school, a young Cushing pursued his interests in acting and drawing, a talent that he put to good use later in his first job as a government surveyor's assistant in Surrey. At this time, he also dabbled in local amateur theater until moving to London to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on scholarship. He then performed in repertory theater, deciding in 1939 to head for Hollywood, where he made his film debut in
The Man in the Iron Mask. Other Hollywood films included
A Chump at Oxford with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy,
Vigil in the Night, and
They Dare Not Love. But, after a short stay, Cushing returned to England by way of New York (making brief appearances on Broadway) and Canada. Back in his homeland, he contributed to the war effort during World War II by joining the Entertainment National Services Association. After the war, he performed in the West End and had his big break appearing with Laurence Olivier in the film
Hamlet (1948), in which Cushing's future partner-in-horror Christopher Lee also had a bit part. Both actors also appeared in
Moulin Rouge (1952) but didn't meet until their later horror films.
During the 1950s, Cushing became a familiar face on British television, appearing in numerous teleplays, such as
1984 (1954),
Beau Brummell (1954), and
The Creature (1955), until the end of the decade when he began his legendary association with Hammer Film Productions in their remakes of the 1930s Universal horror classics. His first Hammer roles included "Dr. Frankenstein" in
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957), "Dr. Van Helsing" in
Dracula (1958), "Sherlock Holmes" in
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), and "John Banning" in
The Mummy (1959). Cushing continued playing the roles of "Dr. Frankenstein" and "Van Helsing," as well as taking on other horror characters, in Hammer films over the next 20 years. He also appeared in many films for the other major horror producer of the time, Amicus Productions, including
Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) and their later horror anthologies, a couple of
Dr. Who films (1965, 1966),
I, Monster (1971), and others. By the mid-1970s, these companies had stopped production, but Cushing, firmly established as a horror star, continued in the genre for some time thereafter. Perhaps his best-known appearance outside of horror films was as "Grand Moff Tarkin" in George Lucas' phenomenally successful science fiction film
Star Wars (1977).
Biggles: Adventures in Time (1986) was Cushing's last film before his retirement, during which he made a few television appearances, wrote his two autobiographies, and pursued his hobbies of bird watching and painting.
In 1989, he was made an Officer of the British Empire in recognition of his contributions to the British film industry.
Peter succumbed to complications of prostate cancer on August 11, 1994.
~~
George Lucas originally planned to use archival footage of Peter from
Star Wars, for insertion into
Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. This would have made
Episode III his final, albeit posthumous, collaboration with Christopher Lee. However, none of the footage was suitable to Lucas's needs. This may be because Tarkin only appears in a long shot, of which Cushing only appears in a handful, due to the pain associated with wearing his boots. Therefore, Wayne Pygram was cast, and made to wear prosthetic make-up so that he would resemble Cushing.
~~
Carrie Fisher said in an interview that doing her scenes with Peter in the
Star Wars (1977) were difficult for two reasons: she thought the lines were ridiculous and she found Peter to be so polite and charming off camera that it was hard to project the sense of disdain that her character, Princess Leia, held for his character, Tarkin.
~~
Peter Cushing: As far back as I can remember, I had a passion for 'dressing up' and playing games of 'Let's Pretend', which are, of course, the basic principals of acting, and if you are lucky enough, you get paid for so doing, hard work though it may be.
~~
Peter Cushing: Strangely enough, I don't like horror pictures at all. I love to make them because they give pleasure to people, but my favourite types of films are much more subtle than horror. I like to watch films like Bridge Over the River Kawi, The Apartment or lovely musicals.
~~
Peter Cushing: Since Helen passed on I can't find anything; the heart, quite simply, has gone out of everything. Time is interminable, the loneliness is almost unbearable and the only thing that keeps me going is the knowledge that my dear Helen and I will be united again some day. To join Helen is my only ambition. You have my permission to publish that... really, you know dear boy, it's all just killing time. Please say that.
~~
Movie Credits
Biggles (1986) - Colonel William Raymond
House of the Long Shadows (1983) - Sebastian Grisbane
Monster Island (1981) - William T. Kolderup
Black Jack (1980) - Sir Thomas Bedford
Arabian Adventure (1979) - Wazir Al Wuzara
A Touch of the Sun (1979) - Commissioner Potts
The Uncanny (1977) - Wilbur Gray
Star Wars (1977) - Grand Moff Tarkin
Legend of the Werewolf (1975) - Professor Paul
The Legend of the 7 Golden Vampires (1974) - Prof. Van Helsing
Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell (1974) - Baron Victor Frankenstein aka Dr. Carl Victor
The Beast Must Die (1974) - Dr. Christopher Lundgren
Madhouse (1974) - Herbert Flay
The Satanic Rites of Dracula (1974) - Prof. Larimer Van Helsing
Shatter (1974) - Paul Rattwood
The Creeping Flesh (1973) - Emmanuel Hildern
Dracula A.D. 1972 (1972) - Professor Van Helsing
Fear in the Night (1972) - Michael Carmichael
Tales from the Crypt (1972) - Arthur Edward Grimsdyke
I, Monster (1971) - Frederick Utterson
Incense for the Damned (1971) - Dr. Walter Goodrich
The House That Dripped Blood (1970) - Philip Grayson
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) - Dr. Baron Victor Frankenstein
The Blood Beast Terror (1968) - Detective Inspector Quennell
Daleks' Invasion Earth: 2150 A.D. (1966) - Doctor Who/The Doctor
The Skull (1965) - Dr. Christopher Maitland
Dr. Terror's House of Horrors (1965) - Dr. Sandor Schreck
Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965) - Doctor Who/The Doctor
The Evil of Frankenstein (1964) - Baron Frankenstein
The Mummy (1959) - John Banning
The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) - Sherlock Holmes
Dracula (1958) - Doctor Van Helsing
The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) - Baron Victor Frankenstein
... and many, many more.
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Peter Cushing was born in 1913 in Kenley, Surrey, in England. He and his older brother David were raised first in Dulwich Village, a south London suburb, and then later back in Surrey by his mother Nellie Marie and father George Edward, who was a Quantity Surveyor.
At an early age, Cushing was attracted to acting, inspired by his favorite aunt who was a stage actress. While at school, a young Cushing pursued his interests in acting and drawing, a talent that he put to good use later in his first job as a government surveyor's assistant in Surrey. At this time, he also dabbled in local amateur theater until moving to London to attend the Guildhall School of Music and Drama on scholarship. He then performed in repertory theater, deciding in 1939 to head for Hollywood, where he made his film debut in
The Man in the Iron Mask. Other Hollywood films included
A Chump at Oxford with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy,
Vigil in the Night, and
They Dare Not Love. But, after a short stay, Cushing
[+] Show Full Biography
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