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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
May 20, 1915
Died
October 7, 2008
Place of Birth
Bushey, Hertfordshire, England, UK
Also Known As
- Peter Francis Gabain Copley
Peter Copley
0.5 Popularity
Biography
Peter Copley (20 May 1915 – 7 October 2008) was an English television, film and stage actor. Copley was born in Bushey, Hertfordshire, son of the printmakers, John Copley and Ethel Gabain. After changing his mind about joining the Royal Navy, he studied at the Old Vic School and started out as a stage actor in 1932. He made his first film appearance in 1934, going on to play a wide variety of characters from the villainous to the meek and mild. In 1946, he appeared on stage in "Cyrano de Bergerac" at the New Theatre in London. In 1951 he appeared at the Duchess Theatre in London's West End in the comedy play The Happy Family by Michael Clayton Hutton. TV credits include: Thorndyke, Danger Man, The Saint, The Avengers, The Forsyte Saga, The Troubleshooters, The Champions, Department S, Doomwatch, Z-Cars, Fall of Eagles, Survivors, Bless Me, Father (episode "A Legend Comes to Stay"), Father Brown (episode "The Curse of the Golden Cross"), Doctor Who (in the serial "Pyramids of Mars"), Sutherland's Law, Tales of the Unexpected, Miss Marple (episode "Nemesis"), Lovejoy, The Bill, Cadfael, The Diamond Brothers: South by South East and One Foot in the Grave. Copley continued to act well into his nineties. A resident of Bristol, Copley was awarded an Honorary Degree of Master of Arts by the University of the West of England in 2001.
Known For
6.7
Greyhald Spold
The Colour of Magic
2008
9.0
Patron
Riot at the Rite
2005
6.7
Dining Hall Master
Oliver Twist
2005
7.7
Colonel Colin Ingate
The Last Detective
2003
4.8
Sean's Father
Janice Beard 45 WPM
1999
7.5
Eric
Jonathan Creek
1997
0.0
Abbot Heribert
Monk's Hood
1994
0.0
Abbot Heribert
The Leper of St. Giles
1994
0.0
Abbot Heribert
The Sanctuary Sparrow
1994
7.4
Abbot Heribert
Cadfael
1994
Credits
The Colour of Magic
as Greyhald Spold
2008
6.7
Riot at the Rite
as Patron
2005
9.0
Oliver Twist
as Dining Hall Master
2005
6.7
The Last Detective
as Colonel Colin Ingate
2003
7.7
Janice Beard 45 WPM
as Sean's Father
1999
4.8
Jonathan Creek
as Eric
1997
7.5
Monk's Hood
as Abbot Heribert
1994
0.0
The Leper of St. Giles
as Abbot Heribert
1994
0.0
The Sanctuary Sparrow
as Abbot Heribert
1994
0.0
Cadfael
as Abbot Heribert
1994
7.4
One Corpse Too Many
as Abbot Heribert
1994
0.0
A Dangerous Man: Lawrence After Arabia
as Maitland
1992
6.4
One Foot in the Grave
1990
7.6
Agatha Christie's Poirot
as Burgoyne
1989
8.2
The Importance of Being Earnest
as Gribsby
1988
4.7
Empire of the Sun
as British Prisoner
1987
7.5
🎬
Never Say Die
1987
0.0
The Trial of Klaus Barbie
as Frossard
1987
0.0
Casualty
as Dan Woods
1986
6.1
Casualty
as Hugh Phipps
1986
6.1
King of the Ghetto
as Vicar
1986
6.0
Lovejoy
as Harold Richards
1986
7.3
🎬
Theatre Night
as Gribsby
1985
0.0
The Prisoner of Zenda
as Marshal Strakencz
1984
6.0
The Bill
1984
6.7
Androcles and the Lion
as Caesar
1984
0.0
Witness for the Prosecution
as Dr. Harrison
1982
6.3
United Kingdom
as Commissioner
1981
0.0
The Chinese Detective
1981
7.2
Little Lord Fauntleroy
as Reverend Muldaur
1980
7.4
Rabbit Pie Day
as The Colonel
1980
0.0
Churchill and the Generals
as Gen. Sir John Dill
1979
0.0
Tales of the Unexpected
as Man at Railway Station
1979
6.7
The Black Panther
1977
5.6
Anna Karenina
1977
6.0
The New Avengers
as Prof. Waterlow
1976
7.0
Bill Brand
as Cedric Maddocks
1976
6.3
Shout at the Devil
as Admiral Howe
1976
6.0
Hennessy
as Home Secretary
1975
4.7
Doctor Who: Pyramids of Mars
as Dr. Warlock
1975
8.9
Survivors
as Dr. Bronson
1975
8.0
Sky
1975
5.5
🎬
The Venturers
1975
0.0
Father Brown
1974
6.6
Fall of Eagles
as Bethmann-Hollweg
1974
6.9
Beyond Our Means
as Dr. Charteris
1973
0.0
Gawain and the Green Knight
as Pilgrim
1973
4.6
Arthur of the Britons
1972
7.3
That's Your Funeral
as 1st Funeral Director
1972
2.3
Crown Court
as Sir Peter Cutforth
1972
5.4
Crown Court
as His Honour Judge Edmonds
1972
5.4
The Long Chase
as Morrison
1972
0.0
What Became of Jack and Jill?
