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| ‘What a life. What a legend’: tributes paid to cult TV star Peter Wyngarde | ‘What a life. What a legend’: tributes paid to cult TV star Peter Wyngarde |
| (2 months later) | |
| Writers, celebrities and cult TV enthusiasts are among those paying tribute to the actor Peter Wyngarde, who has died aged 90. | Writers, celebrities and cult TV enthusiasts are among those paying tribute to the actor Peter Wyngarde, who has died aged 90. |
| From wartime internment alongside JG Ballard to Klytus. With No.2, Baron Gruner, Professor Norman Taylor, Peter Quint and Gloucester bus station in between. What a life. What a legend. Jason King is dead. Long live Jason King! #peterwyngarde pic.twitter.com/GX6AENMRZY | From wartime internment alongside JG Ballard to Klytus. With No.2, Baron Gruner, Professor Norman Taylor, Peter Quint and Gloucester bus station in between. What a life. What a legend. Jason King is dead. Long live Jason King! #peterwyngarde pic.twitter.com/GX6AENMRZY |
| Wyngarde was best known for his role as the author and sleuth Jason King in Department S and the spin-off that followed. The character was summed up by one of the most famous lines from the show: “A bit too early for coffee ... I think I’ll have Scotch.” | Wyngarde was best known for his role as the author and sleuth Jason King in Department S and the spin-off that followed. The character was summed up by one of the most famous lines from the show: “A bit too early for coffee ... I think I’ll have Scotch.” |
| He also appeared in a series of other cult TV shows, including The Saint, The Avengers and a turn as the mysterious Number Two in an episode of The Prisoner. | He also appeared in a series of other cult TV shows, including The Saint, The Avengers and a turn as the mysterious Number Two in an episode of The Prisoner. |
| Many on social media referenced Wyngarde’s distinctive style. | Many on social media referenced Wyngarde’s distinctive style. |
| I never thought ‘full leather’ could be pulled off, until I saw this photo of Peter Wyngarde, who died today. RIP pic.twitter.com/6r69zYJJ7y | I never thought ‘full leather’ could be pulled off, until I saw this photo of Peter Wyngarde, who died today. RIP pic.twitter.com/6r69zYJJ7y |
| His agent and manager, Thomas Bowington, said: “He was one of the most unique, original and creative actors that I have ever seen.” | His agent and manager, Thomas Bowington, said: “He was one of the most unique, original and creative actors that I have ever seen.” |
| People have been sharing their memories of encountering Wyngarde, including a time he signed a copy of a review of one of his performances for Johnny Mains – and passed a verdict on it. | People have been sharing their memories of encountering Wyngarde, including a time he signed a copy of a review of one of his performances for Johnny Mains – and passed a verdict on it. |
| I got Peter Wyngarde to sign this original review for NIGHT OF THE EAGLE - he took the time to read it all, and left his opinion of it... #peterwyngarde pic.twitter.com/6yo8j1qqQc | I got Peter Wyngarde to sign this original review for NIGHT OF THE EAGLE - he took the time to read it all, and left his opinion of it... #peterwyngarde pic.twitter.com/6yo8j1qqQc |
| The actor Peter Wyngarde has died. I well remember him in the late 1970s and early/mid 1980s, sitting at the bar of the Kensington Rifle and Pistol Club, dressed in a black leather catsuit and smoking a cigarillo. A waspish,sardonic and slightly alarming character.#PeterWyngarde | The actor Peter Wyngarde has died. I well remember him in the late 1970s and early/mid 1980s, sitting at the bar of the Kensington Rifle and Pistol Club, dressed in a black leather catsuit and smoking a cigarillo. A waspish,sardonic and slightly alarming character.#PeterWyngarde |
| Bob Stanley, author and member of the pop group Saint Etienne, recalled a dinner quip that summed up Wyngarde. | Bob Stanley, author and member of the pop group Saint Etienne, recalled a dinner quip that summed up Wyngarde. |
| My favourite Peter Wyngarde line, to a friend of mine over dinner: "I'm 50% vegetarian, 100% bisexual." pic.twitter.com/wJw7qBh301 | My favourite Peter Wyngarde line, to a friend of mine over dinner: "I'm 50% vegetarian, 100% bisexual." pic.twitter.com/wJw7qBh301 |
| Tributes have been littered with phrases such as “flamboyant” and “larger than life”. Away from the screen, Wyngarde’s life was complicated. | Tributes have been littered with phrases such as “flamboyant” and “larger than life”. Away from the screen, Wyngarde’s life was complicated. |
| During a time when it was difficult to be an openly homosexual celebrity, it was known in acting circles that Wyngarde was gay – with Petunia Winegum as a nickname – but it was kept secret from the public. Wyngarde did, though, play the lead in the first gay British TV drama, a 1959 broadcast of a play called South. Set as the US civil war loomed, Wyngarde’s character agonised over his love for an officer. | During a time when it was difficult to be an openly homosexual celebrity, it was known in acting circles that Wyngarde was gay – with Petunia Winegum as a nickname – but it was kept secret from the public. Wyngarde did, though, play the lead in the first gay British TV drama, a 1959 broadcast of a play called South. Set as the US civil war loomed, Wyngarde’s character agonised over his love for an officer. |
