Peter Vaughan

Peter Ewart Ohm (4 April 1923 – 6 December 2016), known professionally as Peter Vaughan, was an English actor known for many supporting roles in British film and television productions. He also acted extensively on stage.

Vaughan played Grouty in the sitcom Porridge and its 1979 film adaptation. His other roles included a recurring role alongside Robert Lindsay in the sitcom Citizen Smith, Tom Hedden in Straw Dogs, Winston the Ogre in Time Bandits, Tom Franklin in Chancer, and Mr. Stevens Sr. in The Remains of the Day. His final role was as Maester Aemon in HBO's Game of Thrones (2011–2015).

Early life

Vaughan was born Peter Ewart Ohm on 4 April 1923 in Wem, Shropshire, the son of a bank clerk, Max Ohm, who was an Austrian immigrant, and Eva Wright, a nurse. The family later moved to Wellington, Shropshire, where he began his schooling. Vaughan said that while reciting a poem at infant school in Wellington he first experienced the applause and admiration coming from a good performance. From the age of seven he lived in Staffordshire, where he attended Uttoxeter Grammar School. After leaving school, Vaughan joined the Wolverhampton Repertory Theatre in 1939, and gained experience in other repertory theatres as well. He adopted the stage name Peter Vaughan, though he never changed his name legally.

During service in the British Army during the Second World War, he was commissioned a second lieutenant in the Royal Corps of Signals on 9 June 1943, and served in Normandy, Belgium, and the Far East. At the end of the war, Vaughan was in Singapore during the liberation of Changi Prison.