Peter Cushing was born on May 26, 1913 in Surrey, England. He was interested in acting at a young age as he was inspired by his aunt who was a stage actress. As a child he started off by acting in a local amateur theater in Surrey while still in school. He did amateur theater until he received a scholarship to Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London.

In 1939, Peter decided to leave London to go to Hollywood. He made his debut in Hollywood in the movie “The Man in the Iron Mask”. After his first role Peter continued to act in films like “A Chump at Oxford (1940)” and “They Dare Not Love (1941)”. He soon decided to return to his homeland.

Peter Cushing had his big break in 1948, appearing with Laurence Olivier in “Hamlet”. In the 1950s, he was a familiar face on British television. He appeared in several teleplays. Later the star became associated with Hammer Film Productions. Peter Cushing started off with his horror film career. His first roles with Hammer in the movie called “The Curse of Frankenstein (1957),” Dr. Van Helsing in “Dracula (1958),” as Frankenstein and Sherlock Holmes in “The Hounds of Baskerville”.

Crushing continued his roles of Dr. Frankenstein and Dr. Van Helsing and also appeared in other horror roles from Hammer Films for 20 years. Peter also acted in movies that were not related to Hammer Films. He was seen in the movie called “Dr Terror’s House of Horrors (1965)”. The film was made by Amicus Productions.

Peter Cushing in Dracula as Van Helsing

Peter continued acting in horror films until his retirement. He is well-known because of his roles in horror films. Dr. Frankenstein is a character still used today. Cushing earned several awards during his film career. In 1956, he won the BAFTA TV award for best actor. In 1984, he got the International Fantasy Film Award for best actor in the horror film genre. He won two more awards for the roles that he played in the various horror films.

Peter’s contribution to horror films is what has defined the outlook of horror films of today. He was able to portray the film characters in a way that he would create thunder within the audiences. His roles are well remembered and are still a big part of classic horror films. During the month of October many channels show these classic horror films on TV.

Peter Cushing horror films include some very recognized films: “A Tale of Two Cities

(1980),” “Star Wars (1977),” “The Ghoul (1975),” and “The Beast Must Die (1974)”. The roles Peter played in these movies as well as many others are memorable. Many of the horror movies he played have become classics of all time. He set the standards for the current horror movies. The roles and characters he played are still used and sometimes replicated. The Frankenstein and Van Helsing characters are being replicated in many movies even now. This proves that Peter Cushing was the best horror film actor of his time.