A grand night out
1:44pm Thursday 3rd April 2008
The instantly recognisable voice of television's Peter Sallis speaks to Rick Bowen PETER Sallis once saw Sir Laurence Olivier's face turn green. Or so he thought.
The two men were appearing in a theatre production in London and, during one particularly highly charged scene, Olivier's unmistakable features seemed to change colour before his co-star's very eyes.
Peter's career on stage and screen spans more than 60 years and the Last Of The Summer Wine star will be unlocking his treasure chest of showbusiness anecdotes when he visits Sale's Waterside Arts Centre next week.
He now has several "in conversation" shows under his belt and admits its a format he feels extremely comfortable with. He enjoys interacting with a live audience and appreciates the way people up and down the country have embraced this type of event with the same degree of enthusiasm. He also likes these shows because they allow him to indulge his passion for "showing off."
It's tempting to think of Peter as either Clegg, the voice of sanity in the BBC's gentle comedy Last Of The Summer Wine, or the voice of Wallace, the hapless inventor in the Wallace and Gromit films. But this veteran actor has worked with some of the greats, from Olivier to Dame Judi Dench.
Now 87, Peter is still working, although he was forced to give up the theatre in the late 80s as he struggled to cope with the demands it places on an actor. You get the impression, talking to this eloquent and agreeable man, that parting was such sweet sorrow for a performer who evidently regarded the theatre as his spiritual home.
His involvement with the Wallace and Gromit films, from the early 90s to the present day, has brought him to a new generation of fans. Quintessentially British in terms of their humour and their charm, these award winning animated movies feature the adventures of Wallace and his canine sidekick, famed for his nice line in bemused, often disdainful facial expressions. They can be enjoyed equally by children and adults alike, with Nick Park, the creative force behind the films, throwing more subtle verbal and visual gags into the comedy mix. Rather modestly, Peter says he got the role of Wallace because Park "liked the noise I made." Filming for the duo's latest adventure, A Matter Of Loaf And Death, began in January this year. Why does he think these movies have been so successful?
"I think it is the two characters - the idea of having a man and a dog and the dog, of course, doesn't speak and the dog is the brains of the outfit. Gromit is far brighter than Wallace and that simple formula has made it so successful. Then there are the actual little stories, including the one where they build a spaceship over the weekend. The audience have just found it delightful," he says.
While Peter's cv requires a sharp intake of breath before you read it - his first TV role was actually back in 1947 - one particular programme he'll always be associated with is Last of the Summer Wine. Set in a picture book Yorkshire village, Roy Clarke's began in 1973 and Peter is the only surviving member of the original cast, a cast that featured Brian Wilde in the role of Foggy and Bill Owen as Compo, the character who spent decades trying to woo Norah Batty, crinkly stockings and all. There was a potent on screen chemistry between Sallis, Wilde and Owen, a chemistry they failed to re-capture when the original trio was broken up. Were they pals in real life?
"We never had a cross word in Last Of The Summer Wine and I'm the only person who has been in every episode. It does rain in Yorkshire, it does get very windy but it's a great county and to work up there is a great treat in itself," he says, describing writer Roy Clarke as an absolute hero.
Rick Bowen * The Waterside Arts Centre in Sale presents An Audience With Peter Sallis on April 11 at 7.30pm. Tickets are available from 0161 912 5616. For the full interview, visit Entertainment at www.messengernewspapers.co.uk