archytele The Vault

Peter Howell

Acting Born Oct 25, 1919 Kensington, London, England, UK 24 credits

Biography

Peter Howell was an English actor of stage and screen. Despite his relatively privileged life (he was educated at Winchester and at Christ Church, Oxford, leaving the latter when called up for service as an officer in the Rifle Brigade during WWII) Howell was a lifelong active member of the Labour Party and campaigned for a number of social issues. One of his most remembered roles is that of the governor in Alan Clarke's 1979 film version of Scum, which he took because he wanted to highlight the issues regarding the penal system. He was also a longtime member of the Marylebone Cricket Club, and opposed their planned 1968-69 England cricket tour of apartheid-era South Africa, which was eventually cancelled. He helped to raise funds for the building of Watermans Arts Centre near his home in Chiswick, west London. Howell died at Denville Hall, a home for retired actors in Northwood, London, on 20 April 2015 after a short illness, aged 95

Ask the Vault

Ask anything about Peter Howell.

Known for

Agatha Christie's Poirot

as Mr. Paul
Film

The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

as Investigator

The Professionals

as Howard

Rumpole of the Bailey

as Judge Leonard Dover

Playhouse

as Consultant

Jeeves and Wooster

as Magistrate

The Prisoner

as Professor

Full filmography

  • Agatha Christie's Poirot (1989) as Mr. Paul
  • Doctor Who (1963) as Investigator
  • Tales of the Unexpected (1979) as Louis Kendall
  • The Professionals (1977) as Howard
  • Rumpole of the Bailey (1975) as Judge Leonard Dover
  • Playhouse (1974) as Consultant
  • Theatre 625 (1964) as Headmaster
  • Theatre 625 (1964) as Whale
  • The Sweeney (1975) as Alan Sevier
  • Jeeves and Wooster (1990) as Magistrate
  • ITV Playhouse (1967) as Geoff
  • The Champions (1968) as Admiral Cox
  • The Prisoner (1967) as Professor
  • Dr. Finlay's Casebook (1962) as Mr Rayburn
  • BBC2 Play of the Week (1977) as Other H2A
  • Churchill's People (1974) as Samson
  • Story Parade (1964) as Dean Welch
  • Espionage (1963) as Professor Voekler
  • Reilly: Ace of Spies (1983) as Rothschild
  • Dalgliesh (1983) as Sir Charles Freeborn
  • A.D. (1985) as Atticus
  • Elizabeth R (1971) as Lord Howard
  • Somerset Maugham Hour (1960) as Arthur Lowe
  • Bill Brand (1976) as Venables