Goodbye Wallace: Peter Sallis (1921-2017)
June 5, 2017 9:49 AM Subscribe
Peter Sallis, famous as the voice of eccentric inventor Wallace in Wallace and Gromit, has died aged 96. A veteran of many TV roles, Sallis was for years best known to British viewers as Norman 'Cleggy' Clegg, the longest-serving cast member of the eccentric sitcom Last of the Summer Wine. But it was as the voice of Wallace, cheese-loving gadgeteer and partner ('owner' is hardly the right word) of long-suffering and silent but equally smart dog Gromit, that Sallis achieved global fame in Nick Park's series of clay animations - a series that won three Academy Awards and, perhaps equally prestigiously, three 100% ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.
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posted by Faint of Butt at 9:51 AM on June 5, 2017 [27 favorites]
posted by Faint of Butt at 9:51 AM on June 5, 2017 [27 favorites]
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posted by lalochezia at 9:54 AM on June 5, 2017
posted by lalochezia at 9:54 AM on June 5, 2017
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A little slice of happiness every time I saw it, whatever my troubles had been.
posted by Countess Elena at 9:57 AM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
A little slice of happiness every time I saw it, whatever my troubles had been.
posted by Countess Elena at 9:57 AM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
Let's hope the mortician dresses him in the right trousers.
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posted by deezil at 9:58 AM on June 5, 2017 [10 favorites]
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posted by deezil at 9:58 AM on June 5, 2017 [10 favorites]
Let's hope the mortician dresses him in the right trousers.
"It's the wrong trousers Gromit, and they've gone wrong! "
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posted by jim in austin at 10:00 AM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
"It's the wrong trousers Gromit, and they've gone wrong! "
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posted by jim in austin at 10:00 AM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Let's hope the mortician dresses him in the right trousers.
Chickens (and Penguins dressed like chickens) have been discouraged from funeral attendance for this very possibility.
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posted by Nanukthedog at 10:03 AM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
Chickens (and Penguins dressed like chickens) have been discouraged from funeral attendance for this very possibility.
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posted by Nanukthedog at 10:03 AM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
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posted by Sing Or Swim at 10:16 AM on June 5, 2017
posted by Sing Or Swim at 10:16 AM on June 5, 2017
🧀
posted by Ranucci at 10:19 AM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by Ranucci at 10:19 AM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
His performances as Clegg and Wallace were, to my mind, pitch perfect encapsulations of a certain type of a particular generation of gentleman, found in both Lancashire and Yorkshire. Sallis was only a few years older than my grandpa, who grew up near Wigan, and it's my grandpa those performances will always remind me of.
It wasn't about the accents, but rather a certain fastidious gentleness of manner, with a good-natured (although sometimes infuriating) anxiety to do good. Those characters breathe the air of chapel and the working man's reading room, of faith not untempered by tolerance, and of a quiet yet dogged decency. For an actor (and a Southerner at that!) to have captured those things, and given them comic life, without degenerating into mere parody, was a rare gift that I'm glad so many people have the chance to enjoy.
posted by howfar at 10:19 AM on June 5, 2017 [50 favorites]
It wasn't about the accents, but rather a certain fastidious gentleness of manner, with a good-natured (although sometimes infuriating) anxiety to do good. Those characters breathe the air of chapel and the working man's reading room, of faith not untempered by tolerance, and of a quiet yet dogged decency. For an actor (and a Southerner at that!) to have captured those things, and given them comic life, without degenerating into mere parody, was a rare gift that I'm glad so many people have the chance to enjoy.
posted by howfar at 10:19 AM on June 5, 2017 [50 favorites]
🚀🌖🧀👖🐔🐧🐑🍞
posted by sleeping bear at 10:27 AM on June 5, 2017 [9 favorites]
posted by sleeping bear at 10:27 AM on June 5, 2017 [9 favorites]
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posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 10:38 AM on June 5, 2017
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 10:38 AM on June 5, 2017
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posted by tychotesla at 10:39 AM on June 5, 2017
posted by tychotesla at 10:39 AM on June 5, 2017
🧀 for Wallace, but also 🍷 for Cleggy, who I had the good fortune to watch for a few years as the local PBS station in L.A. did a "Friday Night Britcoms" block. Few of the other offerings were as good as "Summer Wine", but it was all far superior to ABC's TGIF block.
