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TO THE MANOR Born star Peter Bowles has died from cancer at the age of 85.
Bowles was best known for his role as Richard DeVere in the BBC sitcom which aired from 1979 to 1981, starring as the self-made businessman alongside Penelope Keith, with the pair reprising their roles in a 2007 special.
A statement said: “The actor Peter Bowles has sadly passed away at the age of 85 from cancer.
“Starting his career at the Old Vic Theatre in 1956, he starred in 45 theatrical productions ending at the age of 81 in The Exorcist at the Phoenix Theatre.
“He worked consistently on stage and screen, becoming a household name on TV as the archetypal English gent in To The Manor Born, Only When I Laugh, The Bounder and Lytton’s Diary, which he devised himself.
“He leaves his wife of over 60 years, Sue, and their three children Guy, Adam and Sasha.”
Born in London in 1936, he grew up in Nottingham and won a scholarship to the prestigious Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) before cutting his teeth on stage with the Old Vic Company.
He played villains in several TV series, including The Avengers and The Saint, but it was with a moustache in To The Manor Born, co-starring Dame Penelope and commanding audiences of 20 million, that he became most well known for.
His role as DeVere came in his 40s but his other TV credits include such shows as Only When I Laugh, Lytton’s Diary, The Bounder, The Irish RM and Perfect Scoundrels, with reports also saying he had previously turned down a role in The Good Life.
Speaking about his success in sitcoms, he told the PA news agency in 2010: “If you have a great popular TV success, particularly in comedy, people don’t think you can act on stage.
“People thought I was just a sitcom actor and the BBC told me I’d never work in drama again. I didn’t realise there were two worlds. It was new to me. I found it very odd and frustrating.”
Growing up, his parents were servants of nobility – his father was a valet and chauffeur to one of the sons of the Earl of Sandwich, his mother a nanny employed by the heir of the Duke of Argyll in Scotland.
During the Second World War his father worked as an engineer at Rolls-Royce and when Bowles was six the family moved to one of the poorest working-class districts of Nottingham. Their house had an outside toilet and no bath.
“We were in a Coronation Street environment but everyone was extremely friendly and there were lots of kids. It was terrific,” he said previously.
After appearing in amateur plays in Nottingham, when he won his Rada scholarship, he lost his northern accent and was thrown into a melting pot of talent with his peers including names like Alan Bates, Peter O’Toole and Sian Phillips, and he shared a flat with fellow student Albert Finney.
He was reunited with Keith in a regional tour of Sheridan’s The Rivals, directed by Peter Hall, in 2010.
Throughout his career, he featured in many films including 1970’s Eyewitness, 1995’s The Steal, 2005’s Colour Me Kubrick, and 2008’s The Bank Job.
He also starred in BBC Two series Murder in 2016, which delved into the psyches of everyone involved in a murder case through testimony delivered straight to camera by each character.
He recently starred alongside Jenna Coleman in the ITV series Victoria, playing the role of the Duke of Wellington.
Bowles was married to actress Susan Bennett and the couple had three children.
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Compo culture alive and well!
If you were injured yourself through anothers negligence you would just accept it ?
There’s injured and then there’s “injured”
Yes, Peter, there’s injured and then there’s “injured”. The Injuries Board only deals with people who have been injured and where liability has been accepted for the injuries caused.
Hi Alan. Allow me to be more specific. There are genuinely injured people and then there are fraudulent claims that companies have made a decision that it makes more financial sense to settle the claim and just lump the extra cost on premiums.
I’ve been on building sites where a crow wouldn’t perch on the scaffolding, all because builders and developers were more interested in maximising their profit than in the well being of their workers.
No point in having a HSA that continually comes up with more and more restrictions and then does fcuk all to enforce them.
If a man is paralysed for life and no compensation is paid, how is he to provide for his dependants?
No doubt the likes of patjoejoe will be on saying they’re dispensable, just like his comment recently about using the unemployed as cannon fodder in war, it shows the Tory mindset.
ah sure, so long as everybody is wearing Hi-Viz the HSA’s job is done.
Ya forgot the hard hat in the middle of an open field.
Then people wonder why their insurance is going up… Sure YOU’RE not claiming, but clearly there are a lot more. It all adds up.
Making an insurance claim is not some sort of moral defect. It exists to provide protection for people.
