Peter Wyngarde
Template:Short description Template:Use British English Template:Use dmy dates Template:Infobox person
Peter Paul Wyngarde (23 or 28 August 1927 or 1928 – 15 January 2018), until 1945 called Cyril Louis Goldbert, was a British actor who spent his early life in the Far East. He had a successful career on stage from the mid-1940s and slowly gained screen roles, especially in television in the 1950s and 1960s, before becoming well known for portraying the character of Jason King in the television series Department S (1969) and Jason King (1971). His acting career came to an end in the 1990s, but he had occasional appearances in the 21st century.
Wyngarde's flamboyant dress sense and stylish performances led to his becoming a style icon in Britain and elsewhere in the early 1970s.<ref name=Herald/><ref name=Style/>
Background and early life
Name
Wyngarde's name as a child was Cyril Goldbert,<ref name=DE/><ref name="Gazette PDF">"Wills & probate: Deceased Estates", The London Gazette, Issue 62632, 3 May 2019, p. 8100, accessed 13 September 2025</ref> and in reporting his death, BBC News gave his full name as Cyril Louis Goldbert.<ref>"Peter Wyngarde: Cult TV star who inspired Austin Powers dies aged 90", BBC News, 18 January 2018, accessed 7 September 2025; the full name had also been published in the Evening Standard in 1975 and the Daily Mirror in 1996.</ref>
Date and place of birth
By his own account, Wyngarde was born on 23 August 1933.<ref name="express.co.uk">Marco Giannangeli, "Jason King still reigns, just less of a woman's man", 29 March 2015, Express.co.uk, archived at archive.ph, accessed 7 September 2025</ref><ref name=Collections/> However, in an interview in 1993 he said he did not know his age.<ref name="Billen">"From the archive: Andrew Billen talks to Peter Wyngarde in 1993", The Observer Sunday 19 December 1993, accessed 9 September 2025</ref> On 14 December 1945, he arrived in England on the SS Arawa, and the ship's passenger list gives his age as 18, suggesting he was born before 15 December 1927.<ref name=Arawa/> On official documents related to sea voyages in 1960, his date of birth was given as 28 August 1929 for a voyage into San Francisco,<ref name=singapore>"California, Passenger and Crew Lists, 1882–1959", National Archives, Washington, D.C., at Ancestry.com, accessed 7 September 2017 Template:Subscription</ref> then as 27 July 1929 on the way home to England in October.<ref>"UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960", National Archives of the United Kingdom, at Ancestry.com, accessed 7 September 2017 Template:Subscription</ref> In 2003, The Encyclopedia of British Film gave the year as 1927,<ref>Anthony Slide, ed., The Encyclopedia of British Film (London: Methuen, 2003), p. 746</ref> and the registration of his death states his date of birth as 23 August 1927.<ref name="ReferenceC">General Register Office for England and Wales, Reference: DOR Q1/2018 in KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA (239-1A), Entry Number 516736478</ref>
A biography published in 2020 which draws on personal knowledge of Wyngarde and on a large archive gives his date of birth as 28 (not 23) August 1928.<ref name=TWH18>Wyngarde-Hopkins (2020), p. 18</ref> Most official documents state the year as 1927 or 1929, while the more informal sources have reported a range between 1924 and 1937.Template:Refn
After speaking to his mother in September 1956, The Straits Times said he was then aged 26.<ref name=Straits>"140-mile drive to see a very special film", The Straits Times at gov.sg, 13 September 1956, p. 8, accessed 6 September 2025</ref>
Wyngarde was first included on an electoral register at Belsize, Hampstead, in 1948, which might support 1927 as his year of birth, as only those aged 21 and over were allowed to vote in the United Kingdom at that time.<ref name="auto">Borough of Hampstead Belsize No. 2 London (D) Polling Dist. Belsize Ward (1948), p. 25, Ancestry.com Template:Subscription: Peter Wyngarde is registered with six others at 1, Thurlow Road.</ref><ref name=McFarlane>Brian McFarlane, ed., The Encyclopedia of British Film, fourth edition (Oxford University Press, 2016, Template:ISBN, p. 12 at Google Books (dead link)</ref>
Wyngarde's mother seems to have told The Straits Times that he was born in Marseilles, France,<ref name=Straits/> and Wyngarde said he was born at an aunt's home in Marseilles.<ref name="express.co.uk"/><ref name=Collections/> His death registration states his birthplace as Singapore,<ref name="ReferenceC"/> and for the sea voyages in 1960 his place of birth was also stated as Singapore.<ref name=singapore/> In July 1972, he spent ninety minutes at Changi International Airport, Singapore, waiting for a connecting flight to Athens, and commented on this "I don't believe I have been to Singapore".<ref name="NN">"Sun-hunt lands Peter in S'pore", New Nation newspaper (Singapore) at gov.sg newspaper archive, accessed 11 September 2025</ref> Throughout his life, Wyngarde gave Marseilles as his place of birth, and this is the view taken by the biography published in 2020.<ref name=TWH18/>
Family
When Peter Wyngarde travelled from Shanghai to Britain by sea in 1945, as Cyril Goldbert, the records of the ship, Arawa, name his next of kin as "Mr H. Goldbert, c/o Ministry of Shipping, London,<ref name="Arawa">"Board of Trade: Commercial and Statistical Department and successors: Inwards Passenger Lists, Class: BT26; Piece: 1215; Item: 46. SS Arawa, December 1945", National Archives of the United Kingdom, Kew, England, Ancestry.com, accessed 17 September 2025 Template:Subscription:
Name: C Gol[d]bert
Birth Date: abt 1927
Age: 18
Port of Departure: Shanghai, China
Arrival Date: 14 Dec 1945
Port of Arrival: Southampton, England
Ship Name: Arawa
Next of Kin: Mr H. Goldbert, c/o Ministry of Shipping, London
Shipping line: Cunard White Star
Official Number: 140148</ref> and the biography published in 2020 names him as Henry Goldbert.<ref name=TWH18/> A citizen of the Russian Empire by birth, in October 1919 Goldbert was naturalized as a British subject in Singapore, with The Straits Times reporting that he had lived in the Straits Settlements for nineteen years.<ref>Untitled, The Straits Times, 25 October 1919, page 9, at gov.sg, accessed 6 September 2025</ref> Born in 1897, his parents were Marco Goldbert and Rosa Klivger,<ref name="ReferenceD">"U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936–2007", Ancestry.com, accessed 17 September 2025: Name: Henry Goldbert / Gender: Male / Race: White / Birth Date: 1 Jan 1897 / Birth Place: Hicolieff, Soviet Union / Father: Marco Goldbert / Mother: Rosa Klivger / SSN: 112227371 / Notes: Oct 1945: Name listed as HENRY GOLDBERT Template:Subscription</ref> and in April 1904 Mrs Goldbert took over the license of the Singapore Hotel<ref>"LICENSING JUSTICES", The Straits Times, 8 April 1904, p. 5, at gov.sg, accessed 7 September 2025</ref><ref>"LICENSING JUSTICES", The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly), 13 October 1904, p. 236 at gov.sg, accessed 8 September 2025</ref> in North Bridge Road.<ref>"Public House Licences", The Straits Times, 30 June 1904, p. 8, gov.sg, accessed 10 September 2025</ref>
In 1910, her licence was moved to another address.<ref>"LICENSING JUSTICES", The Singapore Free Press and Mercantile Advertiser (Weekly), 24 March 1910, p. 13 the new address was 46 & 47, Nelson Road, Singapore; online at gov.sg, accessed 8 September 2025</ref> In December 1906, Henry Goldbert won a school prize for "Scripture (Jews)",<ref>"The Prize List", Eastern Daily Mail and Straits Morning Advertiser, 24 December 1906, p. 3 at gov.sg, accessed 8 September 2025</ref> and in 1913 he was taking YMCA Engineering Classes and was about to sit for a Board of Education South Kensington certificate.<ref>"Y.M.C.A. Engineering Classes", The Straits Times, 7 February 1913, p. 10, gov.sg, accessed 10 September 2025</ref>
Wyngarde's mother was Marcheritta Marie Goldbert, born Ahin (1908–1992), known as Madge.<ref>Scottish Statutory Death Register 1992, ref. 221/ 96, Stornoway</ref> In interviews, Wyngarde said she was French.<ref>Weekend magazine, 16 April 1969.</ref> There was a Eurasian family called Ahin living in Singapore.<ref>Myrna Braga-Blake, Ann Ebert-Oehlers, Alexius A. Pereira, Singapore Eurasians: Memories, Hopes and Dreams (World Scientific, 21 December 2016, Template:ISBN), page 279</ref> In 1947, she stated the name and nationality of her father as Andrew Nicolich Ahin, deceased, Swiss.<ref name="auto1"/> She and Henry Goldbert were separated by 1937.<ref name="Billen"/>
On 6 March 1929, The Straits Echo reported that Mr H. Goldbert was leaving his position as branch manager of the United Motor Works, Seremban, and that he and his wife were about to leave for Singapore on the night mail train.<ref>"Mr and Mrs H. Goldbert", The Straits Echo (Mail Edition), Wednesday 6 March 1929, p. 191 at gov.sg, accessed 8 September 2025</ref>
In June 1934, in Singapore, a "V. Ahin", described as a young Eurasian mechanic and a brother of Mrs Golbert (sic), was fined fifteen Straits dollars for his behaviour in March in trying to stop the posting of a summons on his sister's door in Kim Yean Road.<ref>"SERVICE OF A SUMMONS", Malaya Tribune, 21 June 1934, p. 18, at gov.sg, accessed 9 September 2025</ref> A Victor Ahin was noted in 1941 as a nephew of Mr P. A. Ahin, chief engineer in the dredging section of the Public Works Department.<ref>"Death of Eurasian Pensioner", Malaya Tribune, 1 July 1941, p. 5, gov.sg, accessed 13 September 2025</ref>
Wyngarde had two younger Goldbert siblings: Adolphe Henry Peter Goldbert (1930–2011), and Marion Colette Simone Goldbert (1932–2012). In 1946, they also came by ship from Shanghai to England, arriving at Southampton on RMS Strathmore on 30 April 1946, aged sixteen and thirteen, both stating their destination as Prenton, Birkenhead.<ref>"UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960", Passenger list for RMS Strathmore, April 1946, ancestry.co.uk, accessed 10 September 2025 Template:Subscription: Name: Marion Goldbert / Arrival Age: 13 / Birth Date: abt 1933 / Intended address: 28 Rocky Banks, Prenton, Birkenhead / Class: 1st / Profession Student; Name: Adolf Goldbert / Arrival Age: 16 / Birth Date: abt 1930 / Intended address: 28 Rocky Banks, Prenton, Birkenhead / Class: T.D. / Profession: Student; Port of Departure: Shanghai, China / Arrival Date: 30 Apr 1946 / Port of Arrival: Southampton, England / Ports of Voyage: Shanghai and Hong Kong / Ship Name: Strathmore / Shipping Line: P. and O. Steam Navigation Company Ltd / Official Number: 164521</ref> In England, Adolphe dropped his first name and was known as "Joe".<ref name=Legacy/> Henry Goldbert was in England at the time and arranged for his younger children to be fostered by a family in Liverpool. He then set off for Bombay on the Franconia, intending to return to his life in the East.<ref>Wyngarde-Hopkins (2020), p. 34</ref> Wyngarde met them after their arrival but had little further contact with them or their children.<ref name=TWH/>
Henry Goldbert had an older brother, Cyril Arthur Goldbert, born in 1895 in Mykolaiv, now in Ukraine, who died in 1958 in Australia.<ref>"Cyril Arthur Goldbert / Birth abt 1895, Mykolaiv, Ukraine / Death 23 Mar 1958, Turramurra, New South Wales, Australia / Mother Rosa Klivger / Father Marco Goldbert", ancestry.com, accessed 7 September 2025 Template:Subscription</ref> A sea port of the Russian Empire, in the later 19th century about a fifth of Mykolaiv's population was Jewish, and although the community suffered a pogrom in 1899, the same was true in 1926.<ref>"Mykolaiv, Ukraine", Jewish Virtual Library, accessed 7 September 2025</ref> The surname Goldbert is rare, with only some 118 people worldwide known to be using it in 2025, almost half of them living in Israel.<ref>"Goldbert Surname", forebears.io, accessed 5 September 2025</ref> If Cyril and Henry Goldbert's family were Jewish, conversions to Christianity were then common in the Russian Empire,<ref>There were some 40,000 conversions between 1836 and 1875, see Das Missionsblatt des Rheinisch-Westphälischen Vereins für Israel (Barmen: J. F. Steinhaus, 1878), p. 122 (in German)</ref> and Wyngarde's biographer reports that Henry Goldbert was a Roman Catholic.<ref>Wyngarde-Hopkins (2020), p. 35</ref>
