Trevor Peacock

Trevor Edward Peacock (19 May 1931 – 8 March 2021) was an English actor and songwriter born in Tottenham, London, the son of Victor and Alexandra Peacock. His father was a Baptist lay preacher. From childhood Peacock was drawn to performance, taking part in school plays and attending films despite his parents' prohibition on cinema-going. Before pursuing acting professionally, he worked for several years as a teacher in north London, with posts at Cuckoo Hall School in Edmonton and Carterhatch Junior School in Enfield.

Peacock's stage career was extensive and spanned several decades. He played Estragon in Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot for the Century Theatre, Manchester, directed by Michael Elliott in 1967, and Tony Lumpkin in She Stoops to Conquer at the same venue in 1969, a production that subsequently transferred to the Garrick Theatre in London. He appeared as Clov in Beckett's Endgame for the Century Theatre in 1973, which also transferred to London's Shaw Theatre. In the 1970s he became a member of the Royal Shakespeare Company, taking on comic roles such as Silence and Feste alongside more serious parts, and during the 1990s he appeared in several National Theatre productions.

His Broadway debut came in 1974, when he originated the role of Sidney Prime in the RSC production of Sherlock Holmes, which had previously played at the Aldwych Theatre in London before opening at the Broadhurst Theatre on Broadway. Peacock was particularly associated throughout his career with the Royal Exchange in Manchester, where he performed in numerous productions from the theatre's opening in 1976 and also wrote several shows for the company. Among the roles he played there were Willy Loman in Death of a Salesman in 1985 and Henry Horatio Hobson in Hobson's Choice in 2003. He returned to the RSC in 2006 to play Giles Cory in The Crucible, directed by Dominic Cooke at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon.

On television, Peacock became widely recognized for playing Jim Trott in the BBC comedy series The Vicar of Dibley, a role he held from 1994 to 2007. His other television credits included Rouault in Madame Bovary opposite Keith Barron, Quilp in The Old Curiosity Shop, Old Bailey in Neverwhere, and appearances in EastEnders, Jonathan Creek, Between the Lines, The Thin Blue Line, and My Family, among many others. He played resistance leader Renard in LWT's Wish Me Luck and appeared as Captain Zero in Last of the Summer Wine in 1990. In 1964 he appeared with The Beatles in the television special Around the Beatles, playing Peter Quince in the Pyramus and Thisbe scene from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

Peacock had a substantial presence in BBC Television Shakespeare productions, taking the title role in Titus Andronicus, Feste in Twelfth Night, and Lord Talbot and Jack Cade in the two parts of Henry VI. On film, he served as the Gravedigger in Franco Zeffirelli's 1990 Hamlet, appeared as Old Joe in the 1999 Patrick Stewart version of A Christmas Carol, and played the Innkeeper in the 2000 television film of Don Quixote. In 2012 he played George in Quartet, a British comedy-drama film. He also wrote the screenplay for He Who Rides a Tiger, starring Tom Bell and Judi Dench in her debut film role.

As a songwriter, Peacock wrote "Mrs Brown, You've Got a Lovely Daughter," which Herman's Hermits recorded and took to number one on the US Billboard Hot 100 in May 1965, having previously reached number one in Canada. Among his other songwriting credits were "Mystery Girl" recorded by Jess Conrad, "Made You" by Adam Faith, "Gossip Calypso" by Bernard Cribbins, "Stick Around" by Billy Fury, and songs recorded by Joe Brown. He also wrote lyrics for several hit singles by The Vernons Girls and contributed lyrics to the musical Passion Flower Hotel, with music by John Barry, and to a musical based on the Andy Capp newspaper cartoon strip, with music by Alan Price.

Peacock married Iris Jones in 1957; that marriage ended in divorce. In 1979 he married actress Tilly Tremayne. He had two sons, actors Daniel Peacock and Harry Peacock, and two daughters, Sally and Maudie. His daughter-in-law is actress Katherine Parkinson, who is married to Harry. Peacock died on 8 March 2021.