Actor Peter Bowles has died. He was 85.
The Guardian obituary singled out his performance in the long-running hit sitcom To The Manor Born as his most famous role. "Always distinguished and highly regarded, Bowles himself ruefully admitted that he wasn’t a “star” until, aged 43, he played Richard DeVere, the former costermonger turned supermarket tycoon, in the BBC’s hit comedy series To the Manor Born (1979-81), written by Peter Spence, in which he contested the affections, and the superior social status, of Penelope Keith’s not so merry widow Audrey fforbes-Hamilton."
The actor's agent said Bowles had "sadly passed away from cancer".
"He leaves his wife of over 60 years, Sue, and their three children Guy, Adam and Sasha."
The statement added: "Starting his career at the Old Vic Theatre in 1956, he starred in 45 theatrical productions ending at the age of 81 in The Exorcist at the Phoenix Theatre.
"He worked consistently on stage and screen, becoming a household name on TV as the archetypal English gent in To The Manor Born, Only When I Laugh, The Bounder and Lytton's Diary, which he devised himself."
Buy Peter Bowles' autobiography, Ask Me If I'm Happy: An Actor's Life here.
