Peter John Sallis (1 February 1921 – 2 June 2017) was an English actor, mainly known for his work in television. He was the voice of Wallace in the Academy Award-winning Wallace and Gromit films and portrayed Norman "Cleggy" Clegg in Last of the Summer Wine from its 1973 inception until the final episode in 2010, making him the only actor to appear in all 295 episodes. Additionally, he portrayed Norman Clegg's father in the prequel series First of the Summer Wine. Although Sallis was born and brought up in London, the characters of Wallace and Clegg were both Northerners. Among his television credits, Sallis appeared in Danger Man, The Avengers, Doctor Who ("The Ice Warriors"), The Persuaders! and The Ghosts of Motley Hall. His film appearances include the Hammer horror films The Curse of the Werewolf (1961) and Taste the Blood of Dracula (1970). Early life Peter John Sallis was born on 1 February 1921 in Twickenham, Middlesex, the only child of Dorothy Amea Frances (née Barnard; 1891–1975) and Harry Sallis (1889–1964), a bank manager. After attending Minchenden Grammar School in Southgate, North London, Sallis went to work in a bank, working on shipping transactions. He became a wireless mechanic instead and went on to teach radio procedures at RAF Cranwell. Career Theatre work Sallis began his career as an amateur actor during his four years with the RAF when one of his students offered him the lead in an amateur production of Noël Coward's Hay Fever. After his success in the role, he resolved to become an actor after the war, winning a Korda scholarship and training at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. He made his first professional appearance on the London stage in September 1946 in a walk-on part in Richard Brinsley Sheridan's The Scheming Lieutenant (1775). Sallis then spent three years in repertory theatre before appearing in his first speaking role on the London stage in 1949. Other roles followed in the 1950s and 1960s including Orson Welles' 1955 production of Moby Dick—Rehearsed. In his autobiography, Fading into the Limelight, Sallis recounts a later meeting with Welles where he received a mysterious telephone call summoning him to the deserted Gare d'Orsay in Paris where Welles announced he wanted him to dub Hungarian bit-players in his cinema adaptation of Franz Kafka's The Trial (1962). Sallis wrote that "the episode was Kafka-esque, to coin a phrase". Later,