Henry Goldbert sailed on the RMS Britannic from Port Said to Liverpool in August 1944, giving his age as 47 and his occupation as Marine Engineer,<ref>"Henry Goldbert in the UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960", RMS Brittanic: "Henry Goldbert / Age 47 / Departure Port Said, Egypt /Arrival 14 Aug 1944, Liverpool, England / Occupation Marine Engineer: Country of Last Permanent Residence Middle East / Proposed address Officers Pool, Liverpool", ancestry.com, accessed 5 September 2025 Template:Subscription</ref> then some months later from Manchester to New York City, arriving there in May 1945.<ref>New York, Passenger Lists, 1820-1957: "Name Harry Goldbert / Arrival Date 2 May 1945 / Birth about 1897 / Age 48 / Gender Male / Ethnicity/Nationality Russian / Port of Departure Manchester, England / Port of Arrival New York, New York, USA / Ship Name Llandaff / Household Members — "</ref> Social security records in the United States give his date of birth as 1897 and his birthplace as "Hicolieff", Soviet Union, and name his parents.<ref name="ReferenceD"/> At the time of the 1950 United States census, Henry Goldbert was living in San Francisco, California, with his much older sister Esther Reggoch, both giving their native land as "Russia", and was the owner of a barber shop. His age was given as 53, and he stated his marital status as "separated".<ref>"Esther Reggoch in the 1950 United States Federal Census"; "Henry Goldbert in the 1950 United States Federal Census", ancestry.com, accessed 5 September 2025 Template:Subscription</ref> Esther Risoff Goldbert had been naturalized as a US citizen in California in 1938.<ref>"Esther Risoff Goldbert in the U.S., Naturalization Record Indexes, 1791-1992" (Indexed in World Archives Project), Ancestry.com, accessed 15 September 2025 Template:Subscription</ref> Perhaps coincidentally, Wyngarde visited San Francisco in July 1960.<ref name=singapore/>
Wyngarde said that Henry Goldbert was one of his three stepfathers, and that his father was an Englishman named Henry Wyngarde,<ref name="everything">"Everything You Wanted to Know about Peter Wyngarde", Hellfire Hall: Peter Wyngarde Appreciation Society, 3 April 2017, archived 24 July 2019, accessed 3 April 2025</ref><ref name="PWAS 190419">"Biography", Hellfire Hall: Peter Wyngard Appreciation Society, 19 April 2019 (dead link), archived 24 July 2019, accessed 13 September 2025</ref> whose career in the British Diplomatic Service was in Hong Kong, Malaya, Singapore, and India, before he became an importer and exporter of antique watches living in Eaton Square, London.<ref name=WF/> No such person has been traced in public records.<ref name="auto1">"UK, Foreign and Overseas Registers of British Subjects, 1628–1969", Ancestry.com, accessed 7 September 2025 Template:Subscription</ref><ref name="ReferenceD"/> The biography of 2020 says Henry and Madge Goldbert had a business buying and selling antique watches in Shanghai in the 1930s,<ref>Wyngarde-Hopkins (2020), p. 19</ref> that they divorced in 1937, and that Wyngarde's mother soon married Charles Leo Juvet and had a son called Paul Edouard Juvet, born in 1938.<ref name="Wyngarde-Hopkins, page 20">Wyngarde-Hopkins (2020), p. 20</ref><ref name=Thoughts>"Thoughts of Peter", The Hellfire Club, 22 July 2020, accessed 11 September 2025</ref> There was a Swiss horological family called Juvet based in Shanghai.<ref>"Auction 93, Lot 131", uhren-muser.de Archives, accessed 8 September 2025</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> It was first reported in April 1950 that Wyngarde was a maternal nephew of the French actor-director Louis Jouvet,<ref>"Richmond Theatre", Richmond Herald, Saturday 1 April 1950, p. 8: "Peter Wyngarde, whose lively personality makes his characterisations all the more effective... and Louis Jouvet, the famous French film star, is his uncle".</ref> and this was still being written about twenty years later.<ref name="Age">"Peter Wyngarde – Most Wanted TV Personality", The Age (Melbourne, Australia), 19 February 1970, accessed 14 September 2025</ref> Evidence that his mother was a sister or sister-in-law of Louis Jouvet is lacking,<ref>"Jouvet: biography", geocities.ws, accessed 15 September 2025</ref> and Jouvet appears to be unrelated to the Swiss Juvet family. However, when Paul Edouard Juvet died at Geneva in 1998, Wyngarde is reported to have taken responsibility for settling his affairs and paying for his funeral.<ref name="Wyngarde-Hopkins, page 20"/><ref name=Thoughts/>
On 10 December 1947, at the Union Church on the Bund in Shanghai, under the name of Marcheritta M. Goldbert, Wyngarde's mother married John MacAulay, known as Ian, giving the name of her father.<ref name="ReferenceB">The National Archives of the UK; Kew, Surrey, England; General Register Office: Foreign Registers and Returns; Class: RG 33; Piece: 31</ref><ref name="auto1"/> After his mother's marriage, Wyngarde sometimes used his new stepfather's surname.<ref name="Legal Statement"/>
The MacAulays lived in the Sultanate of Johor, Malaya, until Ian MacAulay retired,<ref name="Legal Statement"/> and in 1956 were living 140 miles from Singapore.<ref name=Straits/> On their retirement to Britain, they settled in MacAulay's home town of Stornoway, in Scotland.<ref name="Legal Statement"/>
In 1952, Wyngarde's brother was married in the Church of England, at All Saints Church, Tudeley,<ref name=SCKA/> as Henry. A. P. Goldbert.<ref>"Goldbert Henry A. P. Rabbitt Tonbridge 5b 1609", FreeBMD, accessed 22 September 2025</ref><ref>"Henry A P Goldbert in England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005, at Ancestry.com, accessed 12 September 2025: Name Henry A P Goldbert / Date Apr 1952 / Registration District Tonbridge / Spouse Lilian G Rabbitt / Volume 5b / Page 1609 Template:Subscription</ref> He was then serving in the Royal Navy and was described in a local newspaper as "second son of Mr and Mrs H. Goldbert of Kuala Lumpur Malaya".<ref name=SCKA>"Mr Goldbert and Miss Rabbit", Sevenoaks Chronicle and Kentish Advertiser, Friday 2 May 1952, p. 7: "The wedding took place at All Saints’ Church Tudeley on Saturday [26 April] of Mr Henry Goldbert second son of Mr and Mrs H. Goldbert of Kuala Lumpur Malaya and Miss Lilian Rabbit only daughter of Mrs Ellis of Five Oak Green and the late Mr Rabbit. The Bridegroom is on leave from the Royal Navy."</ref> He died at the age of 81 in 2011.<ref name=Legacy>"Henry Peter "Joe" Goldbert", legacy.com, accessed 17 September 2025</ref>
Early life
Wyngarde's mother told The Straits Times in 1956 that her son had spent "his first few years" in Malaya.<ref name=Straits/> He later claimed to have been speaking both Russian and French fluently at the age of five.<ref name=TWH18/>
Wyngarde often spoke about having had a traumatic early life.<ref name=Billen/> In 2012, he wrote to his sister-in-law Lillian Goldbert "From early childhood we had to fend for ourselves."<ref name=Now/> He told an interviewer that after his parents' divorce, his father took him to China "only months before war with China broke out" in the summer of 1937.<ref name=Billen/> He spoke about living in Shanghai when the Japanese Army took over the Shanghai International Settlement on 8 December 1941.<ref name="everything"/> Correspondence between 1942 and 1943 held in the National Archives shows that in 1943 Henry Goldbert was serving on SS Lyemoon, that his three children, including 15-year-old Cyril, were then living in Shanghai, that efforts were being made by the British Ministry of War Transport, the Prisoners of War Department, and various boarding schools, to repatriate the children to Britain, and that Cyril could not be accommodated because of his age.<ref>Arrangements for repatriation from Shanghai of the children of Henry Goldbert of S.S. 'LYEMOON', The National Archives, Reference MT 9/3722. Repatriations (Code 115), 1942–1943; accessed 10 September 2025</ref>
Before internment, Wyngarde was educated at the Western District Public School for Boys in Yuyuan Road, Shanghai, where after the arrival of the Japanese there were compulsory lessons in Japanese.<ref name=WH22/> Yuyuan Road was within the Shanghai French Concession.<ref>Yuyuan Road – Shanghai's Hidden Hipster Haven, trip.com, accessed 9 September 2025</ref>
In April 1943, Wyngarde was interned in the Lunghua Civilian Assembly Centre.<ref>Civil Assembly Organization entry list, British Residents' Association, Shanghai, June 1943.</ref> There were some 300 children in the camp, who continued their education at a school called the Lunghua Academy.<ref name=6th>"War, Detention, Revolution: Foreigner Recounts Shanghai History", sixthtone.com, 25 March 2017, accessed 16 September 2025</ref> This had "a full-scale syllabus which met the requirements of the then School Certificate" and taught maths, French, English, Latin, history, and general science.<ref>Ballard (2008), pp. 71–72</ref> Outside the classroom, there were football, hockey, and softball, plus concerts and dances.<ref>Peggy Abkhazi, The Curious Cage: A Shanghai Journal, 1941–1945 (Sono Nis Press, 1981), p. 71</ref> J. G. Ballard was also there and travelled to Britain in 1945 with Wyngarde and other former internees.<ref>"Letter from J. G. Ballard on "Mr Chips," Peter Wyngarde, etc.", 2 December 1994, in JGB News No. 24, jgballard.ca, accessed 10 September 2025</ref> He later wrote of this period <templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
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Ballard also claimed Wyngarde had told him he was planning to use the stage name of Laurence Templeton.<ref>Ballard (2008), p. 86</ref> For some years Wyngarde denied knowing Ballard or said he could not remember him, but in an undated letter published by his biographer in 2020 he said he had "pinned down" Ballard as a boy he had known in the camp who at the time was called Bryant.<ref name=Now>"YOU’VE READ THE BOOK... Now read it in Peter's own words", The Hellfire Club, 2 May 2021, accessed 11 September 2025</ref>
In one interview in the 1970s, Wyngarde said he was interned as an unaccompanied five-year-old, due to an administrative error,<ref>My Weekly magazine, 10 May 1975</ref> but this appears to be part of a scheme to lower his age, since the records show that he was interned from the age of fifteen to just before his 18th birthday. He began acting during his internment, when he played all the characters in a version of Doctor Jekyll and Mr Hyde.<ref name=bfi>David Parkinson, "In memory of Peter Wyngarde, debonair star behind Jason King", British Film Institute, 18 January 2018, accessed 10 September 2025</ref>
Interviewed by Ray Connolly in 1973, Wyngarde said: "As a child it was difficult to differentiate sometimes between fact and fantasy".<ref name=Yahoo>Steve O'Brien, "The enigmatic and scandalous life of 1970s heartthrob Peter Wyngarde", Yahoo News, 19 July 2024, accessed 11 September 2025</ref>
Following the Surrender of Japan, the internment camps were liberated in August 1945. Cyril Goldbert left Shanghai that autumn and travelled to England on the Cunard-White Star Line ship Arawa. Passenger records show that he travelled alone, aged eighteen, and arrived in Southampton on 14 December 1945.<ref name="Arawa"/> He later said that the ship had arrived in Liverpool and that it was greeted by King George VI.<ref name=Times/><ref name=Style>"How Peter Wyngarde went from Japanese prison camp to 70s style icon", Daily Mirror, 19 January 2018, archived at archive.ph, accessed 6 September 2025</ref>
The Guardian newspaper said of Wyngarde in March 2020 that "his life story is shrouded in mystery".<ref name="theguardian1">Steven Morris, "Peter Wyngarde memorabilia snapped up at auction", The Guardian, 18 January 2018, accessed 10 September 2025</ref> His own accounts of his life after leaving Shanghai for England appear to have been embellished with a history of medical treatment and education. This helped to account for the six-year gap created by his claim to have been a 12-year-old boy when he left Shanghai, rather than a man of eighteen. He said he had spent two years in a Swiss sanatorium, recovering from his war experiences. He was always vague about his education, but hinted that he had attended schools in Switzerland, France, and England,<ref name=DT-obit>"Peter Wyngarde, actor known as the flamboyant Jason King – obituary", The Daily Telegraph, 18 January 2018 Template:Subscription; archived at archive.ph, accessed 6 September 2025</ref> after which he had briefly studied law at Oxford and had worked in a London advertising agency for a while, before starting work as a professional actor.<ref name="everything" />
Career
Early stage career
Within a few months of his arrival in England in December 1945, Wyngarde began his professional acting career, beginning to use the name of Peter Wyngarde. He first appeared on stage at the Buxton Playhouse in June 1946, playing Ensign Blades in Quality Street.<ref>"BUXTON PLAYHOUSE THEATRE", Manchester Evening News, Friday 21 June 1946, p. 2</ref><ref name=TP/> The theatre had just re-opened after being closed for six months.<ref>"THE BUXTON PLAYHOUSE", Alderley & Wilmslow Advertiser, Friday 12 July 1946, p. 3: "After being closed since last November the Playhouse Theatre Buxton was recently re-opened by Envoy Productions Ltd"</ref> Soon after that it presented J. B. Priestley's When We Are Married,<ref>"BUXTON PLAYHOUSE THEATRE: WHEN WE ARE MARRIED", Manchester Evening News, Tuesday 9 July 1946, p. 2</ref> and in July 1946 Wyngarde appeared in this at the Embassy Theatre, Hampstead, playing Gerald Forbes. In the later months of 1946, he was on tour in a play called Pickup Girl, playing three parts.<ref name=TP>"Theatre performances", peterwyngarde.uk, accessed 7 September 2025</ref>
