AT HOME WITH PETER CUSHING: GALLERY TWO : SOUNDS NATURAL BBC RADIO FOUR JANUARY 1972

PETER CUSHING AT HOME and on the beach. GALLERY Part TWO: Wednesday December 1st 1971. ON SEEING these rare and unpublished photographs for the first time, it maybe isn't obvious at first glance, who the man in the pics actually could be. A neat and trim moustache, the absence of a hair piece and several pounds of body weight along with clothing that wasn't the usual attire familiar to the thousands of cinema goers, who had watched him on the big screen and over the past three decades.1971, this year had been a year that changed Peter Cushing's life forever. The loss of his wife, #HelenCushing in #January after many years of fighting her illness, set Cushing on a path of work, that would have psychically and emotionally exhausted many others . .

THE GRIEF AND LOSS effected everything in Cushing's life, except as he saw, his one distraction away from the loneliness and pain. Work. These unpublished stills were taken in December 1971, as part of a #RadioTimes magazine feature, promoting a BBC radio programme Peter had recorded earlier on July 27th -29th July 1971 at his home in #Whitstable. The programme 'Nature Spectacular' focused on the wildlife and birds of which Peter was very familiar and loved around his beach front home. I am sure you have seen the many watercolour's and sketches that Peter produced over the years, here on PCASUK. He was a lover of all nature. Wildlife, birds, flowers, sea life . . .

THIS LOOK INTO Peter's home study, gives us a peep into the things that surrounded his day, the photo portrate of his late wife, the paperwork, the delicate bird figures he made and his desk. Just a few weeks before these photographs were taken, Cushing had began his journey, in 'keeping busy' in March until April, he returned in his first film just weeks after Helen passed, #Hammerfilms 'Twins of Evil'. September he filmed his award winning performance as Arthur Grimsdyke in Amicus films, '#TalesfromtheCrypt' at #Sheppertonstudios, work on Hammer's #DraculaAD1972' as Van Helsing with #ChristopherLee as the Count, kept him busy from September 27th until November 5th along with several radio appearances from September 30th until early November.

ABOVE: THE PHOTOGRAPHS in this feature were a series of snaps taken by a photographer from the BBC RADIO TIMES listings magazine, to provide a photo illustration to support and promote the above BBC RADIO programme. Sounds Natural was a weekly radio programme that interviewed guests and celebrities on their views and opinions on the subject of their choice, within the theme of countryside and nature in the UK. Cushing's programme centred on wildlife and countryside of his home in the seaside town of Whitstable in Kent. A town that had been home to he and his late wife, Helen since the late 1950's.

THE RADIO TIMES 1ST -7TH JANUARY 1971 : There was of course much to choose from to grace the pages of this weeks issue of the BBC listing magazine, 'Radio Times'. Ironically, characters that Peter Cushing himself was more than familiar with.... Dr Who and the ever popular Daleks were rolling the drums for the arrival of a new series of episodes were Jon Pertwee's tv Doctor Who would be taking on the fiends for another welcomed and entertaining and cliff hanger battle. Cushing had played a 'version' of the good Dr / Doctor in two full colour films during 1965 and 66, 'Dr Who and the Daleks' and 'Daleks Invasion of Earth 2150 AD'. Neither of which are really canon to the tv series...or are they? Decide for yourself : HERE! 
 

CUSHING brought the year to an end, with shooting Hammer films, 'Fear In The Night' with Ralph Bates and Judy Geeson .... hence the little moustache, of his character headmaster, Michael Carmichael. #PeterCushing was allergic to spirit gum that would hold on a false tash, so he grew his facial hair when roles required it! A busy time, indeed. - Marcus Brooks

#VINCENTPRICE: 'NEVER MIND FINDING WITCHES I FOUND THE CANDY AND CHOCOLATE!'

