Peter Arne
Encyclopedia
Peter Arne was a British
character actor
best known for various performances in British film and television, including supporting roles in the television series The Avengers
, Danger Man
, as well as villains in Blake Edwards
' Pink Panther series, in a career that spanned 40 years. He was murdered in 1983.
, British Malaya
, to a Swiss-French mother and an American father, and gained his early acting experience in British provincial repertory
. In 1953, the New Lindsey Theatre Club performed his play No Stranger. From the mid-1950s onwards, he developed a successful career playing a broad range of supporting roles in both film and television often with a specialisation in playing unsmiling villains such as German officers. In addition to acting, he ran his own antiques business.
In 1968, he played the dual roles of The Duke and Dr. Sanson Carrasco in the London stage production of Man of La Mancha
.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Arne was a busy character actor on television. He appeared in several ITC
adventure series including four episodes of The Avengers
as different characters each time. He appeared in the last two episodes of Secret Army
(1979) as a German Colonel, and as a regular in series two of Triangle
in 1982.
and her partner, Julie Mullard, on the SS Cairo, a steamer bound from England to South Africa. Peter and Jack persuaded Mary that they could get rich quick by building housing for recent immigrants like themselves. The four of them established a company called CAM Construction, which Mary financed using her £25,000 MGM award, hiring labourers and craftsmen to begin construction of several houses. Peter and Jack, an alcoholic, squandered funds on high living, leaving bills unpaid, and the company failed to generate revenue. After Peter and Jack stole Ms. Renault's Studebaker, her lawyer obtained their resignations from the firm and persuaded them to leave the house the four had formerly shared. Peter and Jack then disappeared from Mary's life for good, Peter returning to England.
intended for his character Range in the BBC Doctor Who
television serial Frontios
(a role which would eventually be played by William Lucas
).
Shortly after Arne returned to his Knightsbridge
home, neighbours reported hearing a violent argument coming from his home. Arne's body was found inside his flat, beaten to death with a stool and a log from his fireplace, which was found in the communal hall.
Police issued an image
after eyewitnesses
reported seeing a young man loitering nearby eating a jar of honey. Four days later, a body matching this description was found in the Thames at Wandsworth
. Bloodstained clothes were later found upstream at Putney
. Police identified the body as that of Giuseppi Perusi, a schoolteacher from Verona
, who had been living rough in a local park. Inquiries revealed Arne had been giving food to the Italian man.
An inquest
at Westminster Coroner's Court in October 1983 recorded a verdict of unlawful killing
for Arne and suicide
for Perusi. Police concluded that Perusi had beaten the actor to death then killed himself rather than enduring the ensuing publicity (the blood found on his clothing matched Arne's). The hearing was also told that Arne habitually solicited vagrant men for sex. However, the reason for the violent argument remains unknown.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
character actor
Character actor
A character actor is one who predominantly plays unusual or eccentric characters. The Oxford English Dictionary defines a character actor as "an actor who specializes in character parts", defining character part in turn as "an acting role displaying pronounced or unusual characteristics or...
best known for various performances in British film and television, including supporting roles in the television series The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
, Danger Man
Danger Man
Danger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
, as well as villains in Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards
Blake Edwards was an American film director, screenwriter and producer.Edwards' career began in the 1940s as an actor, but he soon turned to writing radio scripts at Columbia Pictures...
' Pink Panther series, in a career that spanned 40 years. He was murdered in 1983.
Career
Arne was born in Kuala LumpurKuala Lumpur
Kuala Lumpur is the capital and the second largest city in Malaysia by population. The city proper, making up an area of , has a population of 1.4 million as of 2010. Greater Kuala Lumpur, also known as the Klang Valley, is an urban agglomeration of 7.2 million...
, British Malaya
British Malaya
British Malaya loosely described a set of states on the Malay Peninsula and the Island of Singapore that were brought under British control between the 18th and the 20th centuries...
, to a Swiss-French mother and an American father, and gained his early acting experience in British provincial repertory
Repertory
Repertory or rep, also called stock in the United States, is a term used in Western theatre and opera.A repertory theatre can be a theatre in which a resident company presents works from a specified repertoire, usually in alternation or rotation...
. In 1953, the New Lindsey Theatre Club performed his play No Stranger. From the mid-1950s onwards, he developed a successful career playing a broad range of supporting roles in both film and television often with a specialisation in playing unsmiling villains such as German officers. In addition to acting, he ran his own antiques business.