Sure, there are fraudulent claims but they are really a tiny minority, in spite of the Insurance industry’s attempt to make it seem like most claims fall into this category and to make people feel that claiming is ‘wrong’ and is a practice only engaged in by liers and fraudsters.
For most people, the claim is legitimate and the money helps, but they’d prefer that whatever led to it had never happened.
+1 Katie and particularly with the cases which go before the Injuries board. These are uncontested claims where liability has been admitted. They Injuries board allows a significant saving, in terms of both time and money, to those involved in the claims process… which works to keep the cost of claims down (a day in the Courts isn’t cheap) and thus acts to keep premiums lower.
I’m not saying these claims arent legitimate or that the insured shouldnt be making them. By all means if they are entitled to do so and want to then go for it.
My point was that people constantly give out about the price of insurance but ignore facts like this. Insurers are businesses too at the end of the day and where there’s an increase in claims pay outs, even legitimate, it will occur in pricing increases to recover so that they can continue to look after people when unfortunate events happen. I know its a vicious cycle and people rely on their insurance for help more in todays economy, but I feel it is forgotten about quite a lot by people.
Well we all know people that have the smallest tabs and have “terrible” back problems after. I’m sure the majority are honest but not all
Why did Sean Quinn go into the Insurance business ? Cash boi .
No, you clearly implied that the claims were not legitimate and that people shouldn’t be making them. How about turning the argument on its head. No insurance – no claims – no Insurance companies – no employment or profit for shareholders. Would that be better, in your estimation?
@Sheik Where did I say the claims weren’t legitimate? I said there was more claims. Not that they weren’t legitimate.
I cut my finger on a knife I bought in Tesco who can I sue as they never told me it was really really sharp
You’re probably joking but I’ve had that complaint. ‘Too sharp’ I was told.
I cut myself in work a while ago. A door jammed when I was walking through it and I had a fairly deep cut on my cheek when my head hit the lock, anyway, I put a plaster on it(should have got stitches I’m told) but couldn’t be arsed sitting in A&E for half the day. Anyway, I had a visit for the H&S officer in work and he was so surprised I just let it go, apparently a lot of the… how shall
I put it…”lesser skilled” workers in our company are constantly claiming against the company for stupid things, ridiculous some of the claims they’re putting in he was saying. It’s something that this country feeds. These useless jobsworths know how to milk a system for everything they can without using hard work and education.
There are other factors than just more claims. Most big claims include loss of future earnings and/or cost of future care. The claim will go up if (a) people are expected to work and live longer, or (b) interest rates go down, so that the amount you need to live on for the next XX years goes up. Both those things are happening as well.
Tinkers Toenail there are no statistics in the article to say what branch or level of society brought compensation claims yet you immediately assume ” lesser skilled individuals ” are guilty of abusing the system.
Now, we’re all very proud of you for being a brave little general and putting a plaster on your own little scratch but your ignorant and condescending attitude demeans any credibility.
leeching filth
“The biggest award granted was €972,898. This individual was involved in a workplace accident that involved machinery and an eventual amputation.”
Is this person “leeching filth”?
Welcome to “The Journal” Alan. Want to bang your head off the wall yet? If so, I don’t think you’ll get away with a valid claim, but at least the wall now understands how the injuries board works.
NZ has a very interesting model; The Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC) provides comprehensive, no-fault personal injury cover for all New Zealand residents and visitors to New Zealandhttp://www.acc.co.nz/
Everyone pays a portion of their wages/benefits. If they get hurt no matter the circumstances they get 85% of they usual pay until they are better. No one sues!!!! and of course they have socialized medicine for everyone too.
We used to have something like that Mary, we called it PRSI. We still have it but now it gets you a dental examination and little else.
Mary, you are misinformed.
The pay has a time limit of two years; if you do not recover in time, you are transferred to the disability pension. They will also frequently try to avoid further treatment, such as operations, claiming it is ‘age related’. You must pay a co-pay for all treatments (doctor, physio etc), and so the injured party is always left out of pocket.
Finally the socialisation medicine is a joke, unless you are a pensioner or child, you will pay $75 to see a doctor (or $150 evenings and weekends). To put this into context, this is 5hrs at minimum wage.
Finally, you don’t receive any tax rebates or credits on healthcare costs, including GP visits or prescriptions.
I prefer the irish method as there is more chance of them rectifying the problems as otherwise it’ll continue to hit them in the pocket.
have your say