Biographie
Primarily a stage actor, Peter Eyre was born in New York City to banker Edward Joseph Eyre and his wife, Dorothy Pelline (née Acton). Moving to Britain at age twelve, he attended public school but defied his parents' wishes to study at Oxford. Instead, he secretly auditioned for RADA. When his acceptance was postponed for a year, he relocated to Paris to study drama with Belgian-born actress Berthe Bovy.
Eyre's theatrical career began in 1960 with Macbeth at Dublin's Old Vic. His first significant breakthrough came eight years later, portraying Konstantin in Chekhov's The Seagull at the Nottingham Playhouse, directed by Jonathan Miller. Tall, slender, and dignified, Eyre has since performed classical roles with the RSC, Bristol Old Vic, and in the West End. Often cast in roles requiring gravitas, he has portrayed lords, princes, a Roman Emperor, and the Pope. He has identified his 1995 Broadway role as Polonius in Hamlet, alongside Ralph Fiennes, Francesca Annis, and James Laurenson, as a career highlight.
Starting on screen in 1964, Eyre's character roles mirrored his stage work, ranging from poets and bishops to butlers and kings. Alongside frequent TV guest appearances, he featured in four Merchant/Ivory productions: Maurice (1987) as Reverend Borenius; The Remains of the Day (1993) as British Foreign Secretary Lord Halifax; Surviving Picasso (1996) as Picasso's friend and secretary Jaume Sabartés; and The Golden Bowl (2000) as antique shop owner A. R. Jarvis. Other roles include the poet Cinna, a conspirator in Julius Caesar's assassination (1970); Jörgen Tesman, the dull academic husband in Hedda Gabler (1975); Norton Shaw, president of the Royal Geographic Society in Mountains of the Moon (1990); and King Casiodorus in the fantasy film Dragonslayer (1981).