In 1968, he played the dual roles of The Duke and Dr. Sanson Carrasco in the London stage production of Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha
Man of La Mancha is a musical with a book by Dale Wasserman, lyrics by Joe Darion and music by Mitch Leigh. It is adapted from Wasserman's non-musical 1959 teleplay I, Don Quixote, which was in turn inspired by Miguel de Cervantes's seventeenth century masterpiece Don Quixote...
.
In the 1960s and 1970s, Arne was a busy character actor on television. He appeared in several ITC
ITC Entertainment
The Incorporated Television Company was a British television company largely involved in production and distribution. It was founded by Lew Grade.-History:...
adventure series including four episodes of The Avengers
The Avengers (TV series)
The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
as different characters each time. He appeared in the last two episodes of Secret Army
Secret Army (TV series)
Secret Army is a television drama series made by the BBC and the Belgian national broadcaster BRT created by Gerard Glaister. The series chronicled the history of a Belgian resistance movement during the Second World War dedicated to returning Allied airmen, usually having been shot down by the...
(1979) as a German Colonel, and as a regular in series two of Triangle
Triangle (TV series)
Triangle was a BBC television soap opera in the early 1980s, set aboard a North Sea ferry which sailed between Felixstowe & Gothenburg and Gothenburg & Amsterdam. A third imaginary leg existed between Amsterdam & Felixstowe to make up the program title, but this was not operated by the ferry company...
in 1982.
Embezzling funds from Mary Renault
At the age of twenty-six, Peter and his partner at the time, Jack Corke, befriended acclaimed novelist Mary RenaultMary Renault
Mary Renault born Eileen Mary Challans, was an English writer best known for her historical novels set in Ancient Greece...
and her partner, Julie Mullard, on the SS Cairo, a steamer bound from England to South Africa. Peter and Jack persuaded Mary that they could get rich quick by building housing for recent immigrants like themselves. The four of them established a company called CAM Construction, which Mary financed using her £25,000 MGM award, hiring labourers and craftsmen to begin construction of several houses. Peter and Jack, an alcoholic, squandered funds on high living, leaving bills unpaid, and the company failed to generate revenue. After Peter and Jack stole Ms. Renault's Studebaker, her lawyer obtained their resignations from the firm and persuaded them to leave the house the four had formerly shared. Peter and Jack then disappeared from Mary's life for good, Peter returning to England.
Murder
On 1 August 1983, Arne attended a costume fitting in ClerkenwellClerkenwell
Clerkenwell is an area of central London in the London Borough of Islington. From 1900 to 1965 it was part of the Metropolitan Borough of Finsbury. The well after which it was named was rediscovered in 1924. The watchmaking and watch repairing trades were once of great importance...
intended for his character Range in the BBC Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
television serial Frontios
Frontios
Frontios is a serial in the British science fiction television series Doctor Who, which was first broadcast in four twice-weekly parts from 26 January to 3 February 1984.-Synopsis:...
(a role which would eventually be played by William Lucas
William Lucas (British actor)
William Lucas is a British film and television actor. His first acting role was in the film Portrait of Alison , and later appeared in many Hammer Film Productions such as Shadow of the Cat. He is probably best known for his role in The Adventures of Black Beauty as Dr...
).
Shortly after Arne returned to his Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge
Knightsbridge is a road which gives its name to an exclusive district lying to the west of central London. The road runs along the south side of Hyde Park, west from Hyde Park Corner, spanning the City of Westminster and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
home, neighbours reported hearing a violent argument coming from his home. Arne's body was found inside his flat, beaten to death with a stool and a log from his fireplace, which was found in the communal hall.
Police issued an image
Photofit
Photofit is a technique used by the police for building up an accurate image of someone to fit a witness' description. Photographs, rather than drawings, of individual features are used to construct an image of a suspect....
after eyewitnesses
Witness
A witness is someone who has firsthand knowledge about an event, or in the criminal justice systems usually a crime, through his or her senses and can help certify important considerations about the crime or event. A witness who has seen the event first hand is known as an eyewitness...
reported seeing a young man loitering nearby eating a jar of honey. Four days later, a body matching this description was found in the Thames at Wandsworth
Wandsworth
Wandsworth is a district of south London, England, in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated southwest of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London.-Toponymy:...
. Bloodstained clothes were later found upstream at Putney
Putney
Putney is a district in south-west London, England, located in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is situated south-west of Charing Cross. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London....
. Police identified the body as that of Giuseppi Perusi, a schoolteacher from Verona
Verona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
, who had been living rough in a local park. Inquiries revealed Arne had been giving food to the Italian man.
