Peter Cushing
Biography
Peter Cushing was an English actor whose career spanned more than six decades across film, television, stage, and radio. Born in Kenley, Surrey, he made his professional stage debut in 1935 and later moved to Hollywood, where he had a small role in The Man in the Iron Mask (1939). After returning to England, he appeared in Laurence Olivier's Hamlet (1948) and became a prominent television actor, earning acclaim for his lead role in a 1954 adaptation of Nineteen Eighty-Four. He found worldwide fame in Hammer horror films, playing Baron Frankenstein in six movies, including The Curse of Frankenstein (1957) and The Revenge of Frankenstein (1958), and Doctor Van Helsing in five Dracula films, such as Dracula (1958) and The Brides of Dracula (1960). His other films included The Mummy (1959), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959), Dr. Who and the Daleks (1965), and Star Wars (1977). He continued acting into the 1990s and wrote two autobiographies.
81years old at death
- Born Kenley
- Died Canterbury
- Star sign: GeminiThe sign runs May 21 to June 20
- Peter Wilton Cushing (birth name)
Movie Career
- Films
- 65
- Career span
- 46 years1940 to 1986
Genres
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First role
Cushing sent twenty-one letters to a school until Bill Fraser, an actor and theater-manager, agreed to meet him in 1935 just to ask him to stop. That meeting led to his professional stage debut, a walk-on as a courier in J. B. Priestley's Cornelius, with no lines.
Getting ready for a role
Cushing placed such importance on getting ready for a part that he asked a surgeon to teach him how to handle a scalpel in a convincing way.
Getting ready for a role
Peter Cushing wanted to keep the deerstalker when producer Anthony Hinds suggested cutting it, since audiences connected Holmes with his headgear and pipes. He also studied the novel and wrote notes in his script to get ready for the part.
Own stunts
In Dracula A.D. 1972, Cushing did many of his own stunts, among them falling off a haywagon while fighting Dracula. Christopher Neame, also in the film, was impressed by his agility and fitness given his age.
Peter Cushing movies on Netflix
Best known for
The films on Netflix they are best known for, with the part played in each.
- Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope1977 Action, Adventure, Fantasyas Grand Moff Tarkin
IMDb rating 8.61.6M votes
Most often with
Terence Fisher directed thirteen of these films, Freddie Francis five and Roy Ward Baker four. Christopher Lee appears in twenty of them, more than any other actor. Pick a number on the chart or a name in the list to see the films they share.
Films together
Christopher Lee's page
Michael Ripper's page
Donald Pleasence's page
George Woodbridge's page
Vincent Price's page
Michael Gough's page
Terence FisherDirector, 13 films, 1957 to 1974
All films by Terence Fisher
All films by Freddie Francis
All films by Roy Ward Baker
Also four films together5 more actors
- Niall MacGinnisTorture Garden (1967), Island of Terror (1966), Sword of Sherwood Forest (1960) and Alexander the Great (1956)
- André MorellShe (1965), Cash on Demand (1961), The Hound of the Baskervilles (1959) and Nineteen Eighty-Four (1954)
- David LodgeBlood Suckers (1971), Scream and Scream Again (1970), Corruption (1968) and Captain Clegg (1962)
- Geoffrey BayldonAsylum (1972), The House That Dripped Blood (1971), Frankenstein Must Be Destroyed (1969) and Dracula (1958)
- Duncan LamontNothing But the Night (1973), The Creeping Flesh (1973), Frankenstein Created Woman (1967) and The Evil of Frankenstein (1964)
When several people share the same number of films, the ones with the most films on Netflix are in the chart.
Box office
What Peter Cushing's films earned in cinemas worldwide.
Combined worldwide box office
$812 million
9 of the 65 films have a worldwide figure.
Of the 65 films: 9 worldwide figure; 2 us gross only; 1 never in cinemas; 53 figure not found.
- 9Worldwide figure
- 2US gross only
- 1Never in cinemas
- 53Figure not found
Highest grossing
The eight biggest films earned 100% of the total. The bars are drawn to scale.
- 1$775M95.5% of the total
- 2$21M2.5% of the total
- 3$8.0M1.0% of the total
- 4$3.5M0.4% of the total
- 5$3.2M0.4% of the total
- 6$544K0.1% of the total
- 7$365K0.0% of the total
- 8$114K0.0% of the total
$112,132from the other 1 film with a worldwide figure, 0% of the total
Awards
Five awards and honors from 1956 to 1989, two of them major.
| Year | Award | Film | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| BAFTA | |||
| 1956 | Best Actor | Won | |
| Best Actor | Won | ||
| Other honors | |||
| 1989 | Officer of the Order of the British Empire | Won | |
| 1983 | Sitges Film Festival Best Actor award | House of the Long Shadows | Won |
| 1976 | Sitges Film Festival Best Actor award | The Ghoul | Won |
Online
Official profiles and reference pages.