One of the greatest camp cult icons of the Swinging Sixties, the ultimate louche "cool dude" (and a direct inspiration on the character Austin Powers), Peter Wyngarde aka Jason King is dead. Many facets of the man's life were shrouded in mystery - not least the date and circumstances of his birth; even his true birth name. Despite becoming wildly popular as the archetypal "ladies' man" on screen, it was a well-known fact in theatrical circles that he was Alan Bates' lover for a decade.
Facts:
- Before his international screen stardom, Mr Wyngarde was a renowned Shakespearean actor; appearing on stage in The Merchant of Venice, Othello, Hamlet, Macbeth and The Taming of the Shrew.
- He and the writer J.G. Ballard were prisoners of the Japanese together during World War II.
- In 1975, he was arrested and convicted for an act of "gross indecency" in the toilets of Gloucester Bus Station; the story made the tabloid headlines and more or less ended his career.
- He released an album titled When Sex Leers Its Inquisitive Head, a copy of which we (inevitably) have in our collection. It is - ahem - unusual, to say the least.
- He once beat Cliff Richard and George Best to be crowned Britain’s best-dressed man.
- Even on his death bed, he told his manager off for buttoning the upper button on his shirt.
RIP Peter Paul Wyngarde (possibly born Cyril Goldbert, c. 1927 – 15th January 2018)