An inquest
Inquest
Inquests in England and Wales are held into sudden and unexplained deaths and also into the circumstances of discovery of a certain class of valuable artefacts known as "treasure trove"...
at Westminster Coroner's Court in October 1983 recorded a verdict of unlawful killing
Unlawful killing
In English law unlawful killing is a verdict that can be returned by an inquest in England and Wales when someone has been killed by one or several unknown persons. The verdict means that the killing was done without lawful excuse and in breach of criminal law. This includes murder, manslaughter,...
for Arne and suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
for Perusi. Police concluded that Perusi had beaten the actor to death then killed himself rather than enduring the ensuing publicity (the blood found on his clothing matched Arne's). The hearing was also told that Arne habitually solicited vagrant men for sex. However, the reason for the violent argument remains unknown.
Partial filmography
- For Those in PerilFor Those in PerilFor Those in Peril is a 1944 British war film produced by Ealing Studios. The film marked the directorial debut of Charles Crichton and its basic and relatively slight storyline was an end to produce a film with a documentary feel and an element of wartime propaganda...
(1944) - You Know What Sailors Are (1954)
- The Purple PlainThe Purple PlainThe Purple Plain is a 1954 British war film, directed by Robert Parrish, with Gregory Peck playing a Canadian pilot serving in the Royal Air Force in Burma in the closing months of the World War II, who is battling with depression after having lost his wife...
(1954) - The Men of Sherwood ForestThe Men of Sherwood ForestThe Men of Sherwood Forest is a 1954 British adventure film directed by Val Guest and starring Don Taylor, Reginald Beckwith, Eileen Moore and David King-Wood. The film follows the exploits of Robin Hood and his followers...
(1954) - The Dam BustersThe Dam Busters (film)The Dam Busters is a 1955 British Second World War war film starring Michael Redgrave and Richard Todd and directed by Michael Anderson. The film recreates the true story of Operation Chastise when in 1943 the RAF's 617 Squadron attacked the Möhne, Eder and Sorpe dams in Germany with Wallis's...
(1955) - uncredited - The Cockleshell HeroesThe Cockleshell HeroesThe Cockleshell Heroes is a 1955 film with Trevor Howard, Anthony Newley, David Lodge and José Ferrer, who also directed. Set during the Second World War, it is a fictionalised account of Operation Frankton, the December 1942 raid by canoe-borne British commandos on shipping in Bordeaux Harbour...
(1955) - Tarzan and the Lost SafariTarzan and the Lost SafariTarzan and the Lost Safari is an action adventure film featuring Edgar Rice Burroughs' famous jungle hero Tarzan and starring Gordon Scott, Robert Beatty, Yolande Donlan and Betta St. John. The movie was directed by H. Bruce Humberstone, and was the first Tarzan movie released in color, Eastman...
(1957) - High Tide at NoonHigh Tide at NoonHigh Tide at Noon is a 1957 British drama film directed by Philip Leacock. It was entered into the 1957 Cannes Film Festival.-Cast:* Betta St...
(1957) - The MoonrakerThe MoonrakerThe Moonraker is a 1958 British historical drama film set during the English Civil War. It was directed by David MacDonald and starred George Baker, Sylvia Sims, Marius Goring, Gary Raymond, Peter Arne, John Le Mesurier and Patrick Troughton....
(1958) - Ice-Cold in AlexIce-Cold in AlexIce-Cold in Alex is a British film based on the novel of the same name by British author Christopher Landon. Directed by J. Lee Thompson and starring John Mills, the film was a prizewinner at the 8th Berlin International Film Festival...
(1958) - Intent to KillIntent to KillIntent to Kill is a 1958 British thriller film directed by Jack Cardiff and starring Richard Todd, Betsy Drake and Herbert Lom. The film was based on the 1957 novel of the same name by Brian Moore...
(1958) - Danger WithinDanger WithinDanger Within is a 1959 British war film set in a prisoner of war camp in northern Italy during the summer of 1943.-Plot:After a clever escape plan fails, the escape committee, led by Lieutenant Colonel David Baird suspects that there is an informer in their ranks...
(1959) - Scent of MysteryScent of MysteryScent of Mystery is a 1960 mystery film that featured the one and only use of Smell-O-Vision, a system that timed odors to points in the film's plot. It was the first film in which aromas were integral to the story, providing important details to the audience...
(1960) - Sands of the DesertSands of the DesertSands of the Desert is a 1960 British comedy film directed by John Paddy Carstairs and starring Charlie Drake, Peter Arne, Sarah Branch and Raymond Huntley...