'NEVER MIND FINDING THE WITCHES.. I found the CANDY and CHOCOLATE!' A fab photo sent to me by Frank N Stein today 😊 We all know that #VincentPrice was a 'choc-o-holic' . .and here is the proof . . it's also heart warming to discover he was a very generous one too! Here is Vincent, while on location filming, in full 'Matthew Hopkins' costume and on a quest though the streets of 1967 #Suffolk #UK... buying a stash of sherbet and chocolate, for himself and the crew of 'Witch-Finder General'! It seems that VP was a '#sherbet' lover too and who can blame him... like the candy and chocolate, Vincent Price was sweet, unique and always leaves me wanting more 😄😉 - Marcus

UPDATE: ON POSTING this photograph in our daily posts at the FACEBOOK PCASUK FAN PAGE today, PCASUK follower Stuart Carroll, who lives in the town where Price was buying his chocolate all those years ago, saw the PCASUK pic today, and zipped down to the location of where 'Dora Rogers Sweets and Alcohol' store was located all those years ago and snapped this terrific pic of him this morning . .  with chocolate! Many thanks to Stuart for taking the time and effort to do this today and sharing the pic 😃 - Marcus    

#LUSH! My FAVOURITE Peter Cushing lobby still. One of eight, from the UK distributors photographs of pics that would have been displayed in the lobby of cinema or in those wonderful glass cabinets that you would see in the foyer or on the wall outside the entrance of the cinema.. remember those? Because they were hang up, pinned or often hung up in damp glass cabinets and open to the elements, few survive today . . so if they are 90% intact, it's a rarity. All these stills were black and white, but hand tinted in four or less colours. They were cheap to produced and looked better than black and white lobby stills... now, they are worth a fortune! I love the richness of the colours in this one 😊 It's a wonderful pose of Peter Cushing in his second horror genre role for Hammer films. He would appear as Van Helsing in another four films for Hammer . . and he aged and played the role so well😉 - Marcus

ACTOR STUART WHITMAN DIES

SAD NEWS to report legendary actor Stuart Whitman has passed at aged 92. He known for his lengthy career in both media. Whitman played major roles in a large variety of genres. Some of these credits includes ' The Mark ' (1961) for which he was nominated for best actor at the Academy Awards, the Western film 'The Comancheros' (1961), the comedy 'Those Magnificent Men in their Flying Machines' (1965), and the horror 'Night of the Lepus ' (1972).

 
ON TELEVISION, Whitman is known for roles in 'Highway Patrol' (1955–1957), Cimarron Strip (1967), and Superboy (1988–1992). He co-starred with Peter Cushing in Hammer's 'Shatter' aka 'Call Him Mr Shatter' (1974) Cushing's final film for the company. He also worked with Milton Subotsky in the horror anthology 'The Monster Club' (1980)

HAPPY ST PATRICK'S DAY AND PADDY PUSHES THE WHEELCHAIR!

A HAPPY #STPATRICKSDAY! I was looking for any connections with Peter and Ireland... couldn't find anything really. A few tours in theatre productions and the filming of #Hammerfilms, 'Sword of Sherwood Forest' Robin Hood film in some beautiful surroundings.. And then I realised I had missed the obvious . . Paddy Smith! 😃

PADDY WAS A CLOSE friend to Peter for many years, was his driver, stand-in, and extra in quite a few films, Hammer's 'The Curse of Frankenstein' and 'Frankenstein Created Woman' , 'Captain Clegg' . . he drove the coach to Château Meinster in 'Brides of Dracula' and did some work on Christopher Lee and Peter Cushing's 'Nothing But The Night' .. sometimes known under it's 'total give away title' 'The Resurrection Syndicate' in 1973. Here is Paddy in costume, clowning around with PC during the shoot. Paddy appeared in quite a lot of TV work too, usually 'walk on-walk off' roles. BUT he always stands out! 😃 If you are celebrating today, have a grand and safe 😐 Happy St Patrick's Day 😊

A RARE AND CANDID photograph of Peter Cushing on a home visit to see his friends, Nic Gadd and his wife in Whitstable in around 1991😊 .. this was a rare thing, as in his later years PC loved nothing better than staying home, reading. During the 1950's up until his wife Helen died in 1971, he 'upstairs studio' was his den of many, many hobbies and activities . . painting, model making, stamps, postcards . . a man happy to #stayathome

ROY HUDD : COMEDIAN ACTOR AND VARIETY HISTORIAN DIES AGED 83

AFTER A SHORT ILLNESS, Roy passed away peacefully yesterday afternoon, Sunday 15th March. It's very sad news. At 83, Roy had a career that gave us a great comedian, excellent straight actor.. and proved himself to be our most knowledgeable and authoritative variety and comedy historian too. Hudd was a treasure, for so long. Back in 1968, he appeared in his first feature film with #PeterCushing .. 'The Blood Beast Terror'. Not the best of films, but an extremely enjoyable experience for Roy, who he said, 'savoured every minute working with Peter!' Roy had a very productive and long career in both radio and theatre.. both will now be a sad place without him . . #RoyHudd 16 May 1936 - 15 March 2020.

