‘Peter Cushing The Reluctant Globetrotter’ is the third book from horror writer Mark Iveson.
The work focuses on the foreign-filmed work of Cushing, best known for his roles in Hammer horror pictures and as Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars.
Peter Cushing The Reluctant Globetrotter is the third book from North East horror writer Mark Iveson (Image: MARK IVESON)
Mark’s previous book featured the British films of American actor Vincent Price, which gave him the idea for a “reverse” focus on Cushing.
“I’ve been a big fan of Peter Cushing ever since I was a kid,” said Mark, 59.
“But he was the most British of actors who hated working abroad. There’s been several books written about him and I just tried to follow a different tack and focus on his overseas career.”
Cushing actually made his film debut in the United States, with a small role in The Man in the Iron Mask in 1939.
He went on to appear alongside Laurel and Hardy in A Chump At Oxford and gained praise for his role in Vigil in the Night alongside Hollywood starlet Carole Lombard.
But just as his career seemed to be taking off Stateside, homesickness struck – something which affected him for the rest of his career.
North East horror writer Mark Iveson, who has penned a book about one of his idols – actor Peter Cushing (Image: MARK IVESON)
Mark thinks Cushing made some “interesting” films abroad in the 1960s and 70s – singling out Hammer production ‘She’ and ‘Horror Express’ with his great friend Christopher Lee.
But homesickness was never far from the surface.
Cushing spent his first Christmas away from his wife, Helen, during the making of Horror Express and Lee had to persuade his friend not to fly back to the UK.
Peter Cushing, pictured in 1988 when he was a familiar figure in his home town of Whitstable (Image: PA)
The overseas films Cushing made towards the end of his career, post Star Wars, were largely “weird”, said Mark, including 1978’s ‘Son of Hitler”.
“it’s a dreadful film,” said Mark. “Watch it at your peril.”
Mark, a civil servant from Gateshead, believes that Cushing’s homesickness hampered what could have been a stellar career in the States.
“He was British to his marrow and he just wasn’t a very good traveller,” he said.
Actor Peter Cushing and his wife Helen at London’s Heathrow Airport on their return to the UK from Madrid in 1955. Cushing suffered from homesickness for all of his life (Image: PA)
Devoted to his wife, Cushing preferred to live a quiet life in his hometown of Whitstable, in Kent, where he lived for many years.
“He was a very popular figure in Whitstable,” said Mark, who has visited the town himself. “I’ve chatted to people there who knew him. He could often be seen on his bicycle. He cycled regularly and was very well thought of by the locals.”
Mark hopes the book is a fitting tribute to an actor who fascinated him from the moment he first saw him in Dr. Who and the Daleks, one of his favourite Cushing films.
Peter Cushing as the Doctor in Dr Who and the Daleks, one of Mark’s favourite films (Image: PA) Most read:
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“The man was just such a good actor,” said Mark, who said Cushing’s role as Arthur Grimsdyke in Tales From The Crypt is his other favourite performance.
“He was one of those people who couldn’t give a bad performance if he tried.
“He’s been in a few stinkers over the years, but he’s always first-rate in everything.
“He lights up the screen with his versatility, his dedication – and a good sense of fun as well.”
- Peter Cushing The Reluctant Globetrotter is available to pre-order now from Telos Publishing, priced £15.99. Visit telos.co.uk/ to order a copy.