Beloved British actor Peter Sallis, best known internationally as the bumbling, cheese-loving inventor Wallace in Aardman’s whimsical claymation series Wallace & Gromit, has passed away at the age of 96.
Also known in the UK for his role in the longrunning sitcom Last of the Summer Wine—in which Sallis was the only actor to appear in every episode of the series’ nearly 300-episode run—internationally he will be forever remembered as the voice of Wallace in Nick Park’s classic series, from its four shorts—A Grand Day Out, The Wrong Trousers, A Close Shave, and 2008's A Matter of Loaf and Death—to its feature length movie, Curse of the Were-Rabbit, and a host of other short skits, video games, advertisements, and other projects shown over the world.
Sallis’ take on Wallace as a hapless, yet ever-optimistic hero—whether in his love life or in his latest crazy invention—endeared him to audiences of millions young and old: a charming, witty, and beloved embodiment of the spirit and self-effacing humor most British people strive to be thought of as across the world. Our thoughts are with his family in this trying time.
[BBC]