Peter Wyngarde, who played Jason King in Department S in the late 1960s and early 1970s has died, his agent confirmed
Jason King star Peter Wyngarde has died at the age of 90, his agent has confirmed.
The actor was best known for his role as sleuth Jason King in Department S and its spin-off.
A heartthrob in his day, he also enjoyed numerous stage roles and appeared as Klytus in Flash Gordon and as Timanov in Doctor Who: Planet Of Fire.
Playing Jason King, Wyngarde was renowned for his extravagant style, bouffant hair, silk dressing gowns, snake skin shoes and a Zapata moustache.
He played King between 1969 and 1972 when he was one of Britain's most high profile TV stars.
However, in 1975 his career suffered a major setback after he was arrested and convicted of 'an act of gross indecency' with a lorry driver. He was fined £75 by magistrates under his real name Cyril Louis Goldbert.
Wyngarde's camp style as Jason King later proved an inspiration for Mike Myers when he created Austin Powers.
As a child, Wyngarde was interned by the Japanese in a prisoner of war camp where Empire of the Sun author JG Ballard was also held.
Actor Mark Gatiss wrote on Twitter: 'From wartime internment alongside JG Ballard to Klytus. With No.2, Baron Gruner, Professor Norman Taylor, Peter Quint and Gloucester bus station in between. What a life. What a legend. Jason King is dead. Long live Jason King!'
Wyngarde's agent and manager, Thomas Bowington, said: 'He was one of the most unique, original and creative actors that I have ever seen. As a man, there were few things in life he didn't know.
'I sometimes nicknamed him the King because he simply knew everything.
Wyngarde's Jason King character provided the inspiration for Austin Powers
Wyngarde was renowned for his sense of style, bouffant hair and Zapata moustache
Wyngarde was one of the most recognisable stars of the late 1960s and early 1970s
Wyngarde, pictured here with Caroline Blakiston died at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital
Wyngarde also played General Klytus, right, in the 1980 hit movie Flash Gordon
'He was a mentor on everything you can think of, from sports cars to how to make a good cup of tea and how to do a tie and shirt.
'He died at the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital (in London), and even then he was saying that you shouldn't button the upper button on a shirt.
'As a person he was the most exceptional person I met in my life and a great mentor and teacher.'
Wyngarde signed his contract for Department S on a napkin in a restaurant and went on to make the character his own.
His agent said the actor had roles and personal appearances coming up and that he died in hospital on Monday, having been unwell for a couple of months.
In an interview several years ago, Wyngarde said: 'I decided Jason King was going to be an extension of me. I was inclined to be a bit of a dandy – I used to go to the tailor with my designs.'
He said his career was ruined by 'small minded people' following his 1975 arrest.
In 1993 he said: 'Jason King had champagne and strawberries for breakfast, just as I did myself.
'I drank myself to a standstill. When I think about it now, I'm amazed I'm still here.'
Fans pay tribute to Jason King actor Peter Wyngarde's unique style Fans have been remembering the star's role as Britain's best dressed man Alongside his acting roles, Peter Wyngarde was known as the best-dressed man in Britain. He beat singer Cliff Richard and football star George Best to the award in the 1970s. On TV, he was famed for his role as suave womaniser and writer turned sleuth Jason King. And the actor said that, when it came to his wardrobe, it was 'difficult to separate' him from his famously flamboyantly dressed character, with his moustache, frilly shirts and wide-lapelled three-piece suits. He once said that it had 'cost me a small fortune' to have his suits and overcoats made. His character is said to have inspired actor Mike Myers' look for Austin Powers. And on Twitter, fans have been remembering the actor's dress sense. @skweatherall wrote: 'RIP Peter Wyngarde. Now there's no suave left in the world.' @Si-Hart wrote: 'Peter Wyngarde has died. The world seems less flamboyant this morning.' Actor and screenwriter Mark Gatiss was also among those to pay tribute. He wrote: 'What a life. What a legend. Jason King is dead. Long live Jason King!' Wyngarde, who has died aged 90, was also known for roles in Flash Gordon, The Avengers, The Saint, The Prisoner and Doctor Who: Planet Of Fire.
According to his agent Thomas Bowington, Wyngarde had been feeling unwell for months but still had some roles and personal appearances coming up
Peter Wyngarde Peter Wyngarde, star of Jason King and Department S, dies aged 90 ‘Unique, original and creative’ actor who also appeared in Flash Gordon and Doctor Who Peter Wyngarde, right, as Jason King. Photograph: ITV/Rex/Shutterstock
The actor Peter Wyngarde has died at the age of 90, his agent has confirmed.
