Beloved British actor Peter Sallis, best known internationally as the bumbling, cheese-loving inventor Wallace in Aardman’s whimsical claymation series Wallace & Gromit, has passed away at the age of 96.
Image: Aardman Animation.
Also known in the UK for his role in the long-running sitcom Last of the Summer Wine — in which Sallis was the only actor to appear in every episode of the series’ nearly 300-episode run — internationally he will be forever remembered as the voice of Wallace in Nick Park’s classic series, from its four shorts — A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave and 2008’s A Matter of Loaf and Death — to its feature length movie, Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and a host of other short skits, video games, advertisements, and other projects shown over the world.
Sallis’ take on Wallace as a hapless, yet ever-optimistic hero — whether in his love life or in his latest crazy invention — endeared him to audiences of millions young and old: A charming, witty and beloved embodiment of the spirit and self-effacing humour most British people strive to be thought of as across the world. Our thoughts are with his family in this trying time.
[BBC]