(1960) - Conspiracy of HeartsConspiracy of HeartsConspiracy of Hearts is a 1960 British film. It stars Lilli Palmer, Sylvia Syms and Albert Lieven. Its plot involves Italian nuns smuggling Jewish children out of an internment camp near their convent to save them from the Holocaust. It was nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Film Promoting...
(1960) - The Hellfire ClubThe Hellfire Club (film)The Hellfire Club is a 1961 film which tells a story based upon 'The Hellfire Club'. Sir Francis Dashwood's infamous 'Gentlemans' society of the 18th century. It starred Peter Cushing....
(1961) - Pirates of Blood RiverPirates of Blood RiverPirates of Blood River is a 1962 Hammer Film Productions pirate film starring Christopher Lee and Kerwin Matthews.While in a penal colony, Huguenot Jonathan Standish is captured by pirates led by Capt...
(1962) - Girl in the HeadlinesGirl in the HeadlinesGirl in the Headlines is a 1963 British detective film directed by Michael Truman and starring Ian Hendry, Ronald Fraser, Jeremy Brett and Jane Asher.-Cast:* Ian Hendry - Inspector Birkett* Ronald Fraser - Sergeant Saunders* Margaret Johnston - Mrs Gray...
(1963) - The VictorsThe Victors (film)-Overview:The film follows a group of U.S. soldiers through Europe during World War II, from Britain in 1942, through the fierce fighting in Italy and France, to the uneasy peace of Berlin. It is adapted from a collection of short stories called The Human Kind by British author Alexander Baron,...
(1963) - The Black TormentThe Black TormentThe Black Torment is a 1964 British gothic horror film, directed by Robert Hartford-Davis and starring John Turner, Heather Sears and Ann Lynn. The film is set in 18th-century Devon and was scripted by brothers Donald and Derek Ford...
(1964) - KhartoumKhartoum (film)Khartoum is a 1966 film written by Robert Ardrey and directed by Basil Dearden. It stars Charlton Heston as General Gordon and Laurence Olivier as the Mahdi and is based on Gordon's defence of the Sudanese city of Khartoum from the forces of the Mahdist army during the Siege of Khartoum.Khartoum...
(1966) - Chitty Chitty Bang BangChitty Chitty Bang Bang (film)Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a 1968 musical film with a script by Roald Dahl and Ken Hughes, and songs by the Sherman Brothers, loosely based on Ian Fleming's novel Chitty Chitty Bang Bang: The Magical Car. It starred Dick Van Dyke as Caractacus Potts and Sally Ann Howes as Truly Scrumptious. The...
(1968) - The Oblong Box (1969)
- When Eight Bells TollWhen Eight Bells Toll (1971 film)When Eight Bells Toll is a 1971 action film set in Scotland, based upon Scottish author Alistair MacLean's 1965 novel of the same name. Producer Elliott Kastner planned to produce a string of realistic gritty espionage thrillers to rival the James Bond series, but the film's poor box office...
(1971) - Straw Dogs (1971)
- Pope JoanPope Joan (1972 film)Pope Joan is a 1972 British drama film based on the story of Pope Joan.. It was directed by Michael Anderson and has a cast which includes Liv Ullmann , Olivia de Havilland, Lesley-Anne Down, Franco Nero and Maximillian Schell....
(1972) - The Return of the Pink PantherThe Return of the Pink PantherThe Return of the Pink Panther is the fourth film in the Pink Panther series, released in 1975. The film stars Peter Sellers in the role of Inspector Clouseau in his third Panther appearance, after the original The Pink Panther and A Shot in the Dark.Herbert Lom also reprises his role as Chief...
(1975) - ProvidenceProvidence (1977 film)Providence is a French/Swiss 1977 film directed by Alain Resnais and starring Dirk Bogarde, David Warner, Ellen Burstyn, Elaine Stritch, and John Gielgud. The film won the 1978 César Award for Best Film.-Plot summary:...
(1977) - AgathaAgatha (film)Agatha is a 1979 drama thriller film directed by Michael Apted, starring Vanessa Redgrave, Dustin Hoffman and Timothy Dalton, and written by Kathleen Tynan...
(1979) - Victor Victoria (1982)
- TangiersTangiers (1982 film)Tangiers is a 1982 American-Morrocan thriller film directed by Michael E. Briant and starring Ronny Cox, Billie Whitelaw and Glynis Barber.-Cast:* Ronny Cox ... Bob Steele* Billie Whitelaw ... Louise* Glynis Barber ... Beth...
