Peter Bowles: who was To the Manor Born actor as he dies at 85 - and what other TV shows did he star in?

Bowles passed away after a battle with cancer
Peter Bowles & Fiona Fullerton in Pygmalion at CFT in 1994 (Photo: John Timbers) Peter Bowles & Fiona Fullerton in Pygmalion at CFT in 1994 (Photo: John Timbers)
Peter Bowles & Fiona Fullerton in Pygmalion at CFT in 1994 (Photo: John Timbers)

Peter Bowles, an English television actor, has died aged 85.

The To the Manor Born actor appeared in hundreds of film, TV and theatre productions over the course of his career.

This is what you need to know about his life and career.

Who was Peter Bowles?

Peter Bowles was born in London, in 1936.

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Amid World War II, Bowles’s father worked as chauffeur at Rolls-Royce in Nottingham, where the family lived in a small house.

Bowles attended Mapperley Plains Primary School.

He then attended the Nottingham High Pavement Grammar School where he later won a scholarship to train as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA).

Bowles began a career in theatre in 1956, with the Old Vic Company - where he played supporting roles in Shakespeare’s Macbeth, Romeo and Juliet, Troilus and Cressida, and Richard II.

How did he die?

Bowles died at age 85 after a battle with cancer.

The actor’s agent, Gavin Barker, said he "sadly passed away" on Thursday 17 March.

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He leaves behind his wife of over 60 years, Sue, and their three children Guy, Adam and Sasha.

What was To the Manor Born?

First airing in 1979, To the Manor Born follows the love-hate relationship between Audrey Forbes-Hamilton ( Penelope Keith) and Richard DeVere (Peter Bowles).

DeVere is a newly rich businessman who buys Forbes-Hamilton’s manor house when she can longer afford it.

Bowles played DeVere in all three seasons of the BBC television sitcom.

What other TV shows and films did Peter Bowles star in?

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Upon leaving RADA, he was told that he would never play an Englishman because of his  swarthy looks - and in his early career, he did usually play foreign, villains.

His first major English role wasn’t until 1978, when he played Guthrie Featherstone in Rumpole of the Bailey.

A great turning point in Bowles’ career was his theatre performance in Running Late, as it was seen by Sir Peter Hall, who over the next 20 years chose Bowles for several leading roles in the West End.

Bowles is most famed for his successful role as Richard DeVere in To the Manor Born - which had over 20 million views for all 21 episodes.

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However, the BBC told Bowles that his success in comedy meant that he would never work in drama again - so Bowles devised a drama series called Lytton’s Diary,which he sold to ITV.

Whilst starring in Lytton’s Diary, he was offered the role of Major Yeates in Channel 4’s The Irish R.M series.

In 1991, Bowles went to the BBC with an idea for a dramatic film - Running Late.

This was Bowles’ first performance on BBC Television since To the Manor Born, a decade earlier.

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The film went on to win The Golden Gate Award in 1993 at the San Francisco International Film Festival.

He has also featured in many other films, including The Informers (1963), Laughter in the Dark (1969), Eyewitness (1970), Taste of Excitement (1970), A Day in the Death of Joe Egg (1972), The Offence (1972),The Legend of Hell House (1973), For the Love of Benji (1977), The Disappearance (1977), and The Bank Job (2008).

His most recent TV appearance was in the award-winning ITV series, Victoria which he starred in between 2016 and 2019 in the role of the Duke of Wellington.

From our sister title, SussexWorld: Remembering Peter Bowles and his perfect parting shot

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