Perhaps one of the most underrated actors of the 20th Century, Peter Cushing is mostly regarded for his role as Grand Moff Tarkin in Star Wars: A New Hope. However, to horror fans, he is an absolute legend for playing Abraham Van Helsing and Victor Frankenstein in several Hammer Studios movies from the 1950s to the 1970s. And these roles are honestly only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the rather prolific career of this great British actor. To help you understand more about his greatness, we’ve assembled these ten interesting facts about Peter Cushing. Let us know your favorite films and roles in the comments.

A Closed Door and an Open Window

Cushing once auditioned for a production of Born Yesterday in the 1940s that was being produced by Laurence Olivier. The role called for him to do an American accent, which Cushing didn’t believe he could do convincingly. He was very upfront with Olivier about this, and while he didn’t get the part, Olivier told him, “I appreciate you not wasting my time. I shall remember you.” Olivier later cast him as Osric in Olivier’s 1948 version of Hamlet, which helped to launch Cushing as a film and TV star.

“Peter Cushing Lives in Whitstable”

Peter Cushing bought a home in the seaside town of Whitstable in 1959. As related by comedian Alan Davies on the panel show QI, a local band named the Jellybottys even wrote a song about their local famous resident. There’s even a pub dedicated to him in the town, “The Peter Cushing,” which is appropriately housed in an old movie theater and has an art deco interior with plenty of Cushing memorabilia.

Charming, to the Last

During the filming of their scenes for Star Wars: A New Hope, Carried Fisher said she often had trouble seeing Cushing as evil in his role of Tarkin because he was so polite and charming when cameras weren’t rolling. She also said he smelled of linen and lavender. It probably didn’t help that Cushing also wore slippers on set since he found the leather Imperial boots uncomfortable.

Famous Roles

Peter Cushing has inhabited some of the most well-known literary characters on screen. In addition to the aforementioned Van Helsing and Frankenstein, he has also played Sherlock Holmes, Mr. Darcy, and Winston Smith from 1984.

One that Got Away

Every actor has a well-known role that they turned down. For Peter Cushing, he said no to playing Dr. Loomis in 1978’s Halloween, a role that went to Donald Pleasance.

The Horror, the Horror!

Peter Cushing made a total of twenty-two films for Hammer Studios, most in their “Hammer Horror” line. Arguably, one of the only non-horror Hammer films he made was The House of the Baskervilles when he played Holmes with André Morrell as Dr. Watson and Christopher Lee as Sir Henry Baskerville.

Best of Frenemies

While Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee were often at each other’s throats in movies (most often as Van Helsing and Dracula), the two were quite close friends in real life. Their friendship began on the set of The Curse of Frankenstein when Lee (who was playing the creature) angrily stormed into Cushing’s dressing room, saying, “I haven’t got any lines!” and Cushing wryly responded, “You’re lucky. I’ve read the script.” Their friendship thus grew from mutual respect and acknowledgment of the other’s professionalism and continued until Cushing’s death from prostate cancer in 1994.

Dr. Who?

While not included in the official canon (at least, not yet) of the Doctor’s regenerations, Peter Cushing had the distinction of playing the Doctor in two films: Dr. Who and the Daleks and Daleks – Invasion Earth: 2150 AD. Rather than being the alien “Doctor,” he was a very human inventor named “Dr. Who” who created his “Tardis” (as opposed to Time and Relative Dimensions in Space) to travel in time. His Tardis, however, still looked like a police box with no reason given in-story for why it had that shape.

And the Oscar Goes To….

Of all the movies he made, only three were nominated for best picture, including Hamlet (1948), Moulin Rouge (1952), and Star Wars: A New Hope (1977). Hamlet is the only one of the three that won.

Living After Death

Even though he was long gone, the Star Wars franchise continued to utilize him as Tarkin. George Lucas had originally wanted to use archive footage for Star Wars: The Revenge of the Sith in 2005, but the technology didn’t exist to do it convincingly, so lookalike Wayne Pygram was cast instead for a brief cameo. By 2016’s Rogue One, deepfake-like AI technology allowed Cushing’s face to be morphed onto actor Guy Henry so Cushing’s Tarkin could live again.