Peter John Hawkins (3 April 1924 – 8 July 2006) was a British actor whose career spanned from the mid-1940s to the early 1990s. Following his breakthrough in Royal Navy theatre performances subsequent to his survival of the sinking of HMS Limbourne, he developed into one of the most sought-after voice artists in the United Kingdom.
He was best known for his vocal contributions to children's television series;Home, Anna Into the Box of Delights, London: BBC Books, 1993 this began with voicing Mr Turnip in the magazine series Whirligig. Hawkins voiced the title characters in Flower Pot Men, for which he invented their signature "Oddle Poddle" gibberish language, Spotty Dog in The Woodentops, all the characters in Captain Pugwash and The Adventures of Sir Prancelot, the narrator of SuperTed, and many of the characters in The Family-Ness, Jimbo and the Jet-Set and Penny Crayon. He also originated the role of Zippy in Thames Television's Rainbow.
Outside children's programming, he was well known for providing the original voices for the Daleks in Doctor Who, as well as being part of the ensemble cast for the sketch series Dave Allen at Large and voicing characters in commercials including the Smash Martians and Money in Access's "Your Flexible Friend" campaign.
Early life Peter John Hawkins was born on 3 April 1924 in Hargwyne Street in Brixton, south London, to Detective Inspector John Stephen and piano player Doris Matilda Hawkins. According to his son Silas, his father's talent was derived from his mother's ability to mimic others; Hawkins made his first stage appearance as a member of the chorus in a musical. During his last year at school, he wrote, with three friends, a revue entitled The Five Bs, the name of their form. He worked at Pitman's from the ages of 16 to 18, writing similar shows at a youth club. Hawkins joined the Royal Navy, entertaining with impressions for which he wrote scripts, and survived when HMS Limbourne sank after being torpedoed escorting the cruiser Charybdis near Guernsey. He was rescued by Ronnie Hill, a theatre actor at the time, and while recovering, Hawkins took part in plays, which resulted in his being taken into Combined Operations' Entertainments productions of the Royal Naval Barracks' Scran Bag.
Career Following his time with Scran Bag, Hawkins won a two-year place at the Central School of Speech and Drama, and in 1949, his television career began with an adaptation of J. B. Priestley's The Good Companions. His first television role. He began his long association with children's television with the magazine programme Whirligig portraying several characters, most notably as the voice of puppet Mr Turnip. Hawkins joined the show after being asked by the producer of a children's serial he was playing the villain for.
In 1952, Hawkins became the voices of both Bill and Ben, the Flower Pot Men, himself devising their Oddle-Poddle language. He made Bill's voice higher-pitched and Ben's lower to distinguish them, and praised the puppetry of Audrey Atterbury. The scripts would be written in English, and Peter would translate them into Oddle-Poddle, creating words similar to "Slogalog" (Slowcoach the Tortoise) and "Haddap" (Hello). He, Audrey and Gladys Whitred would keep in touch for at least thirty years afterwards.
In 1956, Hawkins married actress Rosemary Miller, who he met doing voices on Toytown.The Stage obituary Hawkins was Ernest the Policeman, and reprised the role for the 1972 series. Hawkins would also meet Roy Skelton during Toytown, becoming a close friend. He would also be offered the role of a doctor in Miller's star series Emergency Ward 10, although due to his many voice roles, he was unable to appear.
One of his best-known roles was all the voices in Captain Pugwash. Creator John Ryan praised him for his ability to perform many different voices, although he had to be hidden behind a monitor due to his facial expressions distracting the animators. Because of this, he could write down notes about incidental characters in the script and be reminded by them appearing onscreen.
Hawkins gained a reputation for pulling off difficult character voices, The Dalek Invasion of Earth DVD which led to him being cast as the Daleks in Doctor Who in 1963. After a trial session he settled on a monotone, which caused worry among executives that it would become monotonous. He solved this problem by raising the voice's pitch whenever the Daleks got angry. Hawkins would voice the Daleks in every subsequent 1960s story they appeared in, as well as the two 1960s feature films, The Curse of the Daleks stage play and Out of the Unknown, and he and fellow Dalek voice David Graham would become lifelong friends; star William Hartnell and guest star Kevin Stoney would also strike up a relationship. Despite his son Silas being a Doctor Who fan, he did not find it strange that it was his father voicing the Daleks, although the Daily Express framed it as if he boasted to his friends about it, which Hawkins hated.
In 1966, Hawkins voiced the Cybermen in the fourth and final part of the Doctor Who serial The Tenth Planet, originated by Roy Skelton. For the subsequent three Cyberman serials he used an electrolarynx, which he described as very uncomfortable. He never returned afterwards, as he had enough of having to fund it himself. He was, however, considered to be the voice of K9 before John Leeson, with whom Hawkins had worked with on the first year of Thames Television's Rainbow, won the role.
One of his most prominent live-action roles in the period was 1965's The Big Spender, for which he grew and curled his hair for three months. As well, throughout the late 1950s and early 1960s he appeared in many advertising magazine programmes. In 1969 he played an Albanian interpreter speaking English in The Power Game, which he considered his hardest role to play.Daily Telegraph obituary
In 1972, Hawkins joined the ensemble of Dave Allen at Large for the second series, even writing various skits, and remaining for its third and fourth. He provided the original voice of Zippy in Rainbow, which began that same year. In the pilot, he also voiced Sunshine, Bramble and Pillar, but after many policy changes they were removed. He tried to rewrite gags, which proved hard for the target audience, and so left the series, despite being asked to stay. He was eventually replaced by Roy Skelton, whom he recommended.
