Peter Francis Baldwin (29 July 1933 – 21 October 2015) was an English actor. He was best known for his role as Derek Wilton in the British

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' (colloquially referred to as ''Corrie'') is a British television soap opera created by ITV Granada, Granada Television and shown on ITV (TV network), ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres on a cobbled, terraced ...

''.Ex-Coronation Street actor opens toy shop in Hatfield
,

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

, 3 November 2010, retrieved 24 November 2010

Early life

Peter was born in Chidham, near

Chichester Chichester ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and civil parish in the Chichester District, Chichester district of West Sussex, England.OS Explorer map 120: Chichester, South Harting and Selsey Scale: 1:25 000. Publisher ...

Sussex Sussex (Help:IPA/English, /ˈsʌsɪks/; from the Old English ''Sūþseaxe''; lit. 'South Saxons'; 'Sussex') is an area within South East England that was historically a kingdom of Sussex, kingdom and, later, a Historic counties of England, ...

, where his father was a primary school headmaster and his mother a teacher. He attended Horsham Grammar School and then did

National Service National service is a system of compulsory or voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act ...

in the army.''

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

'' obituary, 26 October 2015, p. 56 His introduction to the theatre came during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

when his parents took him to see a

Chichester Festival Theatre Chichester Festival Theatre is a theatre and Grade II* listed building situated in Oaklands Park in the city of Chichester, West Sussex, England. Designed by Philip Powell and Hidalgo Moya, it was opened by its founder Leslie Evershed-Mart ...

production of ''

Peter Pan Peter Pan is a fictional character created by Scottish novelist and playwright J. M. Barrie. A free-spirited and mischievous young boy who can fly and never grows up, Peter Pan spends his never-ending childhood having adventures on the mythical ...

'' starring Ann Todd and Alastair Sim.

Career

After training to be an actor at the

Bristol Old Vic Theatre School The Bristol Old Vic Theatre School (BOVTS) is a drama school in Bristol, England. The institution provides training in acting and production for careers in film, television and theatre. BOVTS was an affiliate of the Conservatoire for Dance a ...

, Baldwin joined the West of England Theatre Company, in which he worked with future ''Coronation Street'' partner Thelma Barlow. He later toured with the

Old Vic Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

and joined the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

. Baldwin made several appearances in films (in bit parts and extras) until he landed a main role in the television comedy ''Girls About Town'', which ran from 1969 to 1971. He also made guest appearances on other television series such as ''Menace'', ''The New Dick Van Dyke Show'' and '' Spy Trap'', and had several roles in

West End theatre West End theatre is mainstream professional theatre staged in the large theatres in and near the West End of London.Christopher Innes"West End"in ''The Cambridge Guide to Theatre'' (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), pp. 1194–1195, ...

. He appeared on ITV as the Hotel Manager, Mr Humfries, in an adaptation of Agatha Christie's, At Bertram's Hotel in 1986. He appeared as a Desk Clerk in the '' Tales of the Unexpected (TV series)'' episode (9/6) "Wink Three Times" (1988). In 1976 he joined the cast of ''Coronation Street'', intermittently playing the character of Derek Wilton, eventually returning as a regular character in 1988.Foster, Paul (1976)
Happy Days For Peter...
, ''

Evening Times The ''Glasgow Times'' is an evening tabloid newspaper published Monday to Saturday in the city of Glasgow, Scotland. Called ''The Evening Times'' from 1876, it was rebranded as the ''Glasgow Times'' on 4 December 2019.Mavis Riley for many years, but eventually the two got married. It was reported that Derek was one of the favourite characters among a certain segment of viewers of the show, but in 1997 the character was killed off.Brace, Matthew (1997)
`Street' is left deserted as soap exodus continues
, ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'', 24 May 1997, retrieved 24 November 2010 Benjamin Pollocks Toy Shop exterior

For the year after this, Baldwin made many appearances on talk shows and quiz shows in the UK such as ''

GMTV GMTV (an initialism for Good Morning Television), now legally known as ''ITV Breakfast, ITV Breakfast Broadcasting Limited'', was the name of the national ITV (TV network), ITV breakfast television contractor/licensee, broadcasting in the Uni ...

'', '' This Morning'' and '' Crosswits'' and also returned to the stage for the first time in a decade in ''A Month of Sundays'', as well as touring in the musical '' Summer Holiday''. He then joined the cast of the TV show ''Out Of Sight'' as Uncle Gus until 1999. He continued to appear in TV series, including ''The Court Room'' and ''

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''. In 2005 he was a panelist on the

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by Channel Four Television Corporation. It is state-owned enterprise, publicly owned but, unlike the BBC, it receives no public funding and is funded en ...

quiz show '' Countdown''. In 1988 Baldwin took over the ownership of Benjamin Pollock's Toy Shop in London's

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist sit ...

, where he had previously worked between acting jobs and could often be found serving behind the counter. He was married to the former '' Play School'' presenter and actress Sarah Long until her death in 1987. They met in 1961 when they appeared together in a production of ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' which toured Europe and America. The couple married in 1965.Peter Baldwin Obituary - ''The Scotsman'' - 26 October 2015
/ref> Baldwin made an appearance on the 1978 Boxing Day edition of ''Play School'', which Long was co-presenting with

Don Spencer Donald Richard Spencer (born 22 March 1937) is an Australian singer-songwriter, musician, and former children's television presenter. He had a long tenure as a host on ''Play School'' on both the Play School (Australian TV series), Australian ...

. Baldwin died at home in

Hampstead Hampstead () is an area in London, England, which lies northwest of Charing Cross, located mainly in the London Borough of Camden, with a small part in the London Borough of Barnet. It borders Highgate and Golders Green to the north, Belsiz ...

in north London aged 82, after a short battle with cancer. He was survived by his children Julia and Matthew.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Baldwin, Peter 1933 births 2015 deaths 20th-century British Army personnel 20th-century English male actors 21st-century English male actors Deaths from cancer in England English male soap opera actors English male stage actors Male actors from West Sussex People from Chidham and Hambrook Actors from Chichester District