Peter Hawkins

Peter John Hawkins (3 April 1924 – 8 July 2006) was a British actor whose career spanned from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s. Following his breakthrough in Royal Navy theatre performances subsequent to his survival of the sinking of HMS Limbourne, he developed into one of the most sought-after voice artists in the United Kingdom.

He was best known for his vocal contributions to children's television series;

Career Following his time with Scran Bag, Hawkins won a two-year place at the Central School of Speech and Drama, 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. 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. 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. which led to him being cast as the Daleks in Doctor Who in 1963. 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 second series, even writing various skits,

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 voice overs like his acting parts (the right voice for a character appearing if the right ideas were thought) allowed him to reprise the roles. 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". According to Silas, Hawkins gave thought to every role, yet never looked back at them.

His wife, Rosemary Miller, whom he had married in 1956, also had an interest in collecting paintings. 1984 And the Walls Came Tumbling Down Narrator documentary film, voice only 1988 Stowaways on the Ark Willi Worm English version, voice only 1989 Asterix and the Big Fight Getafix English version, voice only 1990 Peter in Magicland Sandman English version, voice only

Television Alexander Scrope

Petrio

Albert

Radio