Veteran British actor Peter Vaughan dies at 93

British acting legend Peter Vaughan has died at 93.
Vaughan, best known to younger viewers as Maester Aemon from fantasy TV series Game of Thrones, passed away on Tuesday (06Dec16).
“This is to confirm that very sadly Peter Vaughan passed away at approximately 10.30 this morning,” his agent Sally Long-Innes told the BBC. “He died peacefully with his family around him.”
In a career spanning more than 75 years on stage, screen and television he became known as one of Britain’s favourite character actors, who switched effortlessly between drama or comedy.
One of his most famous roles was as well-connected prisoner Harry ‘Grouty’ Grout in Porridge, the beloved British sitcom which starred Ronnie Barker as a wisecracking jail bird.
Another notable role came in Our Friends in the North, in which he played Alzheimer’s disease sufferer Felix, the father of Christopher Eccleston’s lead character. The acclaimed coming of age drama also starred Daniel Craig, Mark Strong and Gina McKee.
In a post on Twitter, comic actor Tony Robinson remembered how he had met Vaughan as a child and paid tribute to his performance in the BBC TV series.
“I went on my first CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) march with Peter Vaughan in 1959,” the Blackadder star wrote. “An amazing actor. I’ll never forget his performance in Our Friends in the North.”
In addition to his TV roles, he starred alongside Frank Sinatra in movie The Naked Runner and with Oscar winner Meryl Streep in 1981 film The French Lieutenant’s Woman.
Perhaps his best known movie performance was as the father of Anthony Hopkins butler character in the 1993 film The Remains of the Day.
Vaughan, who was born in Shropshire, England, is survived by his second wife, Scottish actress Lillias Walker.