In April 1947, Wyngarde was reported to be a newcomer to the Nottingham Playhouse theatre company, "and an asset... responsible for much good fun".<ref>"ROUND THE THEATRES", Nottingham Evening Post, Tuesday 5 April 1949, p. 3</ref> Towards the end of that year, he had the role of Morris Dixon in a production of Noël Coward's Present Laughter at the Theatre Royal, Birmingham.<ref>"NOEL COWARD AT HIS BEST", Gloucestershire Echo, Tuesday 14 October 1947, p. 3</ref><ref>"H. M. Tennent Ltd. and John C. and Barry O'Brien present Geoffrey Edwards in PRESENT LAUGHTER A Comedy by NOEL COWARD", Reading Standard, Friday 7 November 1947, p. 4 (in which Peter Wyngarde is named)</ref>
In May and June 1949, Wyngarde was back at the Embassy Theatre, playing Cassio in a new Nottingham Playhouse production of Othello , with Michael Aldridge as Othello and Rosalind Boxall as Desdemona.<ref name=Cassio>"Chit Chat", The Stage, Thursday 26 May 1949, page 6, and Thursday 23 June 1949, p. 6</ref> The Stage commented "Cassio is obviously a good fellow, not particularly quick-witted, but as trusting and open as his dusky master. Peter Wyngarde invests him with gaiety and sincerity."<ref>"LONDON THEATRES: THE EMBASSY", The Stage, Thursday 30 June 1949, p. 7</ref>
Wyngarde appeared in While the Sun Shines at the Richmond Theatre, Richmond-upon-Thames, in December 1949, playing a French officer.<ref>"Stage and Screen", Richmond Herald, Saturday 17 December 1949, p. 8</ref>
In January 1950, the Essex Newsman reported that he was a former member of the Colchester Repertory company.<ref name=Rope/> The same month, a new theatre company was formed at the Richmond Theatre, with Oliver Gordon as resident producer, the members including Martin Wyldeck, Raymond Francis, and Wyngarde.<ref>Richmond Herald, Saturday 21 January 1950, p. 9</ref> In February, at Richmond, Wyngarde was in They Knew What They Wanted,<ref>"They Knew What They Wanted", Richmond Herald, Saturday 11 February 1950, p. 9</ref> and in March in Mountain Air.<ref>"Mountain Air", Richmond Herald, Saturday 4 March 1950, p. 9</ref>
In February 1951, as part of the Festival of Britain, Wyngarde appeared in Hamlet at the New Theatre, Bromley, playing Voltimand.<ref name=TP/>
In May 1952, he was back at the New Theatre, Bromley, appearing in a play called Separate Rooms, when on 6 May he was taken ill with an attack of malaria at Charing Cross Station while on his way to the theatre.<ref>"Mr. Peter Wyngarde", Bromley & West Kent Mercury, Friday 9 May 1952, p. 9</ref> In June, he was at the Irving Theatre playing Jonah, the commander of an Israeli platoon surrounded by a minefield, in Natan Shaham's They'll Arrive To-morrow. This was the first Israeli play to be presented in London.<ref>"CHIT CHAT", The Stage, Thursday 19 June 1952, p. 8; "THE IRVING", The Stage, Thursday 3 July 1952, p. 9</ref> The reviewer of The Times said "Mr Peter Wyngarde, as the commanding officer, makes perhaps the strongest impression."<ref>The Times, Friday 27 June 1952</ref>
In April 1954, Wyngarde played the Ghost in an Arts Theatre production of The Enchanted by Giraudoux.<ref>"THE ENCHANTED", The Sketch, Wednesday 21 April 1954, p. 30</ref> In September 1954 he was at the Arts Theatre playing the Bastard of Orleans in George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan, with Siobhán McKenna and Kenneth Williams.<ref>"LONDON THEATRE", The Stage, Thursday 23 September 1954, p. 10</ref>
On 24 April 1958, Wyngarde opened at the Apollo Theatre playing Count Marcellus in Duel of Angels with Vivien Leigh.<ref name=Dycks>"Vivien Leigh: The Later Years – Theatre, 1950s & 1960s", The Vivien Leigh Pages, Dycks.com (2003), archived at archive.today, accessed 7 September 2025</ref> In the first half of 1959, he had a season at the Bristol Old Vic which he considered a highlight of his career.<ref name="everything" /> He appeared as Petruchio in The Taming of the Shrew from 24 February to 14 March,<ref name=Bristol-year>"The theatre in Bristol", Bristol Evening Post, Thursday 7 January 1960, p. 14</ref> then produced and directed the Eugene O'Neill play Long Day's Journey into Night, which ran from 17 March to 7 April,<ref>"Long Day's Journey into Night", theatricalia.com, undated, accessed 12 September 2025</ref> and finally from 19 May to 6 June 1959 played the title role in Cyrano de Bergerac.<ref name=Bristol-year/><ref name=TP/>
In the spring of 1960, a Duel of Angels production was put together for the United States, with a new cast, apart from Leigh and Wyngarde.<ref name=Dycks/> This opened at the Helen Hayes Theatre on Broadway and had a run there from 19 April to 1 June.<ref>"Duel of Angels", The Broadway League, Internet Broadway Database (2012) at Ibdb.com, accessed 7 September 2025</ref> Wyngarde toured the US with the play and won both the San Francisco Award for Best Actor in a Foreign Play and a Tony Award for Most Promising Newcomer.<ref name=Bio2>"BIOGRAPHY: Personal Information", peterwyngarde.uk, undated, accessed 7 September 2025</ref> He returned to Britain in October.<ref name=QE/>
In March 1963, Wyngarde had top billing as Werner Loder, a German newspaper publisher, in Night Conspirators, a play by Robert Muller about the return of Hitler from hiding. Cyril Luckham played an archbishop and Ronald Leigh-Hunt an ambassador, but Hitler did not appear on stage. This had a run at the Saville Theatre and a tour.<ref>"PETER WYNGARDE JOHN ROBINSON and STAR CAST in NIGHT CONSPIRATORS by Robert Muller", Sussex Express, Friday 15 March 1963, p. 8</ref> The play had been presented for the first time on ITV's Armchair Theatre in May 1962, with Wyngarde in the same part and The Stage calling it "powerful and horribly plausible".<ref name=NC>"Programme reviews: NIGHT CONSPIRATORS ARMCHAIR Theatre", The Stage, Thursday 10 May 1962, p. 11</ref>
In 1968, Wyngarde had the part of Nikolay in The Duel, a play by John Holton Dell based on the novella by Chekhov, with Nyree Dawn Porter as Nadya. A tour of this production was launched at the Theatre Royal, Brighton, on 18 March.<ref>"Chekhov adapted", The Stage, Thursday 21 March 1968, p. 11</ref>
Early television career
In 1950, when few people in England had televisions, Wyngarde began to appear in television plays and series. The number of British "television households" was then reported as 344,000, but by 1955 it was said to be 4,500,000, and it went on shooting up.<ref>"UK television households", terramedia.co.uk, accessed 18 September 2025</ref>
Wyngarde's first credited screen role appears to have come in a BBC Sunday Night Theatre play called "The Rope", broadcast in January 1950, playing Charles Granillo. He and a friend played by David Markham strangle a young man, hide his body in their flat, then invite his friends and family to a party to complete the perfection of the murder.<ref name=Rope>"IN TOWN TO-NIGHT", Essex Newsman, Friday 13 January 1950, p. 2</ref>
In June 1954, he had the lead part of Fritz Lobheimer in a BBC production of Liebelei, directed by Rudolph Cartier, opposite Jeanette Sterke.<ref name=Liebelei>"Liebelei", Evening News (London), Friday 11 June 1954, p. 5</ref> This was the first full-length play by Arthur Schnitzler to be televised in Britain.<ref name=Liebelei2>"LIEBELEI", Kensington News and West London Times, Friday 11 June 1954, p. 3</ref>
For his role as John the Baptist in the first episode of Jesus of Nazareth (February 1956), Wyngarde travelled to the Holy Land and baptized Jesus (played by Tom Fleming) in the River Jordan.<ref name=JC/><ref>"Story of Jesus Again for Holy Week", The Children's Newspaper, 13 April 1957, accessed 18 September 2025</ref>
Soon after the launch of ITV, Wyngarde appeared on ITV Television Playhouse on 20 December 1956, playing a British Army officer in the play The Bridge by Joseph Schail, with Ingeborg Wells.<ref name=Bridge>"TV PAGE: TeleBriefs", The Stage, Thursday 13 December 1956, p. 12</ref>
He is said to have first become a "heart-throb" in 1957, in a BBC television adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities, playing Sydney Carton.<ref name=bfi/> In March, he was Hovstad in a Play of the Week called "An Enemy of the People", in which a scientist played by John Robinson finds a medicinal spa is polluted, and the town fights him. Jill Dixon was Petra.<ref name=Enemy/> In August, he guest-starred in Overseas Press Club - Exclusive! in an episode about the killing of George Polk, playing a Greek, Andrea Bakolas.<ref name=OPCE/> In December, in another Television Playhouse, "Love Her to Death", he was a young man unhappily married to a rich older woman who despises him, played by Jean Kent.<ref name=Love-her/>
In January 1958, Wyngarde was in a production for television of The Dark is Light Enough, by Christopher Fry, with Dame Edith Evans in the part of Countess Ostenburg, which had been written for her.<ref name=Dark/> The same month, he had the lead part of David Linden in an Armchair Theatre version of The Shining Hour, opposite Diana Fairfax and Angela Baddeley.<ref name=Shining/>
Beginning in May 1958, Wyngarde appeared as Long John Silver in a six-episode BBC serial of The Adventures of Ben Gunn, with Rupert Davies playing Captain Flint. The Kentish Independent found that "one of the smoothest, most sophisticated actors of to-day" had found a new angle on the part of Silver.<ref>"A NEW ANGLE ON LONG JOHN SILVER", Kentish Independent, Friday 30 May 1958, p. 8</ref>
In 1959, Wyngarde had a leading role as Jan Wicziewsky in Julien Green's South on Granada TV, thought to be the earliest television play with an openly homosexual theme.<ref name=Brown>Mark Brown, "Newly unearthed ITV play could be first ever gay television drama", The Guardian, 16 March 2013, accessed 11 September 2025</ref> The Lord Chamberlain had banned the play when it was about to be staged in London in 1955. A review in The Stage said "Peter Wyngarde as Jan... gave a stunningly brilliant performance, controlled and delicately pitched.<ref name=South/>
In November 1959, Wyngarde played Isambard Kingdom Brunel in a television documentary about him, Engineer Extraordinary.<ref name=Engineer/> He commented <templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
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In 1960, Wyngarde was Roger Casement in the first episode of Granada Television's On Trial series, produced by Peter Wildeblood, and commented that "very little make-up was needed for the part... I am exactly Casement."<ref name=Casement>"Peter Wyngarde as Roger Casement", Nottingham Evening News, Friday 8 July 1960, p. 9</ref>
In April 1962, Wyngarde appeared in a BBC Sunday-Night Play staging of John Galsworthy's "Loyalties", which is about anti-semitism. He was Ferdinand de Levis, a Jew, who accuses Captain Dancy, a war hero played by Keith Michell, of stealing £1,000 from him.<ref name=Loyalties/> In July, in an Out of This World episode, he played the captain of a space ship who is ordered to jettison a young stowaway, played by Jane Asher, into space, and reluctantly obeys the order.<ref name=Times/><ref name=OOTW/>
In April 1964, Wyngarde had the title role in Rupert of Hentzau on BBC1, with George Baker as Rudolf Rassendyll and Barbara Shelley as Queen Flavia.<ref>"Television Today: New Sunday serial for BBC 1", The Stage, Thursday 16 April 1964, p. 9</ref>
In a Play of the Week production of A Midsummer Night's Dream for ITV, directed by Joan Kemp-Welch and broadcast on Midsummer's Eve in June 1964, Wyngarde took the part of Oberon, king of the fairies, with Anna Massey as his Titania, Benny Hill as Bottom, and Alfie Bass as Fluke.<ref name=MND/> A few months later, in another Play of the Week, Luigi Pirandello's The Rules of the Game, Wyngarde starred with Anthony Quayle and Gwen Watford.<ref name=Rules/>
In 1966, Wyngarde appeared in an episode of The Saint, "The Man who Liked Lions", playing Tiberio, an assassin obsessed with lions. At the end, Tiberio and Simon Templar fight a duel in Roman costume, and Tiberio meets a sticky end, savaged by his own lion.<ref name=Tiberio/> Also in 1966, he appeared with Diana Rigg and Patrick Macnee in The Avengers episode "A Touch of Brimstone", as Cartney, leader of a recreation of the Hellfire Club.<ref name=bfi/> In 1967, he returned as Stewart Kirby in another episode, "Epic".<ref name=Epic/>
He also guest-starred in The Baron<ref name=bfi/> and in the American show I Spy.<ref name=ISpy/>
In 1967, Wyngarde appeared in The Prisoner, in "Checkmate", as the authority-figure called Number Two.<ref name=Prisoner/> In June came another appearance with Roger Moore in The Saint: "The Gadic Connection"<ref name=Gadic/> and in September he was Konrad von Kroll in the Love Story episode "It's a long way to Transylvania", with The Stage complaining that "Peter hides his handsome features behind a variety of gruesome masks"<ref name=Transylvania/> and TV Times reporting that Wyngarde was "delighted with his part as a spine-chilling werewolf with a taste for redblooded young ladies."<ref>"Love Story play, It's a Long Way to Transylvania", TV Times, Saturday 2 September 1967, p. 10</ref> Then in an episode of The Troubleshooters broadcast in November, he played a desert oil sheikh who tries to buy a white girl when negotiating oil rights.<ref name=Trouble/>
