Peter Blythe - Actor (1934-2004) Peter Blythe acted in Nicholas Hytner's 2002 production of Henry V at the National. He gave his time to help the creation of Stagework with characteristic generosity and patience. The clips you can see of him are testament to a fine actor and a good and generous man. Peter played the King’s Uncle, the Duke of Exeter, in Henry V and here he drew upon his military experience in the RAF: he had seen some officers stamp their individuality onto the uniform imposed by the service. As Exeter, like the famous second world war soldier, Field Marshall Montgomery, who scorned to wear an officer's peaked cap, or even a helmet, on the battle field. Peter sported instead a beret worn at a rakish angle. Nor did he wear the regulation tie, preferring a spotted dark red cravat. This mild display of eccentricity showed Exeter as a man who really didn’t care about the dangers of bullets and shrapnel, and actually wanted to get into battle. Peter used rehearsals to explore a key relationship in the play, that between the older, more experienced statesman, the Duke of Exeter, and his young, inexperienced, and sometimes wilful cousin, Henry. His Exeter was played as an aristocrat, one of a handful of people who ran the country, a man possessed of great charm but also capable of being ruthless. Peter’s work drew upon the formative relationship between two contemporary aristocratic figures, Prince Charles and his much loved Uncle, Earl Mount batten, as the model for the bond between the young King and his uncle. |  | |