The actor was best known for his role as the sleuth Jason King in the TV show of the same name, and its forerunner Department S.
A heartthrob in his day, he also enjoyed numerous stage roles and appeared as Klytus in Flash Gordon and as Timanov in Doctor Who: Planet Of Fire.
His agent and manager, Thomas Bowington, said: “He was one of the most unique, original and creative actors that I have ever seen. As a man, there were few things in life he didn’t know.
Facebook Twitter Pinterest Peter Wyngarde in Jason King in 1971. Photograph: ITV/Rex/Shutterstock
“I sometimes nicknamed him ‘the King’ because he simply knew everything.
“He was a mentor on everything you can think of, from sports cars to how to make a good cup of tea and how to do a tie and shirt.
“He died at the Chelsea and Westminster hospital [in London], and even then he was saying that you shouldn’t button the upper button on a shirt.
“As a person he was the most exceptional person I met in my life and a great mentor and teacher.”
Wyngarde signed his contract for Department S on a napkin in a restaurant and went on to make the Jason King character his own.
His agent said the actor had roles and personal appearances coming up and that he had died in hospital on Monday, having been unwell for a couple of months.
Peter Wyngarde began his career as a stage and screen actor in the late 1950s. Perhaps his best-known role was as the sleuth Jason King in the TV show of the same name and its forerunner Department S. Wyngarde later appeared in Flash Gordon and Doctor Who. He has died in London, UK, aged 90
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Jason King with his '70s sideburns, bouffant hair and bushy moustache was the only TV detective who sipped vintage port while catching villains.
Often dressed in a head- turning silk suit and cravat he would down large portions of alcohol at the wheel of a posh Bentley as he chased the bad guys.
Small wonder then that Mike Myers based his hugely successful spoof spy Austen Powers on the moustached sleuth who could seduce continental beauties at the drop of his felt hat.
King was played by flamboyant Peter Wyngarde and the portrayal won him legions of female fans - he even had his own women's fashion column.
(Image: Daily Herald)
(Image: REX/Shutterstock)
(Image: REX/Shutterstock)
For three years while show was on air he was one of the biggest stars on the planet and in Australia was mobbed when he visited.
When he arrived in Sydney Airport in 1971 he was met by an excited crowd of 35,000 fans.
He was crushed when they rushed forward and spent three days in a hospital after suffering concussion.
In the show Department S his Jason King character often got the girl and as she is about to kiss him, he manages to avoid it.
It was a clue perhaps to the secret he hid from his fans.
Beneath the public face of pin up heart throb he was gay but because of public prejudices, reinforced by newspapers, it was kept secret.
Although well-known in showbiz circles by the nickname Petunia Winegum it fell to the police - who enforced decency laws which targeted the homosexual community - to out him.
(Image: Picturegoer)
(Image: Mirrorpix)
In 1975, he was arrested, convicted and fined £75 for an act of "gross indecency" in the toilets of Gloucester Bus Station, which followed an arrest and caution for similar activities in the toilets at Kennedy Gardens in Birmingham the previous year.
After the first incident, Wyngarde was interviewed for the News of the World and the Birmingham-based Sunday Mercury, and asserted that the arrest was due to a misunderstanding; in his defence after the second incident he claimed he had suffered a "mental aberration".
But it was too late.
He was dropped from mainstream acting roles and his career was virtually over.
He said his career was ruined by 'small minded people' following his 1975 arrest.
It was less than 10 years since the government decriminalised homosexual acts in private between two men and there was still a stigma attached to same sex relationships.
It was not until 2007 that claims emerged Wyngarde had a relationship with fellow actor Alan Bates during the ten years he had lived with him in the Sixties.
(Image: Getty Images)
(Image: PA)
Following his public exposure in 1975 bit parts followed for Wyngarde - notably as masked character Klytus in the 1980 film Flash Gordon but he did not reach the heights of his previous fame.
In later interviews he talked of how he battled alcoholism telling an interviewer in 1993: "I drank myself to a standstill ... I am amazed I am still here".
Latterly, Wyngarde's public appearances were mainly restricted to nostalgic events commemorating television programmes where he had a cult following.
He died this week at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital aged 90.