| He was outed publicly as gay in 1975 following charges of gross indecency, and the ensuing scandal saw his television appearances dwindle. During the 1980s and 1990s he guested on shows such as The Two Ronnies and The Lenny Henry Show, and took a role in the Comic Strips Presents film The Yob. His last cult TV appearance came in 1984, opposite Peter Davison in the Doctor Who episode Planet of Fire. The story, which unusually for the show was shot on location in Lanzarote, featured Wyngarde as Chief Elder Timanov. | He was outed publicly as gay in 1975 following charges of gross indecency, and the ensuing scandal saw his television appearances dwindle. During the 1980s and 1990s he guested on shows such as The Two Ronnies and The Lenny Henry Show, and took a role in the Comic Strips Presents film The Yob. His last cult TV appearance came in 1984, opposite Peter Davison in the Doctor Who episode Planet of Fire. The story, which unusually for the show was shot on location in Lanzarote, featured Wyngarde as Chief Elder Timanov. |
| He also recorded an album in 1970, reissued in the 2000s as When Sex Leers Its Inquisitive Head. One review describes the album as “the kind of thing one would hear if one spent some time with Jason King, who always boasted an air of world-weary bitterness beneath his promiscuous frolicking”. Mostly it features Wyngarde providing narration over various backing tracks. It was withdrawn soon after its original release, owing to controversy over the inclusion of a song called Rape. | He also recorded an album in 1970, reissued in the 2000s as When Sex Leers Its Inquisitive Head. One review describes the album as “the kind of thing one would hear if one spent some time with Jason King, who always boasted an air of world-weary bitterness beneath his promiscuous frolicking”. Mostly it features Wyngarde providing narration over various backing tracks. It was withdrawn soon after its original release, owing to controversy over the inclusion of a song called Rape. |
| Wyngarde will also be fondly remembered for his gloriously over-the-top performance as the gold-masked villain General Klytus, the commander of Ming the Merciless’s secret police force in the 1980 Flash Gordon movie. | Wyngarde will also be fondly remembered for his gloriously over-the-top performance as the gold-masked villain General Klytus, the commander of Ming the Merciless’s secret police force in the 1980 Flash Gordon movie. |
| Wyngarde’s distinctive style as a TV detective was also much parodied. Mike Myers stated he was the influence for the dress sense of Austin Powers, and Jason King was the inspiration for Mister Six in Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles comic. | Wyngarde’s distinctive style as a TV detective was also much parodied. Mike Myers stated he was the influence for the dress sense of Austin Powers, and Jason King was the inspiration for Mister Six in Grant Morrison’s The Invisibles comic. |
| RIP Peter Wyngarde. He will, as Mister Six says, never go out of fashion.https://t.co/zurqxq3B4O pic.twitter.com/aZxsyCK3ms | RIP Peter Wyngarde. He will, as Mister Six says, never go out of fashion.https://t.co/zurqxq3B4O pic.twitter.com/aZxsyCK3ms |
| Martin Clunes and Harry Enfield got the cue for their The Playboys sketch from him, and Wyngarde also inspired Peter Richardson’s role in the 1993 Comic Strip Presents short film Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown. | Martin Clunes and Harry Enfield got the cue for their The Playboys sketch from him, and Wyngarde also inspired Peter Richardson’s role in the 1993 Comic Strip Presents short film Detectives on the Edge of a Nervous Breakdown. |
| All I ever think when I hear Wingarde is Peter Richardson in Detectives on the Verge Of a Nervous Brewkdown. pic.twitter.com/0WCS10bNic | All I ever think when I hear Wingarde is Peter Richardson in Detectives on the Verge Of a Nervous Brewkdown. pic.twitter.com/0WCS10bNic |
| And the legacy of the character is still remembered in other ways. | And the legacy of the character is still remembered in other ways. |
| Sad to hear of the death of Peter Wingard. Never saw his show but people called Jason of around my age probably owe our names to his character being so popular in the mid-1960s. RIP. | Sad to hear of the death of Peter Wingard. Never saw his show but people called Jason of around my age probably owe our names to his character being so popular in the mid-1960s. RIP. |
| Wyngarde died at Chelsea and Westminster hospital in London on Monday, having been unwell for a couple of months. | Wyngarde died at Chelsea and Westminster hospital in London on Monday, having been unwell for a couple of months. |
| You can leave your memories and tributes to Peter Wyngarde in the comments below | You can leave your memories and tributes to Peter Wyngarde in the comments below |
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