In The Champions: "The Invisible Man" (1968), Wyngarde is a senior doctor gone to the bad who has invented an "invisible man" device which can control people. He uses it to force Sir Frederick Howard (Basil Dignam) to steal gold bullion worth ten million pounds from the Bank of England for him.<ref name=Champions>"The Champions – The Invisible Man", Archive TV Musings", 3 January 2020, accessed 11 September 2025</ref>
Early films
After making his film debut in an uncredited minor role as a soldier in Dick Barton Strikes Back (1949),<ref name=DBSB/> Wyngarde gained attention for his occasional appearances in feature films.<ref name=McFarlane />
He took the role of Pausanias opposite Richard Burton in the film Alexander the Great (1956),<ref name=bfi/> and with Donald Sinden had a major role in the film The Siege of Sidney Street (1960),<ref name=SSS/> in which he "seethed anarchist fury".<ref name=bfi/>
Wyngarde played the Marquis des Grieux in a TV movie made from Dostoevsky's The Gambler, about the tables of Roulettenberg, first shown in August 1956.<ref name=Gambler>"BBC", Evening News (London), Thursday 9 August 1956, p. 3</ref>
In the BBC-TV movie The Widows of Jaffa (June 1957), Wyngarde plays an Arab interpreter with divided loyalties, in a story about a Gaza Strip refugee camp written by Evan Jones.<ref name=Tanna>Laura Tanna, "Evan Jones: Man of Two Worlds", Jamaica Journal 18 (4) (1985), pp. 38–45</ref><ref name=Jaffa>"Review: The Widows of Jaffa", PeterWyngarde.uk, 14 September 2018, accessed 24 September 2025</ref> In a second movie for the BBC the same year, Ordeal by Fire, directed by Rudolph Cartier, Wyngarde plays a scholar, Jerome Taillard, in a tale of 15th-century France, with Elizabeth Sellars playing a new Joan of Arc, after the death of the first by burning at the stake.<ref name=Ordeal/> (This film is not, as claimed by IMDb, about forest fires in North America.)<ref>"La Hire (Etienne de Vignolles)", in Jay Robert Nash, The Encyclopedia of Best Films: A Century of All the Finest Movies, V-Z, Volume 4 (USA: Bloomsbury Publishing, 2019, p. 3622</ref><ref name=Ordeal/>
In Jack Clayton's The Innocents (1961), Wyngarde had non-speaking scenes as the leering Peter Quint, with Deborah Kerr and Pamela Franklin.<ref name=Pulver/> He followed this by starring in the occult thriller Night of the Eagle (1962), a rare film appearance in a lead role. The New York Times called the movie "quite the most effective 'supernatural' thriller since Village of the Damned".<ref>"Supernatural Thriller Is on Double Bill", The New York Times, 5 July 1962, archived at archive.today 13 January 2025</ref>
In Lucy in London (1966), a television movie starring Lucille Ball, her character, Lucy, finds herself appearing in The Taming of the Shrew as Kate, and Wyngarde plays himself, appearing as a Shakespearean actor playing the part of Petruchio.<ref name=Lucy/>
Radio
Wyngarde played the journalist Nigel Bathgate on the BBC Light Programme, in a five-part dramatization of Ngaio Marsh's Artists in Crime, broadcast in August and September 1953, with Mavis Villiers as Bobbie O'Dawne.<ref>"Light Programme, Drama, 1953", Sutton Elms, undated, accessed 10 September 2025</ref>
In August 1954, he starred with Dorothy Gordon in a BBC Radio production of Jean Anouilh's Léocadia, playing Prince Albert Troubiscoi, who is in love with an opera singer, Léocadia.<ref>"Milk Pudding a la Mode", Birmingham Daily Post, Thursday 5 August 1954, p. 12</ref> In April 1955, he again starred in an Anouilh play on BBC radio, this time voicing the part of Frantz in The Ermine.<ref>"THIRD PROGRAMME: The Ermine (play) with Peter Wyngarde", Wolverhampton Express and Star, Saturday 2 April 1955, p. 7</ref> He spoke the part of Orestes in the Oresteia of Aeschylus for the Third Programme, first broadcast in three parts on 27 May 1956, with Howard Marion-Crawford playing Agamemnon.<ref>"Third Programme", Kensington News and West London Times, Friday 25 May 1956, p. 5</ref>
In February 1957, again on the Third Programme, Wyngarde was the narrator for a BBC Drama Repertory Company performance of Anton Chekhov's Uncle Vanya.<ref>Third Programme: Drama, 1957, Sutton Elms, undated, accessed 10 September 2025</ref> In September, he had the title role of Sir Willoughby Patterne in BBC Radio's dramatization of George Meredith's novel The Egoist.<ref>Portsmouth Evening News, Monday 2 September 1957, p. 4</ref>
Wyngarde returned to radio in January 1967, in a broadcast of Terence Rattigan's The Sleeping Prince on the Home Service, with Millicent Martin and Fay Compton. <ref>"Saturday Night Theatre 1960-1970", Sutton Elms, undated, accessed 10 September 2025</ref>
Jason King
Wyngarde became a British household name through his starring role in the spy-fi series Department S (1969–1970). His character, Jason King, a novelist and detective, was reputedly based on the author Ian Fleming.<ref name=bfi/> Department S, a fictional division of Interpol based in Paris, dealt only with "inexplicable and baffling" cases and was masterminded by Sir Curtis Seretse, supported by a former CIA agent, Steward Sullivan, a computer expert, Annabelle Hurst, and King. Wyngarde persuaded the producers to model King on him, with the result that King led a hedonistic lifestyle in Paris, dressed decadently, and drove a Bentley S2 Continental sports saloon.<ref name=Roberts>Andrew B. Roberts, "Peter Wyngarde as Jason King – the Bentley-driving international man of mystery", The Daily Telegraph, 22 January 2018 Template:Subscription, archived at archive.ph, accessed 6 September 2025</ref> Wyngarde commented many years later "I decided Jason King was going to be an extension of me". He noted that his hair was long at the time because he had just been appearing in a Chekhov play, The Duel,<ref name="Billen"/> and added in another interview that "Jason King had champagne and strawberries for breakfast, just as I did myself."<ref name="express.co.uk"/>
As early as 1964, Wyngarde was complaining that glamorous dressing gowns for men must have gone out of fashion, as they were so difficult for his wardrobe master to find.<ref>"HAVE glamorous dressing gowns for men gone out of fashion?", Nottingham Evening Post, Monday 10 August 1964, p. 7</ref>
With its "peculiarly British humour", Department S failed to sell to a United States network, which was then the touchstone for any ITC production, and only one series was made,<ref name=Heffer>Simon Heffer, "Peter Wyngarde's wayward life exposes the true cost of being a ‘cult actor’", 18 May 2025 Template:Subscription, archived at archive.ph, accessed 7 September 2025</ref> but after the show ended, the character of Jason King was spun off into a new action series called Jason King (1971–1972).<ref name=Roberts/> The managing director of ITC, Lew Grade, told Wyngarde
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
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He was frilly and flared in every way, like the Dr Who of the era, Jon Pertwee, another fully frilly and flared telly hero. He might as well have come from another planet, a sci-fi show such as Space: 1999 or The Tomorrow People... No TV personality rivalled Jason King for sheer insouciant, arch, camp style.<ref>Sean O'Grady, "Before Austin Powers there was ‘Jason King’ – and the fabulous Peter Wyngarde who has died aged 90", The Independent, 18 January 2018, accessed 11 September 2025</ref>{{#if:|
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The two television shows turned Wyngarde into an international celebrity, and he was mobbed by female fans on a visit to Australia.<ref name=Billen /> Carl Gresham, his promotional events manager at the time, said later that "During the '70s we had a contract to officially open over thirty Woolworths newly refurbished stores throughout the UK." He added that other than Morecambe and Wise, who were also among his clients, Wyngarde was "the most requested and highest paid celebrity" making such personal appearances.<ref name="Mason">Vivien Mason, "Local radio presenter pays tribute to his friend and '70s heart throb 'Jason King'", Bradford Telegraph and Argus, 19 January 2018, archived 22 July 2019</ref>
In the role of King, the Glasgow Herald reported that Wyngarde "became a style icon, with his droopy moustache, hair that looked like a bearskin hat, and a wardrobe of wide-lapelled, three-piece suits, cravats and open-necked shirts in colours so bright they might hurt sensitive eyes."<ref name=Herald/> In the summer of 1970, he won the John Stephen Fashion Award for Best Dressed Personality, given by Radio Luxembourg and decided by its listeners and by readers of Fab 208 magazine. Other nominees for the award included Cliff Richard and George Best, but they were far behind in the voting.<ref> "Sense of occasion suits the Peter Wyngarde estate sale perfectly", Antiques Trade Gazette, April 2020, accessed 7 September 2025 Template:Subscription</ref> In 1971, there was a leap in the number of boys being called Jason, larger than for any other boy's name.<ref>"Most popular baby names of 1971", Momcozy.com, accessed 11 September 2025</ref> At least one boy was given the names "Jason Wyngarde".<ref>"Cowan, Jason Wyngarde", General Register Office for England and Wales, Births March 1972, Doncaster, volume 2b, page no. 1952</ref>
The Jason King show ran for one series of 26 fifty-minute episodes. More lightweight than Department S and more cheaply made, in Simon Heffer's assessment "Jason King saw Wyngarde become an ever-more comic turn."<ref name=Heffer/> By 1972, Wyngarde had tired of playing this "blasé idiot".<ref name=bfi/>
Later career
In May 1972, Wyngarde was on stage at the Metro, Bourke Street, Melbourne, playing the title role in the first Australian production of Simon Gray's Butley. His performance got glowing reviews, and on 1 June The Stage reported that he had "scored a big hit",<ref>"CHIT CHAT", The Stage, Thursday 1 June 1972, p. 8</ref> but nevertheless the play had a shorter run than was hoped.<ref>Frank Thring, Roland Roccheccioli, The Actor who Laughed (Hutchinson of Australia, 1985), p. 95</ref>
With Stanley Baker, Max Bygraves, Dickie Henderson, Cliff Michelmore, and Ron Moody, Wyngarde took part in a fund-raising lunch on 24 November 1972 to gather donations for children's charities.<ref>"Oh, Jenny you're not wearing any", Daily Express, Saturday 25 November 1972, p. 9</ref>
On 5 January 1973, Wyngarde, Rolf Harris, and Katie Boyle were the judges in a television contest staged in Liverpool called "Miss TV Europe", which was won by Sylvia Kristel. Wyngarde chaired the panel and presented the prizes.<ref>"Dutch girl is Miss TV Europe", The Stage, Thursday 11 January 1973, p. 20: "Peter Wyngarde was chairman of the judges and presented the prizes."</ref> From 22 January, he was back on stage, appearing for a week at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, in Mother Adam by Charles Dyer, playing Adam, a middle-aged museum attendant living with his crippled mother, played by Hermione Baddeley.<ref>"HERMIONE BADDELEY, PETER WYNGARDE, in MOTHER ADAM by CHARLES DYER, Directed by the Author", Birmingham Daily Post, 8 January 1973, p. 3</ref> At the end of January, this play went on tour, going next to the Playhouse, Weston-super-Mare,<ref>"Weston-super-Mare Playhouse: Look Ladies JASON KING is here!", Bristol Evening Post, Tuesday 30 January 1973, p. 34</ref> and then in February on to Glasgow.<ref>"MOTHER ADAM a battle between Youth and Age", Daily Record (Lanarkshire, Scotland), Friday 9 February 1973, p. 25</ref> The Scotsman commented drily that "Peter Wyngarde has another try at breaking away from his image".<ref>"KING'S, GLASGOW", The Scotsman, Tuesday 13 February 1973, p. 9</ref>
Wyngarde had said in 1972 that he had a "great wish to do a musical".<ref name=Shelley/> On 21 June 1973, a front-page story in The Stage announced a major tour of a revival of the musical The King and I, with Wyngarde playing the King of Siam and Sally Ann Howes in the part of Anna. This show was launched at the Forum Theatre, Billingham, at the end of June,<ref>"MAJOR TOUR OF 'THE KING AND I'", The Stage, Thursday 21 June 1973, p. 1</ref> and for a publicity stunt Wyngarde and Howes sailed up the River Thames and under Tower Bridge in a Chinese junk, in costume.<ref name=Times/> The show went to Birmingham, Glasgow, Hull, Leeds, Manchester, and Nottingham,<ref>Adrian Wright, West End Broadway (Woodridge: Boydell Press, 2012), p. 92</ref> and arrived at the Adelphi Theatre in the West End on 10 October 1973.<ref>"ANNA AND KING COME BACK TO THE ADELPHI", The Stage, Thursday 11 October 1973, p. 1: "Sally Ann Howes and Peter Wyngarde play Anna and the King of Siam..."</ref> It ran until 25 May 1974, clocking up a total of 260 performances.<ref>Stanley Green, Encyclopedia of the Musical Theatre (Hachette Books, 1970, Template:ISBN), p. 233</ref>
