German born, British actor Peter Gilmore died in London
Sunday February 3, 2013. Gilmore was born in the German city of Leipzig on
August 25, 1931. At the age of six, he moved to Nunthorpe, near Middlesbrough,
where he was raised by relatives, later attending the Friends' school in Great
Ayton, north Yorkshire. From the age of 14 he worked in a factory, but later
studied at Rada. While undertaking national service in 1950 he discovered a
talent for singing and after his discharge joined singing groups who performed
all over the country.
During the 1950s and 60s he became a stalwart of British
stage musicals, appearing in several largely unsuccessful shows, including one
called Hooray for Daisy! in which he was the chief human in a drama about a
pantomime cow. He even released a single in 1960 as a spin-off from his
performance in Follow That Girl, Susan Hampshire's only foray into musicals. In
1958 he appeared on the pop program Cool for Cats, where he met the actress Una
Stubbs [1937- ], then one of the Dougie Squires Dancers, who were weekly tasked
with interpreting hit songs in movement. The couple were married from 1958
until 1969.
His success at this time in British and US TV commercials
led him to be cast in comedies, with 11 appearances in Carry On films, two of
which – Carry On Jack (1963) and Carry On Cleo (1964) – gave him early nautical
roles. In 1970 he married Jan Waters [1937- ], with whom he starred in both
stage and television productions of The Beggar's Opera, he playing the
highwayman Captain Macheath.
The Onedin Line brought Gilmore the fame that had eluded
him. In 1976, he and Jan divorced and he started living with Anne Stallybrass
[1938- ], whom he married in 1987. In 1984 a new generation of viewers saw
Gilmore as Brazen, the security chief of a distant human colony called Frontios
in Doctor Who's 21st series. Brazen died heroically while helping the Doctor
escape. Gilmore made his last stage appearance in 1987 in Michael Frayn's
Noises Off and his last screen one in the 1996 television movie On Dangerous
Ground.
Peter Gilmore appeared in only one Euro-western, Carry on
Cowboy (1965) in the role of Curly.
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