Peter Bowles – A Born Charmer

No-one played a suave Englishman better than Peter Bowles, as Douglas McPherson remembers.

BEST known as self-made businessman Richard DeVere in "To The Manor Born", Peter Bowles made a career out of playing smooth charmers and elegant rogues.

Born in Upper Boddington on October 16, 1936, Peter grew up in a poor part of Nottingham in a house with an outside toilet and no bath.

After shining in school plays, he won a scholarship to RADA, where he became engaged to a circus strong woman.

"She could bend iron bars and tear telephone books in half," he remembered.

At six foot four, Peter was an imposing figure himself.

The relationship didn't last, however, and he soon met Susan, whom he wed in 1961.

As drama students, they lived in a converted garage with Albert Finney. Their classmates included Peter O'Toole, Alan Bates, and Richard Briers.

Although Susan was offered parts with the Royal Shakespeare Company, she opted to leave the acting world and support her husband's career, while raising their three children, Guy, Adam, and Sasha.