Between January 1975 and the summer of that year, Wyngarde toured in the title role of Bram Stoker's Dracula, once again beginning at Billingham. The Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail noted that "COUNT DRACULA has risen from the grave once again to visit Billingham, but the intrepid Count will be a week late in arriving. The Count is making his bid for stardom on the stage of Billingham Forum Theatre later this month."<ref>"COUNT DRACULA has been delayed", Hartlepool Northern Daily Mail, Friday 3 January 1975 p. 4</ref> Wyngarde later claimed that "My problem is that women fall in love with Jason King, but then find that I'm really Dracula".<ref name=Times/>
Wyngarde's career suffered a setback from the publicity surrounding a conviction on 16 October 1975 for "gross indecency", and never fully recovered.<ref name=Guardobit/><ref>"A different era: how icon's Gloucester Bus Station 'liaison' changed his world forever", Gloucestershire Live, 23 January 2018, accessed 10 September 2025</ref><ref name=Collections>"Peter Wyngarde", National Portrait Gallery, London, accessed 7 September 2025</ref> In 2008, the Irish Independent claimed the outcome was that "his career was terminated in 1975".<ref>"Acting to Singing", Irish Independent, Saturday 31 May 2008, p. 65</ref>
Wyngarde soldiered on. From the end of September to 15 November 1975, at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre, Guildford, and on tour, he directed a revival of Present Laughter and also played the part of Essendine, which Noël Coward had written for himself.<ref>"Noël Coward's PRESENT LAUGHTER Wc Monday 30th September", Hull Daily Mail, Tuesday 10 September 1974, p. 13</ref><ref name=TP/> Then in December, at the same theatre, he directed Time and the Conways.<ref name=TP/> Soon after, from February to March 1976, he toured in The Merchant of Venice, both directing the play and appearing in it as Shylock.<ref>"Feb 23rd for 1 Week Only THE MERCHANT of VENICE", Liverpool Daily Post, Monday 2 February 1976, p. 2</ref><ref>"CALLS – MARCH 8", The Stage, Thursday 4 March 1976, p. 2</ref> Near the end of the run, at the Spa Theatre, Bridlington, he was given a civic reception by the Mayor.<ref>"ARRIVING at Bridlington to play Shylock in The Merchant of Venice", Hull Daily Mail, Wednesday 17 March 1976, p. 11</ref>
Between June and September 1976, Wyngarde toured in Anastasia, a play by Guy Bolton based on a work by Marcelle Maurette.<ref>"Anastasia's performance", Wolverhampton Express and Star, Wednesday 26 May 1976, p. 7</ref> <ref>"Anastasia", The Stage, 30 September 1976, p. 20</ref> It then had a run at the Cambridge Theatre in the West End from 22 September to October 1976. Wyngarde played Prince Bounine, who plots to gain millions from the inheritance of the Grand Duchess Anastasia by means of a lookalike. Nyree Dawn Porter appeared as Anna Broun and Elspeth March as the Dowager Empress.<ref>"Anastasia (Advertising subtitle – The Most Romantic Mystery of all Time)", Theatricalia, undated, accessed 16 September 2025</ref> The part of Bounine was the one played by Yul Brynner in the film Anastasia (1956).<ref>"Anastasia (1956)", American Film Institute, accessed 16 September 2025</ref>
In the late 1970s, Wyngarde worked in the theatre in South Africa and Austria.<ref name=Times/> In October 1978, he played an Arab oil sheikh in the film Himmel, Scheich und Wolkenbruch ("Sky, Sheikh and Cloudburst"), performing in German.<ref name=HSW/>
Wyngarde took the role of the masked General Klytus in the film Flash Gordon (1980).<ref name=FG/> This led on to an appearance later that year (in the persona of Klytus) in The Queen Special, a 50-minute film for television to promote the Flash Gordon soundtrack and Queen's album "The Game".<ref name=Queen/>
In 1983, at the Royal Alexandra Theatre, Toronto, and at the Prince of Wales Theatre in the West End, he appeared as Alexander Howard in the thriller Underground, with Raymond Burr and Marc Sinden.<ref>British Theatre Guide, 1983.</ref>
In January 1984, Wyngarde appeared in three episodes of Crown Court as a leading criminal barrister defending a woman accused of blackmail.<ref name=CC/> Later in the year, he guest-starred in the Doctor Who four-episode story Planet of Fire. The TARDIS is on the planet Sarn, where Chief Elder Timanov (played by Wyngarde) is being troubled by the Master. Wyngarde decided to interpret Timonov as being much like Lawrence of Arabia, as played by Peter O'Toole in 1962.<ref name=Planet>"Planet of Fire", shannonsullivan.com, accessed 11 September 2025</ref> Also in 1984, with Carol Royle and Gareth Hunt Wyngarde had a leading role in the Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense story "And the Wall Came Tumbling Down", in which action switches between the 1980s and the 1640s, with Wyngarde playing a member of a coven of witches and a general commanding a NATO nuclear base.<ref name=Hammer>"Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense: And the Wall Came Tumbling Down", peterwyngarde.uk, 28 November 2016, accessed 10 September 2025</ref> In December of the year, he was in The Two Ronnies Christmas Special, playing Sir Guy in a medieval story.<ref name=2Ronnies/><ref>"Christmas Special 1984, The Two Ronnies – BBC One", bbc.co.uk, accessed 10 September 2025</ref>
In 1985, Wyngarde appeared on television in the first series of Bulman, playing Gallio, a vice boss, in the episode "I Met a Man Who Wasn't There". The Liverpool Echo interviewed him about the part, noting that it was "the latest in a string of baddies he has played to get away from the hero image". It asked whether Jason King might yet return. Wyngarde said King had taken up four years of his life, and it was still possible the character could make a come-back.<ref name=Bulman/>
In August 1986, Wyngarde was at the Hilton British Airways Playhouse, at the Hilton Hotel, Singapore, playing a murderer, Roat, in Wait Until Dark. A local review found that he "comes across well as the diabolical Mr Roat, but his comic abilities hamper his transition into a seasoned and sadistic murderer."<ref>Jaime Lye, "Serving suspense at dinner", The Business Times (Singapore), 30 August 1986, p. 6, gov.uk, accessed 11 September 2025</ref> In 1989, in the film Tank Malling, he played Sir Robert Knight, a seriously wicked business man.<ref name=TM/>
In the 1990s, Wyngarde made appearances in The Lenny Henry Christmas Special (December 1994)<ref name=Lenny/> and The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes (1994), playing the part of Langdale Pike, king of gossip columnists, in "The Three Gables". One of his lines is "I withstand the blasts of time, can't you see?"<ref name=3G/>
In 1995, Wyngarde was on the brink of playing the title role in The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, at the Liverpool Playhouse, but left due to a throat infection while the show was still in previews.<ref>"THE CABINET OF DR CALIGARI", Peterwyngarde.wordpress.com, 2 July 2016, accessed 2 October 2016</ref> He was replaced by Peter Byrne, but only six days later he also left the show.<ref>"SECOND ACTOR HIT BY PLAY’S CURSE – Horror strikes again but show will go on, says theatre", Liverpool Echo, Thursday 28 September 1995</ref> After this, Wyngarde mostly stopped acting, apart from occasional voice work. He continued to appear in public at an event called "Memorabilia" and at others celebrating his past performances.<ref>David Bentley, "Which stars are appearing at MCM Birmingham Comic Con in 2016?", 27 February 2016, Birmingham Mail, accessed 2 October 2016</ref><ref>"London Film Convention – Dates & Guests", Showmasters Ltd, accessed 2 October 2016 (dead link), archived 23 September 2016 at archive.com</ref>
21st century appearances
In November 2002, Wyngarde was one of the three subjects of an episode of the ITV programme After They Were Famous, together with Peter Sarstedt and Emlyn Hughes.<ref name=After>"After They Were Famous: Peter Wyngarde and Emlyn Hughes", Irish Independent, Saturday 2 November 2002, p. 75</ref><ref>"AND CAN YOU GUESS WHO ELSE IS BACK ON THE BOX?", Dundee Weekly News, Saturday 2 November 2002, p. 6: "ONE of the top icons of the Swinging 60s makes a rare TV appearance this Tuesday on After They Were Famous. Peter Wyngarde played the famous author/investigator Jason King in the hit series Department S. With his classic 60s looks and style, Peter Wyngarde..."</ref> The programme revealed that since his days of stardom Wyngarde had taken up the sport of clay pigeon shooting.<ref>"After They Were Famous Updates on former celebrities", Wolverhampton Express and Star, Saturday 2 November 2002, p. 33</ref> In March 2004, he took part for the fourth time in a charity clay pigeon shoot at Vera Lynn’s country estate at Ditchling, together with Vinnie Jones, Richard Dunwoody, and Ross Burden.<ref>"Charity clay pigeon shoot", Sussex Express, Friday 5 March 2004, p. 23</ref>
Wyngarde and Cleo Rocos appeared on Channel 4 as guests of Simon Dee, in a one-episode revival of his chat show Dee Time, in January 2004.<ref name=Dee>"Dee's tale is too much to live up to", The Stage, Thursday 8 January 2004, p. 29</ref>
Screenwriter Mark Millar has said that when he was casting his film Layer Cake (2004), the director Matthew Vaughn wanted Wyngarde for a part in it, but was told he had died.<ref name="thejc.com">"Peter Wyngarde, star who played 1960s TV sleuth Jason King, dies", Thejc.com, 18 January 2018, accessed 23 April 2020</ref> Seven years later, Vaughn again requested him, this time for a role in X-Men: First Class, but was again wrongly told that Wyngarde was dead.<ref name="thejc.com"/>
In 2007, Wyngarde recorded extras for a DVD box-set of The Prisoner, including a mock interview segment called "The Pink Prisoner".<ref>"The Prisoner: The Pink Prisoner", Thetvdb.com, undated, accessed 19 January 2018</ref>
In December 2013, Wyngarde narrated an episode of the BBC Four Timeshift series, "How to Be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces of a Master Detective", when he talked about his appearances with two Holmes actors, Douglas Wilmer and Jeremy Brett.<ref name=Timeshift>"Web exclusive: Peter Wyngarde on double detection", BBC, 23 December 2013, accessed 18 September 2025</ref>
Wyngarde appeared as himself in It was Alright in the... (2015), a documentary series for Channel 4. Asked about wearing blackface to play a Turk in The Saint, he said he had been uneasy about it and had done it only in the hope that a theatre director might pick him to play Othello.<ref name=Alright>"C4 to take a look back at what TV used to get away with", Channel 4 web site, 28 July 2015, accessed 16 September 2025</ref>
Records
In 1970, Wyngarde recorded an album released by RCA Victor as an LP entitled Peter Wyngarde. This is a collection of spoken-word tracks to music by Vic Smith, with words by Wyngarde, produced and arranged by Hubert Thomas Valverde.<ref name=Discogs>"Peter Wyngarde Discography", Discogs, accessed 16 September 2025</ref><ref name=Shapers/> Two seven-inch singles of tracks from the album were also issued in 1970, one of 'Peter Wyngarde "Commits" Rape'<ref name=Discogs/> and the other of 'La Ronde de L'Amour', with 'The Way I Cry Over You' on the B-side.<ref>"Peter Wyngarde - la Ronde de l'Amour", Discogs, undated, accessed 16 September 2025</ref> In the 'Rape' track, Wyngarde uses a range of foreign accents, including French, German, American, Chinese, Japanese, and Russian, to explain how perceptions of rape vary around the world.<ref name=6albums>"Cut! 6 of the weirdest albums released by Hollywood stars", BBC.co.uk, 11 September 2018, accessed 16 September 2025</ref> The fourth track consisted of Wyngarde reading the poem "The Unknown Citizen" by W. H. Auden.<ref>"Peter Wyngarde album: The Unknown Citizen", YouTube, 25 December 2020, accessed 22 September 2025</ref> The LP was billed as addressing "the darker side of human behaviour".<ref name=Shapers/>
The album was withdrawn from sale after four days.<ref name=Shapers/> Wyngarde commented "When RCA came up with an offer, they told me I could do whatever I liked – that's what really appealed to me. I saw the record as an entertainment in its own right; to be enjoyed tongue-in-cheek... we wanted to do something new." He also suggested that RCA was "mired in a scenario similar to The Producers", as it had wanted his album to be a tax loss and was shocked by its success.<ref name=6albums/>
In 1998, the album was reissued on CD by RPM Records, re-titled When Sex Leers Its Inquisitive Head.<ref name=Shapers>"Shapers of the 80s", shapersofthe80s.com, accessed 16 September 2025</ref> The album is now treated as a curiosity because of its unusual spoken-word style and the controversial subject matter.<ref>"Jason King's Groovy Pad", Optusnet.com.au, accessed 2 October 2016 (dead link)</ref><ref>"Peter Wyngarde: When Sex Leers Its Inquisitive Head" Dangerousminds.net, 20 March 2010, accessed 14 September 2025</ref>
Personal life
