Peter Egan

This article is about the British actor. For the American columnist, seePeter Egan (columnist).

Peter Egan
Born	Peter Joseph Egan (1946-09-28)28 September 1946 Hampstead,London,England
Occupation(s)	Actor, activist
Years active	1967–present
Spouse	Myra Frances ​ ​ (m.1972; died 2021)​
Children	Rebecca Egan (step-daughter)
Website	peter-egan.co.uk

Peter Joseph Egan(born 28 September 1946) is a British actor.

He is known for his television roles, including Hogarth inBig Breadwinner Hog,the futureGeorge IV of the United KingdominPrince Regent(1979); smooth neighbour Paul Ryman in the sitcomEver Decreasing Circles(1984–89); andHugh "Shrimpie" MacClare, Marquess of Flintshire,inDownton Abbey(2012–15).

Early life

Egan was born on 28 September 1946 inHampstead,London, the son of Doris (née Pick) and Michael Thomas Egan, who is of Irish descent.He was educated atSt George's Catholic School,Maida Vale.He also attended theLondon Oratory Schooland theRoyal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Life and career

Egan's first stage performance was inCharlie Girl.His first television role was as the sex-and-cinema-obsessed Seth Starkadder in aBBCserialisation ofCold Comfort Farm(1968). In 1969, he had come to notoriety as the acid-throwing gangster Hogarth in the controversialGranadaseriesBig Breadwinner Hog.Later, he had other starring roles: asJohn Everett Millaisin the BBC serialThe Love School(1975); asOscar Wildein the serialLillie(1978), starringFrancesca AnnisasLillie Langtry;as Magnus Pym in the BBC dramatisation ofJohn le Carré'sA Perfect Spy(1987) and anotherBBCsitcom,Joint Account(1989–90).

Egan played the title role in the BBC seriesPrince Regent(1979), and was a sinister immortalKnight TemplarinMichael J. Bird's BBC seriesThe Dark Side of the Sun(1983). Egan also played Fothergill in the television seriesReilly, Ace of Spies(1983). In 1986, he had the role of Henry Simcox in the television dramatization ofJohn Mortimer'sParadise Postponed.

In 1988, he narrated the Video 125 drivers eye view 1066DC, which was a cab ride in a Network Southeast class 411 4CEP EMU from Hastings to London. He also guest-starred in episodes ofThe Ruth Rendell Mysteries( "A New Lease of Death," 1991) andA Touch of Frost( "Private Lives," 1999).

Other roles have included the character Michael Cochrane in the programmeThe Ambassador(1998), and (on film) as the suave secret agent Meres in television spin-offCallan(1974), and the Duke of Sutherland inChariots of Fire(1981). In 2007, Egan took the role of Victor in the filmDeath at a Funeral.In 2009, he toured as lead Sir Hugo Latymer in Nikolai Foster's revival ofNoël Coward'sA Song at Twilight.He is the narrator for the US and UK versions ofForza Motorsport 3and its sequel,Forza Motorsport 4.

In 2012, Egan first appeared as Hugh "Shrimpie" MacClare, Marquess of Flintshire, in the Christmas special episode ofITV'sDownton Abbey.For the drama's fifth series, Shrimpie became a recurring character; he also briefly appeared in series six. Later that same year, Egan appeared inAlan Bennett'sPeople,alongsideFrances de la Tour,at theNational Theatre.

Also in 2012, he narrated a new recording ofRick Wakeman's album,Journey to the Centre of the Earth,based on the story byJules Verne.

In 2024, Egan appeared in the British documentary filmI Could Never Go Vegan.

Animal rights activism

Egan is a longtime animal lover and vegan. Starting in 2010, he began to campaign publicly on behalf ofanimal rights.

Egan is an ambassador for the dog rescue Saving Suffering Strays inSarajevo,Bosnia.He and his wife Myra adopted their Bosnian dog Tidus from this dog rescue. He continues to give support to stray street dogs of Sarajevo and their lone rescuer Milena Malesevic.

Egan is an active ambassador for theAnimals Asia Foundation,which is a charity that works to end cruelty to animals in Asia.He is also patron of "All Dogs Matter", a dog rescue and rehoming charity in and around London and Norfolk.He is also an ambassador for the Limbe Wildlife Centre in Cameroon, a wildlife sanctuary for animals rescued from the illegal bushmeat and pet trades.

In May 2015, Egan became Patron of Chaldon Animal Sanctuary, a charity that offers homes for life for dogs and cats. Egan personally took one of the Bosnian dogs now named Crusoe to the sanctuary in May.Three months later, Egan was announced as patron of the science-based campaign For Life On Earth (FLOE), which fights against animal testing in the field of human medical research.

In January 2016, Egan participated inVeganuary,and has remained vegan.

In 2018 Peter Egan joined Animal Equality UK inside a foie gras farm in France to document the process of force-feeding.Since then, he has supported the animal protection organisation on its campaign to ban the import offoie grasmade by force-feeding in the UK.

Personal life

Egan was married to former actressMyra Francesfor 49 years until her death fromcanceron 30 March 2021. His stepdaughter is Rebecca Egan.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	One Brief Summer	Bill Denton
1971	Elizabeth R	Earl of Southampton	episode: "Sweet England's Pride"
1972	The Organization	Pershore	7 episodes
1973	The Hireling	Captain Hugh Cantrip	BAFTA Award for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles
1974	Callan	Toby Meres
1975	Hennessy	Williams
1978	Lillie	Oscar Wilde
1981	Chariots of Fire	Duke of Sutherland
1983	The Dark Side of the Sun	Raoul Lavallière	6 episodes
1984	To Catch a King	Reinhard Heydrich
1984–1989	Ever Decreasing Circles	Paul Ryman	27 episodes
1985	A Woman of Substance	Adam Fairley	3 episodes
1989–1990	Joint Account	David Braithwaite	16 episodes
1987	A Perfect Spy	Magnus Pym	5 episodes
1997	Bean	Lord Walton
1999	A Touch of Frost	Richard Darrow	Episode "Private Lives"
2000	2001: A Space Travesty	Griffin Pratt
2002	The King's Beard	King Cuthbert	voice
2004	The I Inside	Doctor Truman
2005	The Wedding Date	Victor Ellis
2005	Man to Man	Gyllenhaal
2007	Death at a Funeral	Victor
2011	The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings	King Henselt	voice (video game, English version)
2011	Midsomer Murders	Norman Swanscombe	Episode: “Not in My Back Yard”
2012	National Theatre Live:People	Theodore
2012–2015	Downton Abbey	Hugh 'Shrimpie' MacClare, Marquess of Flintshire	4 episodes
2014	Grantchester	Archie Johnson	1 episode
2015–2021	Unforgotten	Martin Hughes	24 episodes
2018	Midsomer Murders	Grady Palmerston	Episode: “Death of the Small Coppers”
2018–2019	Hold the Sunset	Dr Dugdale	12 episodes
2020–2022	After Life	Paul	6 episodes
2020	The Spanish Princess	Thomas Howard, 2nd Duke of Norfolk	3 episodes
2024	Truelove	David	6 episodes
2024	I Could Never Go Vegan	Executive Producer

External links

• Peter EganatIMDb
• Peter Egan Interview