Peter Vaughan

British actor Peter Vaughan enjoyed an especially distinguished career over nearly six decades, making his screen debut in Alfred Hitchcock's "The 39 Steps," and ending it on HBO's juggernaut "Game of Thrones." Born Peter Ewart Ohm on April 4, 1923, in Wem, Shropshire, UK, before his family moved to nearby Wellington. He first developed a taste for acting when reciting a poem to his elementary school class. As a teenager, he joined the Wolverhampton Repertory Theater; he was an experienced stage actor by the time World War II struck. He served Britain as a second lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Signals, seeing combat in Normandy, Belgium, and the Far East. After the war, he decided to return to acting, taking on the stage name Vaughan. His first film role was an uncredited turn as a police officer in Alfred Hitchcock's thriller "The 39 Steps" (1959). A few years of similarly small parts followed, until he scored the lead role in a b-noir picture called "Smokescreen" (1964). British critics panned his performance in "The Naked Runner" (1967) alongside Frank Sinatra. Following a small role in Sam Peckinpah's controversial thriller "Straw Dogs" (1971), Vaughan made his television debut on the sitcom "Porridge" (BBC One, 1974-77) as "Genial" Harry Grout. Though he only appeared on three episodes and the 1979 film adaptation, this would prove to be one of Vaughan's most popular roles in the UK. He went on to co-star in the 1980 adaptation of "The French Lieutenant's Woman," alongside Meryl Streep and Jeremy Irons, before taking part in Bill Murray's adaptation of the W. Somerset Maugham novel "The Razor's Edge" (1984). Vaughan maintained his presence on British TV, co-starring in an adaptation of "Bleak House" (BBC, 1985), while also appearing in Terry Gilliam's "Time Bandits" (1981) and "Brazil" (1985). Vaughan took on his biggest film role as the father of Anthony Hopkins' stoic butler in the Merchant-Ivory production "The Remains of the Day" (1993). His most acclaimed television role followed, with a highly acclaimed turn as an Alzheimer's patient in "Our Friends in the North" (BBC Two, 1996). Vaughan's most high profile role was also his last: from 2011 to 2015 he portrayed Maester Aemon on "Game of Thrones" (HBO, 2011-). Peter Vaughan died on December 6, 2016, at the age of 93.