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:41 AM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 10:41 AM on June 5, 2017 [3 favorites]
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posted by Cookiebastard at 11:27 AM on June 5, 2017
posted by Cookiebastard at 11:27 AM on June 5, 2017
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posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 12:05 PM on June 5, 2017
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 12:05 PM on June 5, 2017
:( He was always my favourite in Last Of The Summer Wine. More sensible than Compo but not as stuck up as Foggy. He reminded me of my grandad.
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:50 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by EndsOfInvention at 12:50 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
Notable about "Last Of The Summer Wine": it debuted in 1973, and ran for 31 series/AmericanSeasons until 2010, for a total of 293 episodes. And Sallis was in every one (in a diminished role for the last couple years when they tried to reboot with new central characters, but not successfully), but then, he started the series playing older than he was, a 52-year-old actor portraying a 60+ retiree. (Compare to The Simpsons, now in season 28 and over 600 episodes, and nobody's aged a day... I just kinda hope they don't break ALL of Summer Wine's longevity records)
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:58 PM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by oneswellfoop at 12:58 PM on June 5, 2017 [2 favorites]
I will never not laugh at his performance when Feathers McGraw takes off his rubber glove disguise. "IT'S YOU!!" It's so good.
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posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 1:08 PM on June 5, 2017 [10 favorites]
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posted by fifteen schnitzengruben is my limit at 1:08 PM on June 5, 2017 [10 favorites]
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posted by HypotheticalWoman at 3:55 PM on June 5, 2017
posted by HypotheticalWoman at 3:55 PM on June 5, 2017
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posted by Small Dollar at 4:09 PM on June 5, 2017
posted by Small Dollar at 4:09 PM on June 5, 2017
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posted by Faintdreams at 5:50 PM on June 5, 2017
posted by Faintdreams at 5:50 PM on June 5, 2017
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posted by benzenedream at 6:00 PM on June 5, 2017
posted by benzenedream at 6:00 PM on June 5, 2017
"All the bounce has gone out of his bungee!"
posted by SPrintF at 7:03 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by SPrintF at 7:03 PM on June 5, 2017 [1 favorite]
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posted by oneironaut at 9:14 PM on June 5, 2017
posted by oneironaut at 9:14 PM on June 5, 2017
96 is quite a good run. I've enjoyed so much of his work. I'm selfishly sad that he's passed, but I'm happy that he passed peacefully, and with his family.
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 9:59 PM on June 5, 2017
posted by SecretAgentSockpuppet at 9:59 PM on June 5, 2017
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posted by On the Corner at 12:03 AM on June 6, 2017
posted by On the Corner at 12:03 AM on June 6, 2017
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posted by daybeforetheday at 1:15 AM on June 6, 2017
posted by daybeforetheday at 1:15 AM on June 6, 2017
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posted by MexicanYenta at 1:45 AM on June 6, 2017
posted by MexicanYenta at 1:45 AM on June 6, 2017
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Cleggy was always my favourite in Last of the Summer Wine. It wasn't a show I watched particularly closely but was part of the tapestry of growing up in the UK in the 80s & 90s and classic gentle Sunday night TV. He must have given a lot of laughs to a lot of people over the years with the combination of that and Wallace & Grommit.
posted by *becca* at 3:58 AM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
Cleggy was always my favourite in Last of the Summer Wine. It wasn't a show I watched particularly closely but was part of the tapestry of growing up in the UK in the 80s & 90s and classic gentle Sunday night TV. He must have given a lot of laughs to a lot of people over the years with the combination of that and Wallace & Grommit.
posted by *becca* at 3:58 AM on June 6, 2017 [1 favorite]
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posted by Lesser Spotted Potoroo at 5:06 AM on June 6, 2017
posted by Lesser Spotted Potoroo at 5:06 AM on June 6, 2017
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posted by lordrunningclam at 8:28 AM on June 6, 2017
posted by lordrunningclam at 8:28 AM on June 6, 2017
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posted by PippinJack at 11:09 AM on June 6, 2017
posted by PippinJack at 11:09 AM on June 6, 2017
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posted by Major Clanger at 9:51 AM on June 5, 2017 [7 favorites]