Born as Peter Ewart Ohm in Wem, Shropshire (UK) on 4 April 1923, Peter Vaughan was a British character actor, known for many supporting roles in British films and TV productions. He made his film debut in 1959 as a police officer in ‘The 39 Steps’. He continued for several years to play small parts before gaining his first starring role in a minor picture called ‘Smokescreen’ (1964). In 1967, he received second billing opposite Frank Sinatra in the film ‘The Naked Runner’. He worked with Terry Gilliam in the films ‘Time Bandits’ and Brazil. Possibly his highest-profile film performance was as the father of Anthony Hopkins’s character in ‘The Remains of the Day’ (1993).

He was best known for his role as Grouty in the sitcom ‘Porridge’ (despite appearing in only three episodes and the 1979 film) and also had a recurring role alongside Robert Lindsay in ‘Citizen Smith’. His final role was Maester Aemon in HBO’s ‘Game of Thrones’ (2011–15).

For Kate Bush, he portrayed the ruthless General in the music video for the song Experiment IV.

He died on 6 December 2016 at the age of 93 from epilepsy and natural causes.