Peter Wyngarde

Peter Wyngarde was a British actor born in Marseille whose flamboyant screen presence and extravagant personal style made him one of the most recognisable television personalities in Britain during the late 1960s and early 1970s. He is best remembered for playing the louche, bestselling novelist-turned-sleuth Jason King in the spy-fi series Department S (1969) and its spin-off Jason King (1971), a character he openly modelled on himself — complete with elaborate moustache, decadent tailoring, and a Bentley. Wyngarde's striking appearance and deliberately provocative manner made him a style icon whose influence on British camp aesthetics was widely acknowledged. Owing to his father's work in the British Diplomatic Service, he spent his early childhood moving between countries before establishing himself in postwar British theatre, where he became an original member of the Royal Court. His decade-long relationship with actor Alan Bates, which began in the late 1950s, was among the most significant of his personal life. His career suffered a severe blow following a 1975 conviction for gross indecency, from which it never recovered. He died in January 2018.