Peter Wingfield is a Welsh born actor who began acting as a teenager in the National Youth Theatre in Wales. He attended medical school at Brasenose College, Oxford and St. Bartholomew's Hospital Medical College, but chose to follow an acting career just prior to graduation. He took drama training at the Guildhall School of Music and Drama in London. On leaving drama school in 1990, Peter made his television debut as a taxi driver in the Screen Two production of Antonia and Jane, a role he earned on the strength of his ability to drive, before going on to play lead roles in three successive television series: Granada TV's Medics, in which, ironically, he played a medical student; Soldier Soldier for Central TV; and The Men's Room for BBC TV.
Career[]
He worked steadily in the UK appearing in productions such as Pirandello's Six Characters in Search of an Author, Alun Lewis: Death and Beauty for BBC Wales, and Martin Chuzzlewit for the BBC, as well co-starring in the feature film, Uncovered.
In 1995, Peter's agent offered him a few pages from a Canadian/American television show called Highlander: The Series playing an immortal calledMethos, a 5,000 year old man who was considered the oldest living immortal. A few days shooting in Paris and done. He had never heard of or seen the program, but was intrigued enough to try out. He was cast on the strength of his video test, and the rushes from his first scene were impressive enough so that series writers immediately began altering scripts from what was to be his character's final appearance and death in the follow up episode, to another story entirely, which allowed him not only to return, but become a recurring character in the series whose popularity was eventually second only to Duncan MacLeod.
Peter's base of operations changed from the UK to North America. He moved to Canada during the filming of Highlander, but returned to the UK to play Tom Kirby in the Granada Television series Noah's Ark which shot concurrently with Highlander's sixth and last season, during which he had earned a spot in the opening credits.
After Highlander's wrap, he co-starred in two seasons of Cold Squad, a Canadian police procedural, and then co-starred with fellow Highlander alum, Valentine Pelka, in the syndicated television series, Queen of Swords; followed by a guest role in Stargate SG-1 in 2000/2001.
After 2005, he moved to Los Angeles where he made appearances in television series such as Dead Zone, Just Cause, John Doe, Andromeda, Night Visions, Touching Evil, Smallville, Men in Trees, 24, Sanctuary, Caprica, and Charmed, as well as The Collector and Endgame for CTV in Canada. He appeared in such feature films as The Edge of Madness, X-Men 2, and Catwoman. He was pleased to get the chance to reprise the character of Methos for the Highlander movies Endgame and The Source. He earned the title role in the feature film; The Last Sin Eater. He also appeared in numerous television movies such as The Wedding Dress, Cooking Lesson, and Riverworld. He received a Gemini Award nomination and a Christian TV Excellence nomination for best actor for his work in the television film, The Miracle of the Cards.
He returned to the UK to join the cast of the popular medical drama Holby City for the 2006-2007 season, as the delightfully arrogant Surgical Consultant, Daniel Clifford, returning twice in 2008 and 2009 to reprise the character in key episodes. In 2010 he played the antagonist in the post-apocalyptic series, 10,000 Days. And in 2012, he lent his voice to Captain Eric Wells in the animated feature film, War of the Worlds: Goliath, which also featured the voices of many of the Highlander series cast.
Personal[]
A lifelong athlete, at 15 he was the National Trampoline Champion for Wales, he has also represented Wales in the national club finals for pole vaulting, he holds an Advanced Level Stage fighting certificate, he plays goalkeeper in football (soccer) and has played in charity matches for the Arsenal Celebrities XI. His personal best time for running the London Marathon is 3 hours 8 minutes.
He is a supporter of the "Believe in Zero" charity initiative, launched in November 2008 whose goal is putting an end to the daily deaths from preventable causes of 25,000 children world wide.
As of 2011, he put his acting career on hold while he returned to medical school at the University of Vermont, graduating with the class of 2015. He took a residency in anesthesiology in San Diego.