When actor Peter Sallis died on June 2, 2017, he was believed to have a net worth of an incredible £8.29 million, which was accumulated from over 150 acting credits and his long tenure as the lead Norman “Cleggy” Clegg in Last of the Summer Wine.
However, despite voicing a character in an Oscar-winning movie, none of his fortune came from that. He famously was the original voice of Wallace in the Wallace and Gromit movies, and he accepted a payment of just £50 for the first film from producer Nick Park.
Nick had originally created the characters and story behind Wallace and Gromit while still in school. He decided to animate a short story for his graduation project and he simply needed an actor to bring it to life.
Speaking to BBC in 2017, Park recalled: “It was a bit of a long shot but I needed a voice for my new project which was called A Grand Day Out! I knew Peter’s work from Last of the Summer Wine, and it was this sort of mild-mannered, understated British humour that attracted me to him.
“I wrote to his agent and I was really surprised when he said yes and it was his generosity really for helping out a student because I hadn’t much money to pay him. I think back then we had about £50. It was lovely just to know him and I feel grateful, not only for the richness and the charm that he brought to Wallace, but also just knowing such a lovely man off-screen as well was wonderful.”
Nick had first beome aware of Peter thanks to his work on Last of The Summer Wine, which he appeared in from its debut in 1973 right up to its last episode in 2010. He was the only actor to appear in all 295 episodes, cementing his place as a true stalwart of British TV.
He was already a showbiz veteran by the time he took the role having been in the business for three decades. He credited cheating death at the hands of the Nazis with kickstarting his career. He wrote of the incident in his 2014 memoir, Summer Wine and Other Stories: My Autobiography.
“In 1943, we were in the thick of it: the Blitz, the Battle of the Atlantic. Picture the scene. A young corporal, Frank Webb, was playing gramophone records to the music society in Hut 300 at the huge Royal Air Force station at Cranwell, Lincolnshire.
“The audience were possibly asleep when, outside the hut, came the most horrendous clattering and banging. Corporal Webb lithely turned up the volume. It was only later discovered that a German bomber, on its way back to the Fatherland, had spotted the base and let loose however many rounds of ammunition it still had,” he wrote.
Having worked as a Barclays Bank clerk prior to the war he revealed that night’s events persuaded him to try his hand as an actor. “Not only did I cheat death that night, but it was there that I was first persuaded to try my hand as a performer.
“After one of my lessons, a young man, Peter Bridge, asked me if I’d ever done any acting and if I’d like to be the leading man in Noël Coward’s ‘Hay Fever’. I thought for a second and said, ‘Yes’. When I went on stage and spoke the lines, people laughed. That night, in my bunk, I couldn’t sleep. I determined that after the War, if I survived it, I would become an actor.”
Throughout his career, he enjoyed a stint on Broadway, big-screen outings in horror films and comedies, and several roles on sci-fi TV shows. In 2007, he was honoured with an OBE for his services to drama, highlighting his significant contributions to the arts.
While his on-screen persona was soft-spoken and unassuming, his personal life was the stuff of gossip columns. He married actress Elaine Usher in 1957, but their marriage was tumultuous, and she left him 16 times before they finally divorced in 1965. They briefly reconciled in 1983, but it didn’t last.
Sallis himself later conceded that he was “not ideal as a husband,” with tabloids labelling him a “devious, serial adulterer”. The tempestuous couple had child, a son, Crispian Sallis who was born in 1959, and two grandchildren. Peter also had three beloved cats.
He died peacfully at the age of 96 surrounded by family at Denville Hall, a haven for retired actors, and the same place where Fawlty Towers’ Andrew Sachs also spent his final days.
Reflecting on his illustrious career and his work in Wallace and Gromit, Peter once said: “It is pleasing knowing millions are going to see your work and enjoy it. To still be involved in a project like this at my age is heartwarming. To have a legacy like this is very comforting. I am very lucky to have been involved.”
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.express.co.uk ’
