LAST of the Summer Wine actor Peter Sallis, who was also famous as the voice of Wallace in Wallace and Gromit, has died aged 96.
His agent released a statement saying: “It is with sadness that we announce that our client Peter Sallis died peacefully, with his family by his side, at Denville Hall on Friday, June 2.”
Sallis became a household name in the UK as mild-mannered Norman Clegg in the comedy Last Of The Summer Wine, Britain’s longest-running sitcom.
But it was his role as loveable inventor Wallace in Nick Park’s animated films that made his voice known around the world.
Wallace And Gromit scooped two Oscars and Sallis was delighted to have such success late in life.
“It is pleasing knowing millions are going to see your work and enjoy it,” he said. “To still be involved in a project like this at my age is heart-warming.”
Last Of The Summer Wine started life as a Comedy Playhouse pilot in 1972, with Sallis part of the original cast.
In 1983, Park, still a student, wrote to him asking him to be the voice of a clay character called Wallace. The actor agreed to do it in exchange for a £50 fee to his favourite charity but it was not until 1989 that the first Wallace and Gromit film, A Grand Day Out, finally reached the screen.
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