Peter Hawkins

Peter John Hawkins (3 April 1924 – 8 July 2006) was a British actor. From the 1950s to 1980s, he was one of the most sought-after voice artists for television.

Early life

Peter John Hawkins was born on 3 April 1924 in Hargwyne Street in Brixton, south London, to Detective Inspector John Stephen and piano player Doris Matilda. According to his son Silas, his father's talent was derived from his mother's ability to mimic others; Hawkins made his first stage appearance as a member of the chorus in a musical. During his last year at school, he wrote, with three friends, a revue entitled ''The Five Bs'', the name of their form. He worked at Pitman's from the ages of 16 to 18, writing similar shows at a youth club. Hawkins joined the Royal Navy, entertaining with impressions for which he wrote scripts, and survived when HMS ''Limbourne'' sank after being torpedoed escorting the cruiser ''Charybdis'' near Guernsey. He was rescued by Ronnie Hill, a theatre actor at the time, and while recovering, Hawkins took part in plays, which resulted in his being taken into Combined Operations' Entertainments productions of the Royal Naval Barracks' Scran Bag.

Career

Following his time with Scran Bag, Hawkins won a two-year place at the Central School of Speech and Drama, and in 1949, his television career began with an adaptation of J.B. Priestley's ''The Good Companions''. He began his long association with children's television with the magazine programme ''Whirligig'' portraying several characters, most notably as the voice of puppet Mr. Turnip. Hawkins joined the show after being asked by the producer of a children's serial he was playing the villain for.

In 1952, Hawkins became the voices of both Bill and Ben, the '' Flower Pot Men'', for which he invented their Oddle-Poddle language. He made Bill's voice higher-pitched and Ben's lower to distinguish them, and praised the puppetry of Audrey Atterbury. The scripts would be written in English, and Peter would translate them into Oddle-Poddle, creating words similar to "Slogalog" (Slowcoach the Tortoise) and "Haddap" (Hello). He, Audrey and Gladys Whitred would keep in touch for at least thirty years afterwards.

In 1956, Hawkins married actress Rosemary Miller, who he met doing voices on '' Toytown''. Hawkins was Ernest the Policeman, and reprised the role for the 1972 series. Hawkins would also meet Roy Skelton during ''Toytown'', becoming a close friend. He would also be offered the role of a Doctor in Miller's star series '' Emergency Ward 10'', although due to his many voice roles, he was unable to appear.

One of his best-known roles was all the voices in '' Captain Pugwash''. Creator John Ryan praised him for his ability to perform many different voices, although he had to be hidden behind a monitor due to his facial expressions distracting the animators. Because of this, he could write down notes about incidental characters in the script and be reminded by them appearing onscreen.

Hawkins gained a reputation for pulling off difficult character voices, ''The Dalek Invasion of Earth'' DVD which led to him being cast as the Daleks in ''Doctor Who'' in 1963. After a trial session he settled on a monotone, which caused worry among executives that it would become monotonous. He solved this problem by raising the voice's pitch when the Daleks got angry. Hawkins would voice the Daleks in every subsequent 1960s story they appeared in, as well as the two 1960s feature films, ''The Curse of the Daleks'' stage play and '' Out of the Unknown'', and he and fellow Dalek voice David Graham would become lifelong friends; star William Hartnell and guest star Kevin Stoney would also strike up a relationship. Despite his son Silas being a ''Doctor Who'' fan, he did not find it strange that it was his father voicing the Daleks, although the ''Daily Express'' framed it as if he boasted to his friends about it, which Hawkins hated.

In 1966, Hawkins voiced the Cybermen in the fourth and final part of the ''Doctor Who'' serial '' The Tenth Planet'', originated by Roy Skelton. For the subsequent three Cyberman serials he used an electrolarynx, which he described as very uncomfortable. He never returned afterwards, as he had enough of having to fund it himself. He was, however, considered to be the voice of K9 before John Leeson, with whom Hawkins had worked with on the first year of Thames Television's ''Rainbow'', won the role.

