Peter Copley

Peter Copley (20 May 1915 – 7 October 2008) was an English television, film and stage actor. Copley was born in Bushey, Hertfordshire, son of the printmakers, John Copley and Ethel Gabain. After changing his mind about joining the Royal Navy, he studied at the Old Vic School and started out as a stage actor in 1932. He made his first film appearance in 1934, going on to play a wide variety of characters from the villainous to the meek and mild. In 1946, he appeared on stage in "Cyrano de Bergerac" at the New Theatre in London. In 1951 he appeared at the Duchess Theatre in London's West End in the comedy play The Happy Family by Michael Clayton Hutton. TV credits include: Thorndyke, Danger Man, The Saint, The Avengers, The Forsyte Saga, The Troubleshooters, The Champions, Department S, Doomwatch, Z-Cars, Fall of Eagles, Survivors, Bless Me, Father (episode "A Legend Comes to Stay"), Father Brown (episode "The Curse of the Golden Cross"), Doctor Who (in the serial "Pyramids of Mars"), Sutherland's Law, Tales of the Unexpected, Miss Marple (episode "Nemesis"), Lovejoy, The Bill, Cadfael, The Diamond Brothers: South by South East and One Foot in the Grave. Copley continued to act well into his nineties. A resident of Bristol, Copley was awarded an Honorary Degree of Master of Arts by the University of the West of England in 2001.

Known For: Acting

Born: Bushey, Hertfordshire, England, UK, 1915-05-20

Died: 2008-10-07

Film

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1934	Tell Me If It Hurts	Waiter	0
2	1937	Farewell Again	Minor Role	50
3	1950	Golden Salamander	Aribi	58
4	1952	The Card	P. Shillitoe (uncredited)	69
5	1952	The Hour of 13	Cummings	57
6	1953	The Sword and the Rose	Sir Edwin Caskoden	64
7	1953	The Clue of the Missing Ape	His Excellency	60
8	1953	Saadia	Leader Mokhazenis	50
9	1956	Peril for the Guy	Mr. Ritter	65
10	1956	Foreign Intrigue	Brown	57
11	1957	The Film That Never Was		0
12	1957	Time Without Pity	Prison Chaplain	66
13	1957	The Smallest Show on Earth	Actor in The Mystery of Hell Valley (uncredited)	66
14	1957	The Man Without a Body	Leslie	38
15	1957	Just My Luck	Gilbert Weaver	60
16	1958	Rockets Galore	Scientist	60
17	1959	Mystery in the Mine		0
18	1961	Victim	Paul Mandrake	74
19	1964	The Third Secret	Dr Leo Whitset	61
20	1964	King and Country	Colonel	70
21	1964	The July Plot	General Friedrich Olbright	0
22	1965	The Knack... and How to Get It	Picture Owner	59
23	1965	Help!	Jeweller	69
24	1965	Stranger in the Family	Charles Wilson	0
25	1966	Don't Utter a Note	Vicar	0
26	1966	The Devil's Eggshell	The Home Secretary	0
27	1967	Quatermass and the Pit	Howell	66
28	1968	The Shoes of the Fisherman	English Cardinal	67
29	1969	Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed	Principal	64
30	1969	Tower of London: The Innocent	Archbishop	60
31	1969	Mosquito Squadron	Mr. Scott	52
32	1969	Walk a Crooked Path		35
33	1970	Jane Eyre	John	71
34	1972	What Became of Jack and Jill?	Dickson	51
35	1972	That's Your Funeral	1st Funeral Director	15
36	1973	Gawain and the Green Knight	Pilgrim	46
37	1973	Beyond Our Means	Dr. Charteris	0
38	1975	Doctor Who: Pyramids of Mars	Dr. Warlock	89
39	1975	Hennessy	Home Secretary	47
40	1976	Shout at the Devil	Admiral Howe	60
41	1977	The Black Panther		58
42	1979	Churchill and the Generals	Gen. Sir John Dill	0
43	1980	Rabbit Pie Day	The Colonel	0
44	1980	Little Lord Fauntleroy	Reverend Muldaur	74
45	1981	United Kingdom	Commissioner	0
46	1984	Androcles and the Lion	Caesar	0
47	1986	King of the Ghetto	Vicar	60
48	1987	Empire of the Sun	British Prisoner	75
49	2005	Riot at the Rite	Patron	90
50		The Man Who Came to Die	Dr. Clarkson	0
51	1987	The Trial of Klaus Barbie	Frossard	0
52	1988	The Importance of Being Earnest	Gribsby	47
53	1992	A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia	Maitland	64
54	1999	Janice Beard 45 WPM	Sean's Father	60
55	2005	Kingdom of Heaven	Old Pilgram (director's cut)	70
56	2005	Oliver Twist	Dining Hall Master	67

Television

No.	Year	Title	Role	Vote Average
1	1951	Hallmark Hall of Fame	Dr. Harrison	87
2	1954	Sherlock Holmes		71
3	1959	No Hiding Place		37
4	1960	Maigret	Xavier Marton	69
5	1961	The Avengers		77
6	1961	The Avengers	Sparshott	77
7	1962	Z-Cars		70
8	1962	The Saint	Don Morland	73
9	1963	Doctor Who	Dr. Warlock	79
10	1964	Thorndyke		0
11	1964	The Wednesday Play		45
12	1964	Redcap		60
13	1965	BBC Play of the Month	The Home Secretary	50
14	1966	Softly, Softly		50
15	1967	Callan		70
16	1968	The Expert	Hillard	95
17	1968	The Champions	Antrobus	61
18	1969	The Gold Robbers	Asst. Commissioner Farr	67
19	1969	Department S	The Auctioneer	49
20	1969	Paul Temple		50
21	1970	Manhunt	Martin	65
22	1970	Doomwatch	Admiral Sir Richard Tranton	57
23	1971	You're Only Young Twice		0
24	1971	Justice	Wigmore	60
25	1972	The Regiment		10
26	1972	Crown Court	Sir Peter Cutforth	54
27	1972	Crown Court	His Honour Judge Edmonds	54
28	1972	Arthur of the Britons		60
29	1974	Fall of Eagles	Bethmann-Hollweg	68
30	1974	Father Brown		66
31	1975	The Venturers		0
32	1975	Sky		55
33	1975	Survivors	Dr. Bronson	79
34	1976	Bill Brand	Cedric Maddocks	63
35	1976	The New Avengers	Prof. Waterlow	69
36	1977	Anna Karenina		58
37	1979	Tales of the Unexpected	Man at Railway Station	67
38	1981	The Chinese Detective		72
39	1984	The Bill		67
40	1984	The Prisoner of Zenda	Marshal Strakencz	60
41	1986	Lovejoy	Harold Richards	73
42	1986	Casualty	Dan Woods	60
43	1986	Casualty	Hugh Phipps	60
44	1987	Never Say Die		0
45	1989	Agatha Christie's Poirot	Burgoyne	81
46	1990	One Foot In the Grave		75
47	1994	Cadfael	Abbot Heribert	73
48	1997	Jonathan Creek	Eric	75
49	2003	The Last Detective	Colonel Colin Ingate	75
50	2008	The Colour of Magic	Greyhald Spold	67