Beloved veteran actor Peter Sallis has died aged 96.
The veteran star of ‘Last of the Summer Wine’ passed away peacefully with his family by his side, his agent has announced.
As well as his long stint playing Cleggy in the popular sitcom set in the Yorkshire Dales, Peter was most famous for providing the voice of Wallace for the animated films and TV series ‘Wallace and Gromit’.
Peter appeared as Norman ‘Cleggy’ Clegg ever since the very first episode of ‘Summer Wine’, all the way through to its final episode in 2010, which made him the only actor to appear in every one of the series’ 295 shows.
Prior to this, he had appeared on stage and screen ever since the 1950s. One of his greatest successes came in 1989, the first time he voiced eccentric inventor Wallace in Aardman Animations’ ‘Wallace and Gromit: A Grand Day Out’. He stayed in the role for ‘The Wrong Trousers’, ‘A Close Shave’ and ‘The Curse of the Were-Rabbit’. In 2008, Wallace’s distinctive tones were heard for the final time by Peter in ‘A Matter of Loaf and Death’.
Peter Sallis was awarded an OBE in 2007 for services to Drama. He retired from acting in 2010.