One of his most prominent live-action roles in the period was 1965's ''The Big Spender'', for which he grew and curled his hair for three months. As well, throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s he appeared in many advertising magazine programmes. In 1969 he played an Albanian interpreter speaking English in '' The Power Game'', which he considered his hardest role to play.

In 1972, Hawkins joined the ensemble of '' Dave Allen at Large'' for the series’ second season, even writing various skits, and remaining for its third and fourth. He provided the original voice of Zippy in ''Rainbow'', which began that same year. In the pilot, he also voiced Sunshine, Bramble and Pillar, but after many policy changes they were removed. He tried to rewrite gags, which proved hard for the target audience, and so left the series, despite being asked to stay. He was eventually replaced by Roy Skelton, whom he recommended.

Throughout the 1980s, as well as providing voices in ''SuperTed'', '' The Family-Ness'' and ''Jimbo and the Jet-Set'', Hawkins reprised his roles of Bill and Ben for various shows, including ''Six Fifty-Five Special'' and ''Blue Peter''. His treatment of voiceovers like his acting parts (the right voice for a character appearing if the right ideas were thought) allowed him to reprise the roles. In 1988 he, his wife Rosemary Miller and David Graham did voices together for the English dub of the German animated film '' Stowaways on the Ark''.

Due to Hawkins' role as Spotty Dog in ''The Woodentops'', he was chosen by Nick Park to voice Gromit in his short film '' A Grand Day Out''. He eventually decided to make Gromit a mute character to save on the effort required to animate his mouth, instead using his eyes and monobrow to communicate. None of Hawkins' original dialogue has been publicly released. Although Gromit snores and whimpers in ''A Grand Day Out'', whether or not these were recorded by him is unconfirmed.

Silas believed his father had the most involvement with the ''Flower Pot Men'', although he also enjoyed the diverse cast of ''Captain Pugwash'', being very proud when it appeared in ''The Times'' as a crossword clue: "The captain is all for the dog having a bath". By comparison, when it was claimed Hilda Brabban created the '' Flower Pot Men'', Hawkins immediately wrote a rebuttal. According to Silas, Hawkins gave thought to every role, yet never looked back at them.

Personal life

Hawkins was interested in jewellery, fossils, "serious" music and eating out. He supported Chelsea F.C.. He used his record collection to expand his vocal range, and also had a collection of Japanese sword guards and Impressionist works, including those of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Claude Monet, much to the delight of Gale Pedrick. He considered his collection as "applause" for his busy yet anonymous voice work. In 1977, however, he sold his collection of sword guards at Sotheby's, with the highest-selling, by Seiyoken Hagiya Katsuhira and depicting the Three Sake Tasters, fetching £4,200, an auction record.

His wife, Rosemary Miller, whom he had married in 1956, also had an interest in collecting paintings. On 27 August 1959, they had a son named Silas, who was named in case he grew up to become an actor, which he did, going to follow his parents' careers and provide voiceovers on shows such as ''Summerton Mill''. Despite his busy schedule, Hawkins spent lots of time with his son, reading bedtime stories as if he was recording, which Silas thought was overwhelming.

Health problems

Hawkins regularly smoked 20 Olivier cigarettes in his prime, and, later, it would give him eczema. According to his son Silas, Hawkins' wife Rosemary would constantly dress his rashes. In 1992, Hawkins had an operation to remove a tumor in his brain, which left him unable to read and made him very drowsy.

Death

Hawkins died on 8 July 2006, aged 82, of pneumonia. The funeral was held at St. Matthews in Queensway, where Silas was baptised. A showing of " The Survivors", his first ''Doctor Who'' episode, was arranged, and Silas scattered his ashes at Fermain Bay, Guernsey, where HMS ''Limbourne'' sank.

Filmography

Film

Television

Radio

Sources

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References

External links

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Voice of the Daleks dies at 82
Lester Haines (''The Register'') Thursday 20 July 2006 10:35 GMT
''Daily Telegraph'' obituary

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawkins, Peter
1924 births
2006 deaths
20th-century English male actors
Actors from the London Borough of Lambeth
English male radio actors
English male television actors
English male voice actors
Male actors from London
People from Brixton
Royal Navy personnel of World War II