Wallace and Gromit actor Peter Sallis dies aged 96

The veteran actor was known for his role in Last of the Summer Wine 
Jennifer Ruby6 June 2017
The Weekender

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British actor Peter Sallis has died aged 96, his agent has confirmed.

The veteran star was best known for his role in Last of the Summer Wine and as the voice of Wallace in much-loved clay animation, Wallace and Gromit.

His agent confirmed he died peacefully, surrounded by family.

Sallis, who was born and raised in London, had been suffering from macular degeneration and retired from acting in 2010.

Iconic: Sallis alongside Bill Owen, Brian Wilde and Kathy Staff in Last of the Summer Wine
REX

In 2014, Wallace and Gromit creator Nick Park said that Sallis wasn’t “too well” and that it was unlikely that he would voice Wallace again.

Sallis played Norman “Cleggy” Clegg in Last of the Summer Wine from its inception in 1973 until the last episode aired in 2010.

He is the only actor to have appeared in all 295 episodes of the show, and even played Clegg’s father in the 1988 prequel, First of the Summer Wine.

Sallis voiced eccentric inventor Wallace for the first time in 1989 in A Grand Day Out, which went on to win a BAFTA award.

He also voiced the character in the Oscar-winning The Wrong Trousers in 1993 and A Close Shave in 1995.

The actor was awarded an OBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list in 2007 for services to drama.

One of his last public appearances was on Desert Island Discs in 2009 and then Wallace and Gromit's World of Invention in 2010.

Sallis started his career on the London stage, starring in a West End production of Cabaret opposite Judie Dench in 1968.

He went on to appear in films including Doctor in Love, The Curse of the Werewolf and Wuthering Heights in the 1970s.

Sallis had been married to Elaine Usher since 1957 and the couple had one son, Timothy, who was born in 1959.

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