In 1949, Wyngarde met the actress Dorinda Stevens. An obituary in The Times says they later went on holiday to Sicily and were married while there.<ref name=Times/> In 1950, Wyngarde was living at 56, Strand-on-the-Green, Chiswick.<ref>Electoral Register for Brentford & Chiswick: Polling District N—Grove Park ward (1953), p. 8, Ancestry.com, accessed 13 September 2025 Template:Subscription</ref> In 1953, as Dorinda Wyngarde and Peter Wyngarde, both are recorded as living at 9, Holland Park, Kensington.<ref>Electoral Register for the Borough of Kensington and Chelsea: Polling District O—Holland ward (1953), p. 7 at ancestry.com, Template:Subscription, accessed 18 September 2025</ref> It lasted for three years,<ref name=Shelley/> and by November 1955 Stevens was described in a TV Times profile as "a bachelor girl, sharing a mews flat near Portland Place, London, with Cassio, her wire-haired terrier".<ref>"Dorinda Stevens R.I.P", Filmdope.com, citing TV Times, November 1955 (dead link, as at 9 September 2025)</ref> (Wyngarde had been playing Cassio in the summer of 1949.)<ref name=Cassio/> In 1957, while filming in Karen, Kenya, she married the Canadian cinematographer William Michael Boultbee.<ref name="Partridge">Janet Partridge, "Town Talk", The Vancouver Sun, 20 April 1957, accessed 9 September 2025</ref>
Interviewed for The Sydney Morning Herald in 1972, Wyngarde said his biggest regret was that he "married far too young", adding: "It lasted three years and the last year was pretty hell. However, one just goes on learning from one's mistakes doesn't one?"<ref name=Shelley>Gary Shelley, Peter Wyngarde – An Incurable Romantic", The Sydney Morning Herald, 8 May 1972, page 9, accessed 11 September 2025</ref>
In August 1956, using his earnings from Alexander the Great, Wyngarde bought a cottage at Kilndown in Kent, next door to the actress Edith Evans, and for some years spent much of his time there when not working.<ref>Wyngarde-Hopkins (2020), pp. 63–64</ref>
From 1956 to 1958, Wyngarde appears to have shared a flat in London with Ruby Talbot.<ref>"A Life Amongst Strangers' Companion", Peter Wyngarde Appreciation Society, 27 February 2020, accessed 13 September 2025</ref> At 11, Oxford Mews, Paddington, the names on the 1956, 1957, and 1958 lists of electors are "Ruby J. Talbot" and "Peter P. Wyngarde".<ref>Borough of Paddington: South Division: Polling Dist. ZZ—Hyde Park Ward (part of) (1956), p. 16, Ancestry.com Template:Subscription, accessed 12 September 2025</ref><ref name=ZZ>Borough of Paddington: South Division: Polling Dist. ZZ—Hyde Park Ward (part of) (1957), p. 15, Ancestry.com Template:Subscription, accessed 12 September 2025</ref><ref>Borough of Paddington: South Division: Polling Dist. ZZ—Hyde Park Ward (part of) (1958), p. 14 Ancestry.com Template:Subscription, accessed 12 September 2025</ref> At no. 4 were Lawrence Dundas, Earl of Ronaldshay, and his wife Katherine.<ref name=ZZ/> In July 1957, Talbot married Reginald Stenning at Chanctonbury.<ref>"Ruby J Talbot" in the England & Wales, Civil Registration Marriage Index, 1916-2005, ancestry.com, accessed 6 September 2025 Template:Subscription</ref>
In 1958, Wyngarde rented a flat at number 1, Earls Terrace, off Kensington High Street, London, and would keep it for the rest of his life. He shared that flat for some years with fellow actor Alan Bates; according to some sources, this was a romantic relationship,<ref name=Brown/><ref name=Times/><ref name=Close>Roger Lewis, "The minute they got close, he ran", The Daily Telegraph, 28 June 2007 Template:Subscription, archived at archive.ph, accessed 18 September 2025</ref> and it was sometimes assumed within the acting community that Wyngarde was gay.<ref name="Guardobit">Martin Belam, access-date=2023-08-24 "What a life. What a legend': tributes paid to cult TV star Peter Wyngarde", The Guardian, 18 January 2018, accessed 18 September 2025</ref> It has been claimed that he was the target of the nickname "Petunia Winegum",<ref name=Close/><ref>"Peter Wyngarde: Jason King star who inspired Austin Powers dies aged 90", Sky News, accessed 19 September 2025</ref> but this may have originated in a comedy sketch, rather than being a name used in real life.<ref name=Herald/>
In 1958, Wyngarde appeared with Vivien Leigh in a stage production of Duel of Angels at the Apollo Theatre, and in 1960 they both went to New York to take the same parts in the play when it was presented there.<ref name=Dycks/> He became her lover after she ended her affair with Peter Finch.<ref name=DT-obit/> On 20 June 1960 the Singapore Free Press carried a story saying Leigh was on a visit to England and wanted to discuss a divorce with Laurence Olivier. It printed a photo with the caption "Vivien with Peter Wyngard, her frequent companion these days".<ref>"Vivien revisits her old home to revive memories of happier days", Singapore Free Press, 20 June 1960, p. 4, at gov.sh, accessed 9 September 2025</ref> Wyngarde later called Leigh "the love of my life".<ref name=Times>"Peter Wyngarde: Flamboyant actor renowned for his salacious exploits who became a household name in the 1970s when he played TV sleuth Jason King", The Times, 18 January 2018, archived at archive.ph</ref>
On 25 October 1960, travelling first class on the Cunard liner RMS Queen Elizabeth, Wyngarde arrived at Southampton from New York City, giving his marital status as single, his date of birth as 27 July 1929, his occupation as "Actor", and his address as "Conifer Tree, Kilndown, Cranbrook".<ref name=QE>"Peter Wyngarde, Birth 27 Jul 1929 / Departure New York, New York, USA / Arrival 25 Oct 1960 Southampton, England" in UK and Ireland, Incoming Passenger Lists, 1878-1960, ancestry.com, accessed 4 September 2025 Template:Subscription</ref>
In 1971, Felicity Kendal appeared in Jason King, and some years later Wyngarde said "I fell in love with her". Kendal commented that he was "great fun".<ref name=Times/>
In July 1974, at a trial at the Old Bailey, Jeremy Dallas-Cope, described as Wyngarde's "£20-a-week male secretary", was found guilty of forging nearly £3,000-worth of cheques from his employer's bank account (Template:Inflation) "to pay for his good life among the Chelsea elite", and was sent to prison for two years. On being found out, Dallas-Cope had talked his flat-mate into attempting suicide and into taking the blame for the fraud. He too was convicted and given a prison sentence.<ref>"Death Plan 'bordered on evil'", Newcastle Journal, 26 July 1974, p. 5, at British Newspaper Archive: "Peter Wyngarde's £20-a-week male secretary helped himself to nearly £3,000 from the star's bank account to pay for his good life among the Chelsea elite, an Old Bailey judge was told yesterday." Template:Registration required</ref>
Wyngarde's personal life came under scrutiny in October 1975 when he was prosecuted under his real name, Cyril Goldbert, for gross indecency with a crane driver in public toilets in Gloucester bus station.<ref name=Times/><ref>Peter Wyngarde: Cult TV star who inspired Austin Powers dies aged 90, BBC News, 18 January 2018, accessed 19 September 2025</ref> The allegation related to the evening of 8 September of that year, and Wyngarde pleaded guilty.<ref>"DAILY RECORD Saturday October 18, 1975", Daily Record, Saturday 18 October 1975, p. 2</ref> His solicitor said in his defence that he was not a homosexual and "did not go in there for this purpose", but he admitted to masturbation and sought to mitigate this as an "aberration" brought on by excessive drinking. Wyngarde was convicted and fined £75.<ref name="ES">Kenneth Tew, "Peter Wyngarde fined £75 on bus station sex charge", Evening Standard, 17 October 1975, p. 5, at Newspapers.com, accessed 9 September 2025</ref> In April 2023, the Peter Wyngarde web site published an email from the Home Office saying "Further to your application on behalf of the deceased, since the conduct constituting the offence was perceived sexual activity between persons of the same sex (unproven), and the conviction met the conditions for a disregard, then he is posthumously pardoned. This is retrospective."<ref>Tina Wyngarde-Hopkins, "CONTENTIOUS 1975 CONVICTION QUASHED!", PETER WYNGARDE: The Official Website, April 2023, accessed 9 September 2025</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
In July 1977, the Inland Revenue lodged a petition in the High Court of Justice for the winding-up of the company Wyngarde Productions,<ref>The London Gazette, Issue 47292, 5 August 1977, p. 10225</ref> and a winding-up order was made in October.<ref>The London Gazette, Issue 47360, 25 October 1977, p. 13496</ref> The liquidator took until May 1980 to finish his work,<ref>The London Gazette, Issue 48202, 5 June 1980, p. 8176</ref> and the company was dissolved in February 1984.<ref>The London Gazette, Issue 49653, 21 February 1984, p. 2510</ref>
Wyngarde told an interviewer some years later that at the height of his fame "I drank myself to a standstill ... I am amazed I am still here". But he added that he had stopped drinking in the early 1980s.<ref name=Billen/>
On 22 November 1982, Wyngarde was declared bankrupt.<ref>"Wyngarde, Peter Paul", The London Gazette, 8 November 1982, p. 16090, accessed 19 September 2025</ref> At the time, the newspapers reported that his financial downfall had been caused by buying a farm in Gloucestershire for £53,000; that within four years, his income had plummeted, and that at the time of the hearing he was unemployed and living on social security.<ref>"Former TV star bankrupt", Belfast News-Letter, 25 November 1982, p. 1: "He disclosed that the purchase of a beautiful farm near S. Gloucestershire in 1973 had been his downfall. It had cost £53,000 — but within four years his income had plummeted. He was now unemployed and living on social security."</ref> He was discharged from bankruptcy on 14 June 1988.<ref>"Wyngarde, Peter Paul", The London Gazette, 1 September 1988, p. 9925, accessed 19 September 2025</ref>
In May 1996, under the headline "Good buy for Jason: how are the mighty fallen", the Daily Mirror printed a reader's photo of Wyngarde looking at men's overcoats in an Oxfam charity shop. Revisiting 1975, the story mocked "the discovery in court that the real name of this debonair heart-throb was Cyril Louis Goldbert".<ref name=Mirror>"Good buy for Jason: how are the mighty fallen", Daily Mirror, Saturday 25 May 1996, p. 7</ref>
In December 1996, Wyngarde told the Scotland on Sunday newspaper that his reputation as a lady-killer was "not completely undeserved", and added "There's no such thing as being gay or bisexual or heterosexual. It's just how you feel at the time. It's about relationships."<ref>Whatever happened to Peter Wyngarde, Scotland on Sunday, Sunday 8 December 1996, p. 46</ref> After his death, Bob Stanley posted on Twitter "My favourite Peter Wyngarde line, to a friend of mine over dinner, "I'm 50% vegetarian, 100% bisexual"", but the source of this is unclear.<ref>Bob Stanley, Rocking Bob post, Jan 18, 2018, x.com, accessed 10 September 2025</ref> In 2025, Simon Heffer repeated it, without attribution.<ref name=Heffer/>
In old age, Wyngarde answered questions about what he liked best. He said his favourite book was Brideshead Revisited, his favourite film The Thief of Baghdad (the Alexander Korda one) his favourite poet W. H. Auden, his favourite television shows Inspector Montalbano, Seinfeld, and True Crime, his favourite colour azure blue, his favourite drink paw paw juice, and his favourite animal the panther. The person he most admired was Luchino Visconti. The sports he most enjoyed were fencing, tennis, pistol target shooting, and clay pigeon shooting. When asked what had been the best moment in his acting career, he replied "When the director of the famous Old Vic asked me to do a season there."<ref name="everything" />
In 2012, Wyngarde was found to be suffering from emphysema and coronary heart disease. As a result, he had a triple coronary artery bypass at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital.<ref>Wyngarde-Hopkins (2020), p. 399</ref>
Wyngarde was a close friend of the singer Morrissey. When asked in 2021 "What deceased personal friend do you miss the most?", Morrissey's answer was "Victoria Wood or Peter Wyngarde."<ref>"Turning the Inside Out" Morrissey Central, 5 July 2021, accessed 10 September 2025</ref> In his Autobiography (2013), he wrote about visiting Wyngarde's flat in Earls Terrace:
<templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
It's an Edwardian warren of clerical ferocity – a tornado of books and papers and swelling pyramids of typescripts, half-finished, half-begun. His voice is still of great clarity and sound, his eyes unchanged since that period known as his prime. But he is no longer on stage or television. Film generally tells us that people of Peter’s age don’t actually exist, or, if they do, they are hopelessly infirm and in the way of the main storyline. He sits before me as one who knew his duty and did it, beyond all praise, alive in the cinema of the mind.<ref>"Peter Wyngarde has died", Morrissey-solo.com, 18 January 2018, accessed 10 September 2025</ref>{{#if:|
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Death and legacy