Throughout the 1980s, as well as providing voices in SuperTed, The Family-Ness and Jimbo and the Jet-Set, Hawkins reprised his roles of Bill and Ben for various shows, including Six Fifty-Five Special and Blue Peter. His treatment of voice overs like his acting parts (the right voice for a character appearing if the right ideas were thought) allowed him to reprise the roles. In 1988 he, his wife Rosemary Miller and David Graham did voices together for the English dub of the German animated film Stowaways on the Ark.
Due to Hawkins' role as Spotty Dog in The Woodentops, he was chosen by Nick Park to voice Gromit in his short film A Grand Day Out. He eventually decided to make Gromit a mute character to save on the effort required to animate his mouth, instead using his eyes and monobrow to communicate. None of Hawkins' original dialogue has been publicly released. Although Gromit snores and whimpers in A Grand Day Out, whether or not these were recorded by him is unconfirmed.
Silas believed his father had the most involvement with the Flower Pot Men, although he also enjoyed the diverse cast of Captain Pugwash, being very proud when it appeared in The Times as a crossword clue: "The captain is all for the dog having a bath". By comparison, when it was claimed Hilda Brabban created the Flower Pot Men, Hawkins immediately wrote a rebuttal. According to Silas, Hawkins gave thought to every role, yet never looked back at them.
Personal life Hawkins was interested in jewellery, fossils, "serious" music and eating out. He supported Chelsea. He used his record collection to expand his vocal range, and also had a collection of Japanese sword guards and Impressionist works, including those of Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Camille Pissarro and Claude Monet, much to the delight of Gale Pedrick. He considered his collection as "applause" for his busy yet anonymous voice work. In 1977, however, he sold his collection of sword guards at Sotheby's, with the highest-selling, by Seiyoken Hagiya Katsuhira and depicting the Three Sake Tasters, fetching £4,200, an auction record.
His wife, Rosemary Miller, whom he had married in 1956, also had an interest in collecting paintings. On 27 August 1959, they had a son named Silas, who was named in case he grew up to become an actor, which he did, going to follow his parents' careers and provide voice overs on shows such as Summerton Mill. Despite his busy schedule, Hawkins spent lots of time with his son, reading bedtime stories as if he was recording, which Silas thought was overwhelming.
Health problems Hawkins regularly smoked 20 Olivier cigarettes in his prime, and, later, it would give him eczema. According to his son Silas, Hawkins' wife Rosemary would constantly dress his rashes. In 1992, Hawkins had an operation to remove a tumor in his brain, which left him unable to read and made him very drowsy.
Death Hawkins died on 8 July 2006, aged 82, of pneumonia. The funeral was held at St Matthews in Queensway, where Silas was baptised. A showing of "The Survivors", his first Doctor Who episode, was arranged, and Silas scattered his ashes at Fermain Bay, Guernsey, where HMS Limbourne sank.
Filmography
Film YearTitleRoleNotes1952The Lost HoursMechanic Uncredited1956Neuro-Muscular BlockVoices1964No Short CutNarratorvoice only, uncredited1965Dr Who and the DaleksDaleksvoice only, uncredited Look at Life: James Bond's IslandNarrator Part of Look at Life, voice only 1966Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D.Daleksvoice only, uncredited1973Assassin Passport Officer1974FeelingsUnknown1975GreatVoicesSuper Natural GasVoices1978Strega NonnaNarratorvoice onlyKingdom of GiftsVoicesvoice only, uncredited1979The Lion, the Witch and the WardrobeDwarf Foxvoice only 1980Rail Report 13: On Track for the EightiesNarrator British Transport Films, voice only, uncredited for latter twoCentenary ExpressNarrator 1981The Train MakersNarrator Moon ManNarratorvoice only1982The HatNarratorvoice only1984And the Walls Came Tumbling Down Narrator documentary film, voice only 1988Stowaways on the ArkWilli WormEnglish version, voice only1989Asterix and the Big FightGetafixEnglish version, voice only1990Peter in MagiclandSandmanEnglish version, voice only Sources:
Television YearTitleRoleNotes1949The Good CompanionsAlbert TuggeridgeTV movieOld EnglishReporter1950-1956WhirligigMr Turnip Alexander Scrope
Petrio
Albert
Willoughby91 episodes (also encompasses 17 of Write It Yourself, 13 of Stranger from Space, 6 of Jeremy Make-Believe, 12 of Can We Help You? and 12 of Willoughby)1951-1953Saturday SpecialPorterhouse Cyril35 episodes (also encompasses 15 of The Skipper's Yarn)1951AladdinLord High ChamberlainTV movie1952Three Little MushroomsVoices5 episodes 1952-1953Flower Pot MenBill Ben26 episodes1953Stuff and NonsenseVoicesTV moviePeter and the WolfNarrator1954-1957Billy Bean and His Funny MachineBilly Bean30 episodes 1954Papa Laurent's OrchardNarratorPolish film dubbed for TVHarlequinadeVoicesTV movie1955The Travelling MusiciansTV movieWill O' the GrisTV movie, uncreditedThe Stage (26 May 1955 issue)1955-1956A Rubovian LegendLord Chamberlain