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Peter Vaughan as Grouty

Peter Vaughan (born April 4, 1923), is an English character actor, known for many supporting roles in a variety of British film and television productions.

He was born in Wem, Shropshire, and has worked extensively on the stage, becoming known for roles such as police inspectors, Soviet agents and similar parts.

He became known for his performances on television, including supporting roles in Porridge (as Grouty) and Citizen Smith (although his role in the latter series was taken over by Tony Steedman). In film, he made his debut in 1959 and continued to play small roles for several years, before gaining his first starring role in a minor picture called Smokescreen (1964).

Vaughan's role in Porridge brought him a great deal of public recognition, despite the fact that his character appeared in only three episodes and the film of the series. In 1969 he appeared in Randall and Hopkirk (Deceased) in the episode "Never Trust a Ghost".

Vaughan later attained particular acclaim for his supporting role as the Alzheimer's sufferer Felix Hutchinson across thirty years of his life in Our Friends in the North (BBC Two, 1996), a role which gained him a Best Actor nomination at the 1997 British Academy Television Awards. He played the lead character, the patriarch Billy Fox in the television series Fox. He has also appeared in many literary adaptations, such as Bleak House (BBC One, 1986) and Our Mutual Friend (BBC Two, 1998).

Perhaps his highest-profile film performance has been as Anthony Hopkins' character's father in The Remains of the Day (1993). He was also cast in Terry Gilliam's The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, but had not shot any material before that project was abandoned. He had previously appeared for Gilliam in Time Bandits and Brazil. He also appeared with Bill Murray in a film of W. Somerset Maugham's novel The Razor's Edge. In 1987 he appeared alongside Robert Carlyle and Ray Winstone in Face.

Vaughan has been married twice, on the first occasion to Billie Whitelaw. His second wife is actress Lilias Walker.

• Peter Vaughan at the Internet Movie Database