Portrait of Peter Sallis

Birthday profile

Peter Sallis

Peter Sallis, English actor (died 2017)

Born
February 1, 1921
Died
June 2, 2017
Zodiac sign
Aquarius
Birth year
1921

About Peter Sallis

Peter Sallis (1 February 1921 – 2 June 2017) was an English actor. He was the original voice of Wallace in the Academy Award-winning Wallace & Gromit films and played Norman "Cleggy" Clegg in Last of the Summer Wine from its 1973 inception until the final episode in 2010, making him the only actor to appear in all 295 episodes. Additionally, he portrayed Norman Clegg's father in the prequel series First of the Summer Wine. Among his television credits, Peter Sallis appeared in Danger Man, The Avengers, Doctor Who (The Ice Warriors), The Persuaders! and The Ghosts of Motley Hall. Peter Sallis' film appearances included the Hammer horror films The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) and Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970). After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Peter Sallis made his first appearance on the professional stage at the Arts Theatre in September 1946 in the small roles of Soldier and Servant in R. He became a wireless mechanic instead and went on to teach radio procedures at RAF Cranwell for which he won a Korda Scholarship. In Gielgud's 1953 gramophone recording of The Importance of Being Earnest Peter Sallis played Lane opposite Roland Culver as Algernon.

Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.

Peter Sallis timeline

  1. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Peter Sallis made his first appearance on the professional stage at the Arts Theatre in September 1946 in the small roles of Soldier and Servant in R.
  2. In Gielgud's 1953 gramophone recording of The Importance of Being Earnest Peter Sallis played Lane opposite Roland Culver as Algernon.
  3. He was the original voice of Wallace in the Academy Award-winning Wallace & Gromit films and played Norman "Cleggy" Clegg in Last of the Summer Wine from its 1973 inception until the final episode in 2010, making him the only actor to appear in all 295 episodes.

The world when Peter Sallis was born

Peter Sallis was born in 1921. The year snapshot below places that birthday in its cultural and historical setting: the music and films people were following, the headlines shaping public life, and the everyday prices families encountered.

Culture in 1921

  • #1 song"My Man" – Fanny Brice
  • Top movieThe Kid (Charlie Chaplin)
  • Best-selling bookMain Street – Sinclair Lewis

Headlines and milestones

  • Major sports momentJack Dempsey vs Georges Carpentier — first million-dollar gate
  • Top headlineWarren G. Harding inaugurated as 29th President
  • Technology milestoneAlbert Einstein wins the Nobel Prize in Physics
  • Defining fadOuija boards
  • Notable inventionLie detector (polygraph)
  • World population1.88 billion

United States snapshot

  • U.S. leaderWarren G. Harding
  • Sports championNew York Giants (World Series)
  • U.S. population108.5M

1921 versus 2026

These figures put everyday life in Peter Sallis's birth year beside the site's latest United States snapshot.

Measure19212026
Gas$0.26$3.45/gal
Average home$5,500$435,000
Average income$3,010$67,500
Movie ticket$0.15$11.95
Postage stamp$0.02$0.73
Population108.5M341 million

Sources and editorial standards

This profile combines a biographical source with structured birthday and historical context. Sources recorded for this profile: Wikipedia, IMDb, Wikidata. See our editorial policy for sourcing, corrections, and review standards.

Read the source biography on Wikipedia. Wikipedia text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.