Wyngarde died on 15 January 2018.<ref name="Guardiannotice">Actor Peter Wyngarde, star of Department S, dies aged 90", The Guardian, 18 January 2018, archived 18 January 2018</ref> His agent and manager, Thomas Bowington, said on Good Morning Scotland that he had been admitted to the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in October 2017 and had had a long illness.<ref>"Peter Wyndgarde: The Man Behind the Moustache", Good Morning Scotland – BBC Radio Scotland, 24 January 2018, accessed 10 September 2025</ref> He told Associated Press that "His mind was razor sharp until the end. He entertained that whole hospital."<ref>"British Actor Peter Wyngarde Dies in London Hospital Aged 90", The New York Times from Associated Press, 18 January 2018, archived at archive.org, accessed 10 September 2025</ref>
The funeral took place on 25 January at the Golders Green Crematorium, which has no limits on the form and content of the service. Two recordings of Wyngarde's voice were played, "Once Again (Flight Number 10)" from his album, and part of his solo performance of Samuel Beckett's A Piece of Monologue. The music included Annie Lennox's Love Song for a Vampire.<ref>Wyngarde-Hopkins (2020), pp. 503–504</ref>
Administration of Wyngarde's estate was granted in the Brighton probate registry on 23 April 2019,<ref>"WYNGARDE PETER PAUL Date of death 15 January 2018 Date of probate 23 April 2019 Probate number 1555582213203148 Document ADMINISTRATION Registry office Brighton", probatesearch.service.gov.uk, accessed 17 September 2025</ref> with two members of the Goldbert family appointed as administrators,<ref name=DE>"Deceased Estates Wyngarde Peter Paul (otherwise Cyril Goldbert)", The Gazette, 2 May 2019, accessed 10 September 2025</ref> seemingly against Wyngarde's wishes.<ref name="Legal Statement">"Legal Statement", HELLFIRE HALL, 14 May 2020 (dead link)</ref><ref name="peterwyngarde.wordpress.com">"A Life Amongst Strangers' Companion", The Hellfire Club, 27 February 2020, accessed 11 September 2025</ref> Tina Wyngarde-Hopkins's biography of Wyngarde and the Hellfire Club web site detail some disputes between the author and Wyngarde's administrators over his estate.<ref name=TWH>Tina Wyngarde-Hopkins, Peter Wyngarde: A Life Amongst Strangers (London: Austin Macauley Publishers, 2020)</ref><ref name="peterwyngarde.wordpress.com"/>
An auction of 250 items from the actor's estate took place on 26 March 2020 and included books, pictures, props used on stage, a snakeskin jacket and other clothes, photographs, jewellery, and Wyngarde's childhood teddy-bear.<ref name=Saleroom>"Peter Wyngarde - His Estate & Related Collections Auction on 26 March 2020 at 12:00 GMT, East Bristol Auctions, the-saleroom.com, accessed 23 April 2020</ref> All items were sold, and the auction fetched over £35,000.<ref>"Cult TV star Peter Wyngarde's snakeskin jacket sells at auction", BBC News, 27 March 2020, accessed 11 September 2025</ref> The trophy for Best Dressed Personality of 1970, a hallmarked silver figure of Beau Brummell, with a plaque reading "John Stephen Fashion Award – Peter Wyngarde – Best Dressed Personality – 1970", reached the highest sale price, with a winning bid of £2,200.<ref name=Saleroom/><ref name="theguardian1"/>
In National Review, under the heading "An International Man of Mystery", Andrew Stuttaford wrote <templatestyles src="Template:Blockquote/styles.css" />
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In popular culture
A comic-book character called "Mastermind" was created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for The X-Men in 1964. Inspired by the Avengers episode "A Touch of Brimstone", Chris Claremont and John Byrne later renamed Mastermind as "Jason Wyngarde", redesigning the character to resemble Wyngarde.<ref>Brian Cronin, "Comic Book Urban Legends Revealed: #44,", Comic Book Resources, 30 March 2006; archived 27 July 2013, Accessed 7 December 2008.</ref>
Mike Myers credited Wyngarde with inspiring the character of Austin Powers.<ref name=Herald>"Obituary – Peter Wyngarde, flamboyant actor known for Jason King and Flash Gordon", The Herald (Glasgow), 18 January 2018, accessed 10 September 2025</ref>
Biographies and appreciation societies
In 2012, a career biography of Wyngarde by Roger Langley, the organiser of Six of One, the appreciation society of The Prisoner television series, was published by Escape Books.<ref>Roger Langley, Peter Wyngarde: King of TV (Ipswich, Suffolk: Escape Books, 2012)</ref> A second edition of the book appeared in 2019.<ref>"Peter Wyngarde Biography", ESCAPE - Six of One The Prisoner Patrick McGoohan Portmeirion Web, undated, accessed 10 September 2025</ref>
Peter Wyngarde had an active fan club from the mid-1950s to 1985.<ref name=Hist>"HISTORY OF THE OFFICIAL PETER WYNGARDE APPRECIATION SOCIETY", peterwyngarde.uk, 13 May 2020, accessed 10 September 2025</ref> An appreciation society called the Hellfire Club was founded in 1992, with the actor's support,<ref name="archive.org">"THE HELLFIRE CLUB" (dead link), archived at archive.org, 14 September 2000, accessed 10 September 2025</ref> with Diana Rigg and Joel Fabiani among the members.<ref name=Hist/> At first, the members received a quarterly magazine by post, with Issue Number 1 dated January 1993, and Issue Number 28 dated Autumn 1999.<ref name=Hist/> This went online in October 1999<ref>"PETER'S LOVE AFFAIR WITH HIS FANS", Peterwyngarde.uk, 18 April 2017, accessed 10 September 2025</ref> and as of 2025 the web site is still regularly updated.<ref>"PETER WYNGARDE The Official Website: Site Index", undated, accessed 10 September 2025</ref>
In 2020, the organiser of the Hellfire Club published a biography of Wyngarde, drawing on personal knowledge of him and on hundreds of documents from an archive she had built up over some thirty years.<ref>Wyngarde-Hopkins, (2020), pp. 11–14 (Author's Introduction)</ref> In 2018, three weeks after his death, she had changed her surname from Bate to Wyngarde-Hopkins.<ref>Gavin Llewellyn, Stoneking Solicitors, Changes of Name", 8 February 2018, published in The Gazette, 10 July 2018, accessed 7 September 2025</ref> Steven Berkoff wrote "This is an intimate biography that is elegantly crafted, intensively researched, and presented with the utmost honour."<ref>"Peter Wyngarde: A Life Amongst Strangers", austinmacauley.com, 27 February 2020, accessed 15 September 2025</ref>
Films
- Dick Barton Strikes Back (1949) – soldier (uncredited)<ref name=DBSB>"REVIEW: Dick Barton Strikes Back!", The Hellfire Club, 22 May 2017, accessed 11 September 2025</ref>
- The Dybbuk, BBC movie based on the play by Shloyme Rappoport (October 1952) – Channon<ref>"Review: The Dybbuk", peterwyngarde.uk, 9 October 2022, accessed 26 September 2025</ref>
- Alexander the Great (1956) – Pausanias<ref name=bfi/>
- The Gambler, based on Dostoevsky's novel (BBC, August 1956) –Marquis des Grieux<ref name=Gambler/>
- The Widows of Jaffa (BBC, June 1957) – Mustafa, an Arab interpreter<ref name=Tanna/><ref name=Jaffa/>
- Ordeal by Fire (BBC, October 1957) – Jerome Taillard<ref name=Ordeal>"Elizabeth Sellars, Robert Eddison, Patrick Troughton and Peter Wyngarde in Ordeal By Fire", Portsmouth Evening News, Thursday 31 October 1957, pp. 4–5</ref>
- The Siege of Sidney Street (1960) – Peter<ref name=SSS>"The Siege of Sidney Street", Heart of Noir, undated, accessed 14 September 2025</ref>
- The Innocents (1961) – Peter Quint<ref name=Pulver>Andrew Pulver, "The Innocents: No 11 best horror film of all time", The Guardian, 22 October 2010, accessed 19 January 2018</ref>
- Night of the Eagle (1962) – Norman Taylor<ref>"Night of the Eagle (Burn, Witch, Burn! )", Rotten Tomatoes, 18 August 2015, accessed 13 September 2025</ref>
- Lucy in London, a television movie starring Lucille Ball (1966) – himself and Petruchio<ref name=Lucy>"Screening TV", The Philadelphia Inquirer, Vol. 275, Issue 117, 25 October 1966, p. 36, at Newspapers.com</ref>
- Himmel, Scheich und Wolkenbruch (1979) – Scheich Al-Abdullah<ref name=HSW>"Himmel, Scheich und Wolkenbruch", filmportal.de, undated, accessed 11 September 2025</ref>
- Flash Gordon (1980) – Klytus<ref name=FG>"From Jason King to Flash Gordon: Peter Wyngarde – a life in pictures", The Guardian, 18 January 2018, accessed 11 September 2025</ref>
- Tank Malling (1989, also released as Beyond Soho) – Sir Robert Knight<ref name=TM>CRUSADE: Jason gives up his hair to make a movie that matters", Sunday Mirror, Sunday 11 September 1988, p. 37</ref>
Television
- 1950s
- Sunday Night Theatre: "The Rope" (8 January 1950), as Charles Granillo<ref name=Rope/>
- Sunday Night Theatre: "As You Like It", in two parts (15 and 19 March 1953), as Silvius<ref>Kenneth Sprague Rothwell, Shakespeare on Screen: An International Filmography and Videography (Neal-Schuman, 1990), p. 36</ref>
- Sunday Night Theatre: "L'Aiglon" by Edmond Rostand (12 April 1953), as Prokesch<ref>"L'Aiglon", Radio Times, 11 April 1953, p. 14</ref>
- Sunday Night Theatre: "Will Shakespeare" by Clemence Dane (24 and 28 May 1953), as Will Shakespeare<ref>"TV drama Will Shakespeare by Clemence Dane", Kensington News and West London Times, Friday 22 May 1953, p. 3</ref>
- The Honourable History of Friar Bacon and Friar Bungay by Robert Greene, BBC Television (17 November 1953), as Earl of Lincoln<ref>"The Honourable History of Friar Bacon & Friar Bungay", Radio Times, Issue 1566,
15 November 1953, p. 26</ref>
- Sunday Night Theatre: "The Rose Without a Thorn" by Clifford Bax (27 and 31 December 1953), as Francis Derham<ref>"ROSE WITHOUT A THORN", Motherwell Times, Friday 18 December 1953, p. 17</ref>
- Liebelei, a full-length BBC Television play by Arthur Schnitzler (15 June 1954), as Fritz<ref name=Liebelei/><ref name=Liebelei2/>
- Stage by Stage: "The Relapse, or, Virtue in Danger" by John Vanbrugh (7 December 1954), as Worthy<ref>"TV AND RADIO", Liverpool Echo, Tuesday 7 December 1954, p. 6</ref>
- Terminus: "Hour of Decision" (4 June 1955), as Tommy Glen<ref>"Radio and Television", Coventry Evening Telegraph, Saturday 4 June 1955, p. 2</ref>
- Play of the Week: "The Salt Land" by Peter Shaffer (8 November 1955), as Arich<ref>"Viewing Guide", TV Times, Friday 4 November 1955, p. 3</ref>
- Jesus of Nazareth: "Preparing the Way" (12 February 1956), as John the Baptist<ref name=JC>"TV's eight plays on life of Christ", Irish Independent (Dublin), Thursday 2 February 1956, p. 9</ref>
- Nom-de-Plume: "The Man from the Sea" (18 May 1956), as Blunt<ref name=Sea>"Nom-De-Plume: 1: The Man from the Sea", bbc.co.uk, accessed 25 September 2025</ref>
- Nom-de-Plume: "Child of Her Time" by Ian Dallas (8 June 1956), as Monsieur Latouche<ref name=Child>"Nom-De-Plume: No. 4: Child of her Time", bbc.co.uk, accessed 25 September 2025</ref>
- Nom-de-Plume: "Elephants Don't Disappear" (31 August 1956), as Erich Weiss<ref name=Elephants>"Nom-De-Plume: 15: Elephants Don't Disappear", bbc.co.uk, accessed 25 September 2025</ref>
- ITV Television Playhouse: "The Bridge" (20 December 1956), as Major Marshall<ref name=Bridge/>
- Assignment Foreign Legion: "The Debt" by Max Ehrlich and A. R. Rawlinson (28 December 1956) as Lt. Charles Designe<ref>"ASSIGNMENT FOREIGN LEGION starring MERLE OBERON: THE DEBT by Max Ehrlich", TV Times, Friday 21 December 1956, p. 23</ref>
- Play of the Week: "An Enemy of the People" (20 March 1957), as Hovstad<ref name=Enemy>"Granada's “Play of the Week” on Wednesday", Huddersfield Daily Examiner, Friday 15 March 1957, p. 7</ref>
- ITV Television Playhouse: "Evening in Hochsberg" (4 April 1957), as Nicholas Florian<ref name=Lentz>Harris M. Lentz III, Obituaries in the Performing Arts, 2018
(McFarland, 30 May 2019), pp. 414–415</ref>
- A Tale of Two Cities, BBC television series adapted from Dickens by John Keir Cross, seven episodes (4 August to 15 September 1957), as Sydney Carton<ref name=Cities>"A Tale of Two Cities 8 The Footsteps Die Out (1957)" (dead link), archived 20 January 2018 at archive.org, British Film Institute, accessed 11 September 2025</ref>
- Overseas Press Club - Exclusive!: "The George Polk Story" (3 August 1957), as Andrea Bakolas<ref name=OPCE>"Overseas Press Club-Exclusive! (1957)" ctva.biz, accessed 13 September 2025</ref>
- Jack Hylton's Monday Show: "Hotel Riviera" (1957), as Young Maharajah<ref name=TelP>"Television Plays", peterwyngarde.uk, 18 June 2016, accessed 3 October 2025</ref>
- Sunday Night Theatre: "The English Family Robinson 4: Free Passage Home" by Iain MacCormick (17 November 1957), as Dr Bannerji<ref>"TELEVIEWS: 'Free Passage Home'", The Stage, Thursday 21 November 1957, p. 19</ref>
- ITV Television Playhouse: "Love Her to Death" (6 December 1957), as Lionel Collins<ref name=Love-her>"Tonight's Television and Radio", Coventry Evening Telegraph, Friday 6 December 1957, p. 2</ref>
- Armchair Theatre: "The Shining Hour" by Keith Winter (5 January 1958), as David Linden<ref name=Shining>"Studio Talk", The Stage, Thursday 19 December 1957, p. 6</ref>
- General Electric Theater: "Time to Go Now" (19 January 1958), as Raymond De Tresk<ref name=TelP/>
