Peter Barkworth

Peter Wynn Barkworth was an English actor born on 14 January 1929 in Margate, Kent. Shortly after his birth, his family relocated to Bramhall in Cheshire, where he was educated at Stockport School. Despite his headmaster's encouragement to pursue university, Barkworth was committed to a career on the stage, and in 1946 he earned a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He subsequently spent several years in repertory theatre, working in Folkestone with the Arthur Brough company and in Sheffield. From the mid-1950s through the early 1960s, he returned to RADA as a teacher of acting technique.

Barkworth made his Broadway appearance in 1963 in the play The School for Scandal. His stage work extended to the West End, where he appeared in numerous productions, including a notable turn as Edward VIII in Royce Ryton's Crown Matrimonial alongside Wendy Hiller at the Haymarket Theatre in 1972. He reprised the role on television two years later and again on stage in 1975, earning a nomination for the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy Performance in 1976. He also created a one-man show drawn from the work of Siegfried Sassoon.

On television, Barkworth built a distinguished career spanning four decades. He is perhaps most closely associated with the BBC series Telford's Change, broadcast in 1979, in which he played Mark Telford, a senior banking executive who leaves his London life behind to start over in Dover. The series drew an audience of seven million viewers weekly and co-starred Hannah Gordon and Keith Barron. Barkworth twice received the BAFTA TV Award for Best Actor, first in 1975 for Crown Matrimonial and again in 1978 for his performances in Professional Foul and The Country Party. Among his many other television credits, he played Vincent in the World War II drama series Manhunt on LWT, which ran from January to June 1970, and appeared as Leader Clent in the Doctor Who serial The Ice Warriors in 1967. That same year he appeared in multiple episodes of The Avengers. He played a recurring character in the 1965 boardroom drama The Power Game and appeared as Martin Hewitt in The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes. His television work also included Melissa in 1974, Secret Army in 1977, Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years in 1981, in which he portrayed Stanley Baldwin, and the serials The Price and Late Starter, both broadcast in 1985. In 1988 he took a leading guest role in a Sherlock Holmes adaptation of the Arthur Conan Doyle story Silver Blaze, and in 1993 he appeared opposite Michael Gambon, a former student of his at RADA, in the Maigret episode Maigret and the Minister. Telford's Change, The Price, and Late Starter were all developed from Barkworth's own original ideas.

His film career began in 1959 with A Touch of Larceny and included roles in No Love for Johnnie in 1961, Two a Penny in 1967, Where Eagles Dare in 1968, Patton in 1970, Escape from the Dark in 1976, International Velvet in 1978, and Champions in 1983. His final screen appearance came in the 1997 film Wilde, after which he retired from acting.

Beyond performing, Barkworth served as a member of the Council at RADA for sixteen years during the 1980s and 1990s. He authored About Acting, a book frequently recommended to both students and professional actors, and edited For All Occasions: A Selection of Poems, Prose and Party Pieces, published in 1997. He was also an avid collector of primarily British art, and upon his death he bequeathed his collection of paintings to the National Trust, where they are displayed at Fenton House in Hampstead. The collection includes two small works by Constable, several paintings by artists of the Camden Town Group, and numerous watercolours.

Barkworth lived in Hampstead for many years. He died on 21 October 2006 at the Royal Free Hospital in London from bronchopneumonia, ten days after suffering a stroke. He was survived by his partner, David Wyn Jones. Stockport College named a theatre in his honour.