ROY HUDD, hosted BBC Radio 2 sketch show The News Huddlines from 1975 until 2001 and also starred in Broadchurch and as Archie Shuttleworth in Coronation Street. His TV career began in 1964 with satirical series That Was The Week That Was after a stint as a Butlin’s Redcoat in Clacton alongside Sir Cliff Richard. He went on to perform in variety shows in London and became a huge fan of music hall, later writing books on the subject.Born in Croydon in 1936, he worked in telephone exchanges for the RAF. 

ABOVE: During our 20th Anniversary of Peter Cushing's passing, we shared ROY HUDD's memory of working with Peter on the film 'The Blood Beast Terror' READ IT HERE! 

HIS INTEREST in entertaining was sparked when he went to live with his grandmother who regularly took him to Croydon’s Empire Theatre. Hudd made his professional debut as a comedian in 1957 at the Streatham Hill Theatre, where he was billed as The Peculiar Person. Across a varied career, he appeared in Call The Midwife, Midsomer Murders and Holby City, as well as Dennis Potter’s Lipstick On Your Collar, and Karaoke. Other projects include acclaimed comedy-drama Common As Muck and David Jason’s The Quest.

HUDD'S passion for music hall meant that alongside writing books, he also re-recorded and restored old music hall records, and appeared in a revival show called The Good Old Days. He was the longstanding president of the British Music Hall Society, and chose the genre as his specialist subject when he appeared on Celebrity Mastermind in 2014.

HUDD WAS awarded an OBE for services to entertainment in the 2004 New Year Honours List. Three years ago, Roy provided the narration to Donald Fearney's mammoth dvd documentary on Amicus films, 'Amicus : The Vault of Horror's'. 

MORECAMBE AND WISE : WHEN CUSHING ALMOST GOT PAID TWICE AND CHRISTMAS 1970 REHEARSAL PHOTOGRAPHS

TWO GREAT AND RARELY SEEN photographs taken when Peter Cushing appeared on his SECOND 'Morecambe and Wise' show, the 1970 Christmas Show! It was also the beginning and first time the 'I want my money' gag appeared too! The long running gag of Cushing making guest appearances, 'begging' for the cheque that he was never paid for his first guest star appearance in the 1969 show. This was also the show that gave Eric, the chance to “saw a Peter Cushing in half”. In this photograph we see, Eric and Ernie, actor Eric Porter (“A drunk’s just come on. Play it cool. Don’t worry about it”) . . . William Franklyn, who appeared with Cushing in #Hammerfilms, 'The Satanic Rites of #Dracula' ..all here performing a very funny sketch loosely adapted from #TheThreeMusketeers.

ONE THE SUBJECT of the 'MONEY' ... many people forget PC was paid in a sketch that stretched through a Christmas Show on ITV in 1980. Eric and Ernie were Carol Singers, and PC snatched the collection box from them!

IN FACT PETER WAS ALMOST PAID TWICE!... on Peter's 'This is Your Life' in 1990, Ernie as a guest tried to pay PC, in a little 'bit of business'. But in trying to do a bit of 'patter' with Peter, PC improvised and totally lost the plot ... the gag was derailed, and Ernie improvised and took the 20 quid away!! Ernie was trying the well known, 'I'll lend you 20 pounds 'gag...which PC no doubt knew at one time... but not then! 😀😛 It was a bit of a mess with Cushing calling Joyce Broughton his secretary  'Ernie' at one point, when unable to do the math in his head. Understandable... even though PC knew about the show, it was no secret to him. But as many interviews knew at this time, PC could be a little unpredictable 😊.