as Dickson
1972
4.3
🎬
The Regiment
1972
1.0
Justice
as Wigmore
1971
6.0
🎬
You're Only Young Twice
1971
0.0
Jane Eyre
as John
1970
7.1
Doomwatch
as Admiral Sir Richard Tranton
1970
6.0
Manhunt
as Martin
1970
6.5
Paul Temple
1969
7.0
Department S
as The Auctioneer
1969
5.0
🎬
Walk a Crooked Path
1969
2.7
Mosquito Squadron
as Mr. Scott
1969
5.4
Tower of London: The Innocent
as Archbishop
1969
6.0
The Gold Robbers
as Asst. Commissioner Farr
1969
6.7
Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed
as Principal
1969
6.3
All at Sea
as Mr. Gordon
1969
0.0
The Shoes of the Fisherman
as English Cardinal #1
1968
6.7
The Champions
as Antrobus
1968
6.2
The Expert
as Hillard
1968
10.0
Quatermass and the Pit
as Howell
1967
6.6
Callan
1967
7.0
🎬
The Investigation
as Counsel for the Prosecution
1967
0.0
The Informer
as Richard Edwards
1966
0.0
🎬
The Devil's Eggshell
as The Home Secretary
1966
0.0
🎬
Don't Utter a Note
as Vicar
1966
0.0
BBC Play of the Month
as The Home Inspector
1965
5.0
🎬
Stranger in the Family
as Charles Wilson
1965
0.0
Help!
as Jeweller
1965
6.8
The Knack... and How to Get It
as Picture Owner
1965
5.9
🎬
The Man Who Came to Die
as Dr. Clarkeson
1965
0.0
The July Plot
as General Friedrich Olbright
1964
0.0
Redcap
1964
6.0
The Wednesday Play
as Gen. Friedrich Olbright
1964
4.5
King and Country
as Colonel
1964
7.1
🎬
Thorndyke
1964
0.0
Theatre 625
as Seytfert, Counsel for the Prosecution
1964
7.2
Theatre 625
as Hector McKellar
1964
7.2
The Third Secret
as Dr Leo Whitset
1964
6.1
Doctor Who
as Dr. Warlock
1963
7.9
The Saint
as Don Morland
1962
7.4
Z-Cars
1962
7.0
Victim
as Paul Mandrake
1961
7.5
The Avengers
as Henry Barker
1961
7.7
The Avengers
as Sparshott
1961
7.7
Maigret
as Xavier Marton
1960
7.2
No Hiding Place
1959
3.7
Mystery in the Mine
1959
0.0
Rockets Galore
as Scientist
1958
6.0
The Government Inspector
as School Superintendent
1958
6.0
Just My Luck
as Mr. Gilbert Weaver
1957
6.0
🎬
The End Begins
as Tom Jarrow
1957
0.0
The Man Without a Body
as Leslie
1957
3.8
The Smallest Show on Earth
as Actor in The Mystery of Hell Valley (uncredited)
1957
6.5
Time Without Pity
as Prison Chaplain
1957
6.5
🎬
The Film That Never Was
1957
0.0
Foreign Intrigue
as Brown
1956
5.7
Peril for the Guy
as Mr. Ritter
1956
6.5
Sherlock Holmes
1954
7.1
Saadia
as Leader Mokhazenis
1953
5.8
The Clue of the Missing Ape
as His Excellency
1953
6.0
The Sword and the Rose
as Sir Edwin Caskoden
1953
6.3
The Hour of 13
as Cummings
1952
5.7
The Card
as P. Shillitoe (uncredited)
1952
6.9
Hallmark Hall of Fame
as Dr. Harrison
1951
8.6
Golden Salamander
as Aribi
1950
5.9
Farewell Again
as Minor Role
1937
5.0
Tell Me If It Hurts
as Waiter
1934
0.0