Peter Collingwood

Peter Collingwood
Born	Peter Trevor Collingwood (1920-05-06)6 May 1920 Kent, England, United Kingdom
Died	23 September 2016(2016-09-23) (aged 96)
Education	Embassy Theatre, London
Occupation(s)	Actor, playwright
Years active	1938-2003
Spouse	Margery Shaw ​ (m. 1950)​

Peter Trevor Collingwood (6 May 1920 – 23 September 2016) was an English-born actor who appeared in theatre roles, films, miniseries and serials from 1938 to 2003 in his native England and Australia. Collingwood was known for his portrayal of judges, military men and upper-crust befuddled types. He was also a playwright.

Collingwood was born in Kent^{[citation needed]}(some sources give, Farnham, Surrey), England on 6 May 1920. He initially studied at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. During the Second World War, he also served in the British Navy including on the Greek submarine Matrozos as liaison officer, but was discharged due to eye sight problems.

He enrolled in the Embassy School of Acting at the Embassy Theatre, London, in 1937. His first professional acting job was in Wang Shifu's Chinese play The Western Chamber at London's Torch Theatre in 1938.^[1][2]

After the war, Collingwood joined Amersham Repertory Theatre, followed by the Young Vic Company, and a number of other companies. After marrying his wife, they moved to Perth, Scotland where he worked for the Perth Repertory Company. During this time, he wrote the farce Gathering Nuts, which was performed by the company, as well as by a number of other repertory companies.

In 1953, Collingwood returned to London with his family, where he worked regularly on stage (as well as in film and television).^[3][4]

In 1961, with his wife and step-son Michael, Collingwood travelled overland to Sri Lanka, then by ship to Perth, Australia. From late 1961 to 1963, he worked at the Perth Playhouse.^[1]

The family returned to England for two years, during which he appeared in a number of successful West End shows, including Inadmissible Evidence, Meals on Wheels, and I Love you Mrs Patterson.

In 1967, Collingwood emigrated to Australia, first living in Perth before settling near Sydney in Balmain, New South Wales. He worked for many Sydney theatre companies including the Old Tote, Nimrod Theatre, Belvoir Theatre Company, the Independent Theatre and Sydney Theatre Company. Between 1970 and 1972 he was Artistic Director of the Marian Street Theatre.^[1]

Collingwood appeared in numerous serial roles, both dramatic and comedic, in the UK and Australia.

He played Lord John Russell in 1975 drama series Edward the Seventh.

His Australian roles included playing Mr. Dunkley in Are You Being Served?^[5] Governor Phillip in The Timeless Land, and a recurring guest role on Home and Away as Bert King, father to main character Pippa Ross, from 1995 to 1997.

He also made appearances in Phoenix Five, The Coral Island Homicide, Division 4, Mother and Son, A Country Practice, Police Rescue, All Saints and Always Greener.^[6]

Notable Australian film appearances include classic film Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Mad Dog Morgan (1976), Minnamurra (1989) and a minor part in Baz Luhrmann’s hit musical film Moulin Rouge! (2001).

In 1950 Collingwood married Margery Shaw, with whom he had daughter Julia. His stepsons were Christopher and Michael.

Collingwood retired in 2003 and died 23 September 2016 at the age of 96.^[7]

^[9][10]

• Peter Collingwood at IMDb