Peter Vaughan

Peter Vaughan (born 4 April 1923) is an English character actor, known for many supporting roles in a variety of British film and television productions. He has worked extensively on the stage, becoming known for roles such as police inspectors, Soviet agents and similar parts.

He is best known for his role as Grouty in the sitcom Porridge (despite appearing in only three episodes) and also had a recurring role alongside Robert Lindsay in Citizen Smith, written by John Sullivan. He also had major parts as Tom Franklin in Chancer (1990–1991) which ran for 20 episodes and as Maester Aemon in HBO's Game of Thrones (2011-2015).

Personal life

He was born Peter Ohm in Wem, Shropshire, the son of a bank clerk and a nurse, and was brought up from the age of seven in Staffordshire where he attended Uttoxeter Grammar School. After leaving school he joined Wolverhampton Repertory theatre and gained experience in other repertory theatres before army service in the Second World War, where he served in Normandy, Belgium and the Far East.