(1982) - Trail of the Pink PantherTrail of the Pink PantherTrail of the Pink Panther is a 1982 comedy film starring Peter Sellers. It was the seventh film in the Pink Panther series, and the last in which Peter Sellers starred as Inspector Jacques Clouseau, although Sellers died before production began and the film thus contains no original material...
(1982) - Curse of the Pink PantherCurse of the Pink PantherCurse of the Pink Panther is a 1983 comedy film, the eighth installment of the The Pink Panther series of films started by Blake Edwards in the early 1960s....
(1983)
Television
- Danger ManDanger ManDanger Man is a British television series that was broadcast between 1960 and 1962, and again between 1964 and 1968. The series featured Patrick McGoohan as secret agent John Drake. Ralph Smart created the program and wrote many of the scripts...
- The SaintThe Saint (TV series)The Saint was an ITC mystery spy thriller television series that aired in the UK on ITV between 1962 and 1969. It centred on the Leslie Charteris literary character, Simon Templar, a Robin Hood-like adventurer with a penchant for disguise. The character may be nicknamed The Saint because the...
- The Mask of JanusThe Mask of JanusThe Mask of Janus is a British television series produced by the BBC in 1965.The series was set in the fictional European country of Amalia and dealt with the political interests of the British, American and Communist espionage communities within. Eschewing the action formula of its ITV...
- The Spies
- The AvengersThe Avengers (TV series)The Avengers is a spy-fi British television series set in the 1960s Britain. The Avengers initially focused on Dr. David Keel and his assistant John Steed . Hendry left after the first series and Steed became the main character, partnered with a succession of assistants...
- The BaronThe BaronThe Baron is a British television series, made in 1965/66 based on the book series by John Creasey, written under the pseudonym Anthony Morton, and produced by ITC Entertainment. It was the first ITC show without marionettes to be produced entirely in colour...
- Man in a SuitcaseMan in a SuitcaseMan in a Suitcase is a 1967 television series produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment.-Origins and overview:Man in a Suitcase was effectively a replacement for Danger Man, whose production had been curtailed when its star Patrick McGoohan had decided to create his own series, The Prisoner...
- The ChampionsThe ChampionsThe Champions is a British espionage/science fiction/occult detective fiction adventure series consisting of 30 episodes broadcast on the UK network ITV during 1968–1969, produced by Lew Grade's ITC Entertainment production company...
- Department SDepartment SDepartment S is a United Kingdom spy-fi adventure series produced by ITC Entertainment. The series consists of 28 episodes which originally aired in 1969–1970. It starred Peter Wyngarde as author Jason King , Joel Fabiani as Stewart Sullivan, and Rosemary Nicols as computer expert Annabelle Hurst...
- Special BranchSpecial Branch (TV series)Special Branch is a British television series made by Thames Television for ITV and shown between 1969 and 1974. A police drama series, the action was centred on members of the Special Branch anti-espionage and anti-terrorist department of the London Metropolitan Police.The first two series were...
- Softly, SoftlySoftly, Softly (TV series)Softly, Softly is a British television drama series, produced by the BBC and screened on BBC 1 from January 1966. It centred around the work of regional crime squads, plain-clothes CID officers based in the fictional region of Wyvern - supposedly in the Bristol and Chepstow area of the UK...
- Secret ArmySecret Army (TV series)Secret Army is a television drama series made by the BBC and the Belgian national broadcaster BRT created by Gerard Glaister. The series chronicled the history of a Belgian resistance movement during the Second World War dedicated to returning Allied airmen, usually having been shot down by the...
- To Serve Them All My DaysTo Serve Them All My DaysTo Serve Them All My Days is a novel by British author R. F. Delderfield.First published in 1972, the book was adapted for television in 1980...
- TriangleTriangle (TV series)Triangle was a BBC television soap opera in the early 1980s, set aboard a North Sea ferry which sailed between Felixstowe & Gothenburg and Gothenburg & Amsterdam. A third imaginary leg existed between Amsterdam & Felixstowe to make up the program title, but this was not operated by the ferry company...
- Hart to HartHart to HartHart to Hart is an American television series, starring Robert Wagner and Stefanie Powers as Jonathan and Jennifer Hart, a wealthy couple who also moonlighted as amateur detectives. The series was created by writer Sidney Sheldon and produced by Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg...
- The Far PavilionsThe Far PavilionsThe Far Pavilions is an epic novel of British-Indian history by M. M. Kaye, first published in 1978, which tells the story of an English officer during the Great Game. The novel, rooted deeply in the romantic epics of the 19th century, has been hailed as a masterpiece of storytelling...