Peter Cushing was born on May 26, 1913 in Kenley, Surrey, England. On August 11, 1994 Peter Cushing passed away in Canterbury, Kent, England, from prostate cancer.

Headed fot Hollywood in 1939 Peter Cushing made his film debut in THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK.

After the war Peter Cushing performed in the West End and had his big break appearing with Laurence Olivier in the film HAMLET in 1948. The film HAMLET with Peter Cushing also include his future partner-in-horror Christopher Lee he had a bit part. Both actors also appeared in MOULIN ROUGE (1952).

In the 1950s Peter Cushing began his legendary association with Hammer Film Productions in its remakes of the 1930s Universal horror classics. His first Hammer roles included Dr. Frankenstein in THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN (1957), Dr. Van Helsing in DRACULA (1958) and Sherlock Holmes in THE HOUNDS OF THE BASKERVILLES (1959).

By the mid 1970s major horror companies had stopped production, but Cushing, firmly established as a horror star, continued in the genre for some time thereafter. Peter Cushing was guest of honor at the Famous Monsters of Filmland Convention in New York City in 1975. After receiving a thunderous ovation from those in attendance, he looked at everyone and said, "Have you ever felt unloved?"

In 1986 Peter Cushing published Peter Cushing: An Autobiography.

Outside of horror films Peter Cushing is best-known for his role as Grand Moff Tarkin in George Lucas' phenomenally successful science fiction film STAR WARS (1977). The costume boots they gave Cushing for STAR WARS (1977) were too small and hurt his feet. Cushing told George Lucas this, and asked if he could wear slippers instead. Lucas agreed, and shot Cushing from the waist up for nearly all his scenes to compensate for Cushing's slippers.

Peter Cushing's other notable credits include...

BIGGLES (1986)
HOUSE OF LONG SHADOWS (1983)
STAR WARS (1977)
LEGEND OF THE WEREWOLF (1975)
THE LEGEND OF THE 7 GOLDEN VAMPIRES (1974)
FRANKENSTEIN AND THE MONSTER FROM HELL (1974)
TALES OF THE CRYPT (1972)
DR. TERROR'S HOUSE OF HORRORS (1965)
MOULIN ROUGE (1952)
THE MAN IN THE IRON MASK (1939)