Peter Cushing

Peter Cushing OBE
Cushing in 1955
Born	Peter Wilton Cushing (1913-05-26)26 May 1913 Kenley, Surrey, England, United Kingdom
Died	11 August 1994(1994-08-11) (aged 81) Canterbury, Kent, England, United Kingdom
Cause of death	Prostate cancer
Education	Shoreham College
Alma mater	Guildhall School of Music and Drama
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1939–86
Home town	Purley, Surrey
Spouse(s)	Violet Helene Beck (8 February 1905 – 14 January 1971) (m. 1943–71) (her death)
Parent(s)	George Edward (1881–1956) and Nellie Maria (née King) Cushing (1882–1961)
Awards	British Academy Television Award for Best Actor (1956)

Peter Wilton Cushing, OBE (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor and a BAFTA TV Award Best Actor winner in 1956. He is mainly known for his prolific appearances in Hammer Films, in which he played strong character roles like the sinister scientist Baron Frankenstein, Sherlock Holmes and the vampire hunter Dr. Van Helsing, among many other roles. He appeared frequently opposite Christopher Lee and, occasionally, Vincent Price. A familiar face on both sides of the Atlantic, Cushing is best known outside the Hammer productions for playing Dr. Who in Doctor Who and the Daleks (1965) and Daleks – Invasion Earth (1966), and for his performance as Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars (1977). Cushing's likeness was extensively recreated using digital effects in Rogue One (2016) which raised questions about the morality of using a deceased actor's likeness.

Cushing was born in Kenley, Surrey, the second son of George Edward Cushing (1881–1956) and Nellie Maria (née King) Cushing (1882–1961). Shortly after his birth, the family moved to Dulwich, South London. After the end of the First World War, they returned close to Kenley; this time to neighbouring Purley, Surrey, where in 1926 his quantity surveyor father built Clearview, an Art Deco house on St James Road. It was here that Cushing remained until early adulthood.