Peter Vaughan

The Man Who Never Blinked

Peter Vaughan didn't need to speak for the audience to know that something bad was about to happen. He had a granite jaw and eyes that seemed to have seen too much in the trenches of Normandy. In 1923, he was born in Shropshire under the name Peter Olm. But the world would know him by a surname he adopted to erase the trace of his humble origins in northern England.

He never needed a leading role to steal the scene.

During World War II, he served in the British Army. He was stationed in Belgium and also in the Far East. That military experience gave him a weight other actors could only dream of imitating. When he returned home, he decided that repertory theater was the only place where he could find his footing. And there, he spent years learning that silence is an actor's most powerful tool.

Prisons, Dramas and Sam Peckinpah

In 1971, he worked under Sam Peckinpah in Straw Dogs. It was there that he showed the restrained violence and rural authority that the cinema of the era was looking for. But his big moment of popularity in the United Kingdom came with pure comedy. Playing Harry Grout in Porridge between 1974 and 1977 brought him a level of fame that he handled with a sense of detachment.

He barely appeared in three episodes and in the series' film. But his portrait of a crime boss behind bars was so convincing that real inmates wrote him letters asking for advice. Vaughan understood that villains are more interesting when they have impeccable manners.

The screen seemed to shrink in his presence.

In 1993, he appeared in The Remains of the Day as the father of Anthony Hopkins. His performance was an exercise in absolute restraint about old age and the loss of faculties. In 1996, he worked on The Crucible alongside Daniel Day-Lewis. By then, he was the character actor of choice for directors seeking faces with a history of their own and no cosmetic retouching.

Maester Aemon's Real Blindness

When he accepted the role of Maester Aemon in 2011, he was already 88 years old. He was legally blind during the filming of Game of Thrones in the landscapes of Northern Ireland. So he didn't have to fake his character's physical frailty. But his voice still had the strength of a centuries-old oak.

He shot his last scene in 2015, surrounded by actors one-third his age. He didn't use stunt doubles or ask for special treatment because of his seniority. For him, acting was still a craft.

He died on December 6, 2016.

He was 93 years old, and he died of natural causes. His agent confirmed that he passed away peacefully, surrounded by his family, at his home in England. His last credited appearance was in the episode titled The Gift, originally aired in May 2015.