- Television World Theatre: "The Dark is Light Enough" by Christopher Fry (26 January 1958), as Richard Gettner<ref name=Dark>"The Dark is Light Enough", Daily Mirror, Saturday 25 January 1958, p. 15</ref>
- Sword of Freedom: "The Sicilian" by Ian McLellan Hunter (7 March 1958), as Colonna<ref>"SWORD OF FREEDOM", TV Times, Friday 31 January 1958, p. 37</ref><ref>"REVIEW: Sword of Freedom – ‘The Sicilian’", peterwyngarde.uk, 5 June 2017, accessed 4 October 2025</ref>
- The Adventures of Ben Gunn, from a novel by R. F. Delderfield, all six episodes (1 June to 6 July 1958), as Long John Silver<ref name=Gunn>"REVIEW: The Adventures of Ben Gunn", peterwyngarde.uk, 29 June 2016, accessed 19 January 2018</ref>
- Sunday Night Theatre: "The Royal Family of Broadway" (3 August 1958), as Anthony Cavendish<ref>"OUR VIEW: 'THE ROYAL FAMILY OF BROADWAY' BBC-TV", The Stage, Thursday 7 August 1958, p. 6</ref>
- Play of the Week: "The Education of Mr. Surrage" (20 January 1959), as Geoffrey Valance<ref>'TODAY'S PROGRAMMES", Daily News (London), Tuesday 20 January 1959, p. 3</ref>
- Epilogue to Capricorn: three episodes (October to December 1959), as Peter Vauxhall<ref>"Star Part for Richard Johnson", The Stage, Thursday 29 October 1959, p. 1</ref>
- Play of the Week: Engineer Extraordinary, Television Wales and the West (18 November 1959), as Isambard Kingdom Brunel<ref name=Engineer>"Wyngarde says: I jumped at the chance", TV Times, Friday 13 November 1959, p. 23</ref>
- Play of the Week: "South", based on a play by Julien Green (24 November 1959), as Lieutenant Jan Wicziewsky<ref name=Brown/><ref name=South>"Banned play for television", The Stage, Thursday 19 November 1959, p. 9</ref>
- 1960s
- Granada Television's On Trial: "Sir Roger Casement" (8 July 1960), as Sir Roger Casement<ref name=Casement/>
- Play of the Week: "Negative Evidence" (7 February 1961), as Major Peter Brayling<ref>"Peter Wyngarde and Susan Maryott star in Granada's Play of the Week “Negative Evidence” to-night at 9-35", Isle of Man Daily Times, Tuesday 7 February 1961, p. 19</ref>
- One Step Beyond: "Nightmare" (1961), as Paul Roland<ref>"ONE STEP BEYOND presents PETER WYNGARDE and MARY PEACH in NIGHTMARE", TV Times, Friday 1 December 1961, p. 31</ref>
- BBC Sunday-Night Play: "Loyalties" by John Galsworthy (29 April 1962), as Ferdinand de Levis<ref name=Loyalties>"WEEK-END PLAYBILL", Liverpool Echo, Saturday 28 April 1962, p. 2</ref>
- Armchair Theatre: "Night Conspirators", by Robert Muller (6 May 1962), as Werner Loder<ref name=NC/>
- Out of This World: "Cold Equations" (14 July 1962), as Captain Martin Barton<ref name=Times/><ref name=OOTW>"REVIEW: Out of this World – ‘Cold Equations’", Peterwyngarde.uk, 3 January 2017, accessed 15 September 2025</ref>
- About Religion: "Dinner with the Devil" by Christopher Hollis (23 December 1962)<ref>"About Religion Peter WYNGARDE in Dinner with the Devil by CHRISTOPHER HOLLIS", TV Times, Friday 21 December 1962, p. 19</ref>
- Play of the Week: "Darkness at Noon" by Arthur Koestler and Sidney Kingsley (15 January 1963), as Gletkin<ref>"PLAY OF THE WEEK Albert Lieven Peter Wyngarde Catharine Blake and David Davies in Darkness at Noon", Peterborough Evening Telegraph, Tuesday 15 January 1963, p. 2</ref>
- Play of the Week: "Camino Real" by Tennessee Williams and Hugh Leonard (27 January 1964), as Casanova<ref>"Peter Wyngarde plays Casanova", Daily Mirror, Monday 27 January 1964, p. 14</ref>
- Play of the Week – A Midsummer Night's Dream (24 June 1964), as Oberon<ref name=MND>"A Midsummer Night's Dream" (article), TV Times for 21–27 June 1964, p. 10</ref>
- Play of the Week: "A Choice of Coward, 1 – Present Laughter" (10 August 1964), as Garry Essendine<ref>"IN “Present Laughter,” Noël Coward tells of the hectic, histrionic life of actor Garry Essendine", TV Times, Friday 7 August 1964, p. 5</ref>
- Rupert of Hentzau: six episodes (19 April to 24 May 1964) as Rupert of Hentzau<ref name=Rupert>"TV Versions of 'The Prisoner of Zenda' & 'Rupert of Hentzau'", Silverwhistle.co.uk, accessed 19 January 2018</ref>
- R3: "The Forum" (2 January 1965), as Dr Henri Lefevbre<ref name=Forum>"Week-end Television and Radio",
Coventry Evening Telegraph, Saturday 2 January 1965, p. 2</ref>
- Play of the Week: "The Rules of the Game" by Luigi Pirandello (15 February 1965), as Guido<ref name=Rules>"Anthony Quayle, Peter Wyngarde and Gwen Watford in 'The Rules of the Game', Play of the Week", TV Times, Thursday 11 February 1965, p. 37</ref>
- Sherlock Holmes in "The Illustrious Client" (20 February 1965) as Baron Grüner<ref name=Client>Alan Barnes, Sherlock Holmes on Screen, (Titan Books, 2011, Template:ISBN), p. 190</ref>
- Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Color: "The Further Adventures of Gallegher: A Case of Murder" (26 September 1965), as Sir Richard Westerby<ref>"REVIEW: Walt Disney's Wonderful World of Colour: The Further Adventures of Gallagher", peterwyngarde.uk, 19 December 2016, accessed 5 October 2025</ref>
- Festival: "Ashes to Ashes" by Marc Brandel (2 February 1966)
- The Avengers: "A Touch of Brimstone" (19 February 1966) as Cartney<ref>"The Avengers Forever: Peter Wyngarde", theavengers.tv, accessed 19 January 2018</ref><ref name=bfi/>
- The Man in Room 17: "First Steal Six Eggs" (29 April 1966), as Paul Panacek<ref>"THE MAN IN ROOM 17 Richard Vernon Denholm Elliott in First Steal Six Eggs with Peter Wyngarde Judy Parfitt Amber Kammer", Peterborough Evening Telegraph, Friday 29 April 1966, p. 2</ref>
- The Saint: "The Man Who Liked Lions" (18 November 1966), as Tiberio Magadino<ref name=Tiberio>"THE SAINT: The Man Who Liked Lions", Daily Express, Saturday 26 November 1966, p. 12</ref><ref name=Billen/>
- The Baron: "The Legions of Ammak" (30 November 1966), as King Ibrahim and Ronald Noyes<ref>"The Baron starring Steve Forrest as The Baron in The Legions of Ammak, Peter Wyngarde as King Ibrahim / Roland Noyes", TV Times, Thursday 2 June 1966, p. 23</ref>
- Turn Out the Lights: "The Boyhood Haunt" (January 1967), as Richard Merlin<ref>"TURN OUT THE LIGHTS: Arthur Lowe, Robert Dorning, Peter Wyngarde in The Boyhood Haunt", Daily Express, Monday 2 January 1967, p. 10</ref>
- ITV Play of the Week: "The Crossfire" (7 February 1967), as Hugo de Croissillon<ref>"The Crossfire", TV Times, Saturday 4 February 1967, p. 35</ref>
- The Avengers: "Epic" (1967), as Stewart Kirby<ref name=Epic>"Epic: Steed Catches a Falling Star, Emma Makes a Movie", theavengers.tv, accessed 13 September 2025</ref>
- The Saint: "The Gadic Collection" (24 June 1967), as Turen<ref name=Gadic>"YOUR RADIO and TV To-night", Reading Evening Post, Saturday 24 June 1967, p. 4: "The Saint: The Gadic Collection. Guest stars Peter Wyngarde, Georgia Brown"</ref>
- Love Story: "It's a long way to Transylvania" (7 September 1967), as Konrad von Kroll<ref name=Transylvania>"Peter behind gruesome masks", The Stage, Thursday 17 August 1967, p. 13</ref>
- I Spy: "Let's Kill Karlovassi" (11 September 1967), as George<ref name=ISpy>"I SPY: LET'S KILL KARLOVASSI", Paley Center, accessed 19 September 2025</ref>
- The Revenue Men: "The Exile" by N. J. Crisp (3 November 1967), as General Daniel<ref>"The Revenue Men, Drama series about the Customs and Excise Service", Shropshire Star, Friday 3 November 1967, p. 7</ref>
- The Troubleshooters: "A Nice White Girl – Is She For Sale?" (17 November 1967) as Sheik Mohammed bin Falik<ref name=Trouble>"The BBC produces more in colour now four-fifths of output", The Stage, Thursday 9 November 1967, p. 11: "A touch of the Middle East for the next story in The Troubleshooters (BBC- 1) A Nice White Girl – Is She For Sale? on Friday, November 17. Peter Wyngarde plays a desert sheikh who tries to buy a white girl when one of the Mogul men meets him to negotiate oil rights."</ref>
- Scottish Television's Scottish Playbill : "The Queen of Scots" (29 November 1967), as William Maitland of Lethington<ref>"Must the BBC always be the explorers?", The Stage, Thursday 16 November 1967, p. 14</ref>
- The Prisoner: "Checkmate" (December 1967) as Number Two<ref name=Prisoner>"The Prisoner: Checkmate", Bristol Evening Post, Saturday 2 December 1967, p. 4</ref>
- The Champions: "The Invisible Man" (1968), as Dr John Hallam<ref name=Champions/>
- Department S (28 episodes, 1969–1970), as Jason King<ref name=bfi/>
- 1970s
- Jason King (26 episodes, 1971–1972), as Jason King<ref name=bfi/>
- 1980s
- The Queen Special, a film for television to promote Queen's albums "The Game" and "Flash Gordon" (8 November 1980), as Klytus / Narrator<ref name=Queen>"The Queen Special 1980", trakt.tv, accessed 18 September 2025</ref>
- Crown Court: "The Son of His Father", Parts 1, 2, and 3 (17, 18, and 19 January 1984), as Charles Marchington QC<ref name=CC>"LONDON ITV", Daily Express, Tuesday 17 January 1984, p. 18</ref>
- Doctor Who: "Planet of Fire", Parts 1, 2, 3, and 4 (23 February to 2 March 1984), as Timanov<ref name=Planet/>
- Hammer House of Mystery and Suspense: "And the Wall Came Tumbling Down" (19 November 1984), as Daniel Haswill and General Haswill<ref name=Hammer/>
- The Two Ronnies: "1984 Christmas Special" (25 December 1984), as Sir Guy<ref name=2Ronnies>"The Two Ronnies", Liverpool Echo, Monday 24 December 1984, p. 18: "Joining Barker and Corbett for this film ballad about a couple of medieval twisters, are Peter Wyngarde as Sir Guy and new TV face Michael Cantwell as the Minstrel."</ref>
- Bulman: "I Met a Man Who Wasn't There" (1985), as Gallio<ref name=Bulman>"COULD Jason King make a comeback? If Peter Wyngarde has his way he certainly could." Liverpool Echo, Saturday 10 August 1985, p. 16</ref>
- The Comic Strip Presents...: "The Yob" (12 March 1988), as Mr Kendal<ref>"THE COMIC STRIP PRESENTS THE YOB", Liverpool Daily Post, Saturday 12 March 1988, p. 17</ref>
- 1990s
- Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes in "The Three Gables" (1994), as Langdale Pike<ref name=3G>Ian Smith, "REVIEW: The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes – ‘The Three Gables’", peterwyngarde.uk, 27 March 2017, accessed 10 September 2025</ref>
- The Lenny Henry Show: "The Lenny Henry Christmas Special" (December 1994), as Mr Bad<ref name=Lenny>"THE LENNY HENRY CHRISTMAS SPECIAL", Birmingham Weekly Mercury, Sunday 11 December 1994, p. 138</ref>
- 2000s
- After They Were Famous, with Emlyn Hughes (2 November 2002) as himself<ref name=After/>
- Dee Time on Channel 4, with Simon Dee (January 2004), as himself<ref name=Dee/>
- 2010s
- Timeshift: "How to Be Sherlock Holmes: The Many Faces of a Master Detective" (December 2013), as himself<ref name=Timeshift/>
- It was Alright in the... for Channel 4 (2015), as himself<ref name=Alright/>
Notes
References
Further reading
- Roger Langley, Peter Wyngarde: King of TV (Ipswich: Escape Books, 2012)
- Tina Wyngarde-Hopkins, Peter Wyngarde: A Life Amongst Strangers (London: Austin Macauley Publishers, 2020, Template:ISBN )
External links
- Peter Wyngarde: The Official Website
- Peter Wyngarde at the British Film Institute
- [https://www.imdb.com/{{#if: 0943936
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- {{#if:Peter Wyngarde|Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at Discogs|{{#if:Template:Wikidata|Template:Wikidata Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at DiscogsTemplate:EditAtWikidata|Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at Discogs}}}}
- Matthew Bannister, "The Last Word: Rick Jolly, Dolores O'Riordan, Cyrille Regis, Jenny Joseph, Peter Wyngarde" (BBC Radio 4, 21 January 2018)
- Films, television, and records online
- The Siege of Sidney Street (1960), YouTube
- ITV Play of the Week: Present Laughter by Noël Coward (1964), YouTube
- The Baron: The Legions of Ammak (30 November 1966), YouTube
- ITV Play of the Week: The Crossfire (7 February 1967), YouTube
- The Champions: The Invisible Man (2 October 1968), YouTube
- Jason King 1: Wanna Buy a Television Series (15 September 1971), YouTube
- Jason King 2: A Page Before Dying (22 September 1971), YouTube
- Jason King 3: Buried in the Cold, Cold Ground (6 October 1971), YouTube
- Jason King 4: A Deadly Line in Digits (13 October 1971), YouTube
- Jason King 5: Variations on a Theme (20 October 1971), YouTube
- Jason King 6: As Easy as A.B.C. (27 October 1971), YouTube
- Jason King 13: The Constance Missal (12 January 1972), YouTube
- Jason King 15: Nadine (2 February 1972), YouTube
- Jason King 16: A Kiss for a Beautiful Killer (9 February 1972), YouTube
- Jason King 23: Chapter One: The Company I Keep (7 April 1972), YouTube
- "Russell Harty interviews Peter Wyngarde and Sally Anne Howes (1973)", YouTube
- The Two Ronnies with Peter Wyngarde (25 December 1984), YouTube
- "Peter Wyngarde Album" (1970/1998), YouTube
- Pages with broken file links
- IBDB name template using Wikidata
- IBDB name template missing ID and not in Wikidata
- 1920s births
- 2018 deaths
- Age controversies
- Year of birth uncertain
- 20th-century British male actors
- British bisexual male actors
- British male film actors
- British male television actors
- Male actors from London
- RCA Records artists
- World War II civilian prisoners held by Japan