{{Short description|English actor (1939–2018)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}} {{Use British English|date=April 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Peter Armitage | honorific_suffix = [[Order of the British Empire|MBE]] | birth_name = Peter James Armitage | birth_date = {{birth date|1939|10|23|df=yes}} | death_date = {{death date and age|2018|11|30|1939|10|23|df=yes}} | birth_place = [[Skipton]], [[West Riding of Yorkshire]], [[England]] | death_place = [[Cononley]], [[North Yorkshire]], England | occupation = Actor | alma_mater = [[East 15 Acting School]] | years_active = 1969–2018 | spouse = {{marriage|Annabel Scase|1970| <!--unknown?-->|end=divorced}} | children = 2 }}
'''Peter James Armitage''' (23 October 1939 – 30 November 2018)<ref name=obituary>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/dec/06/peter-armitage-obituary|title=Peter Armitage obituary|first=Anthony|last=Hayward|work=The Guardian|date=6 December 2018|access-date=6 December 2018|archive-date=7 December 2018|archive-url=https://archive.today/20181207113418/https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2018/dec/06/peter-armitage-obituary|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-46452831|title=Coronation Street actor Peter Armitage dies age 78|date=5 December 2018|website=Bbc.co.uk|access-date=5 December 2018|archive-date=5 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205152030/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-46452831|url-status=live}}</ref> was an English [[television]] and [[theatre|stage]] actor best known for his role as [[Bill Webster]] on long-running [[soap opera]] ''[[Coronation Street]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.east15.ac.uk/alumni-notable.asp|title=East 15 notable alumni|website=East15.ac.uk|access-date=5 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629231254/http://www.east15.ac.uk/alumni-notable.asp|archive-date=29 June 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> He was a regular on British screens from the 1970s onwards.
==Early life== Armitage was born [[Legitimacy (family law)|out of wedlock]] in [[Skipton]], [[West Riding of Yorkshire]], where he was brought up primarily by his aunt until the age of 10, when his mother married.<ref>{{cite news |title=Peter Armitage:Obituary |editor-last=Witherow|editor-first=John|work=The Times |issue=72732 |date=1 January 2019 |page=44|issn=0140-0460}}</ref> He did not meet his father, who was German, until he was 28, and the two did not form a long-term relationship. Armitage attended [[Glusburn]] secondary modern school, then was apprenticed to a firm building diesel engines for five years. He subsequently spent four years serving in the [[Merchant Navy (United Kingdom)|Merchant Navy]] before settling in [[London]], where he worked as a [[banksman]] on the construction of the [[Victoria line]]. He then enrolled at the [[East 15 Acting School]] in [[Loughton]], [[Essex]] to train as an actor.<ref name=obituary/>
==Career== Armitage had three spells as the character [[Bill Webster]] on ''[[Coronation Street]]'', appearing in the role in 1984–1985 (for six months), then from 1995 to 1997 and again from 2006 to 2011. He had previously appeared as a different character playing a painter and decorator in two episodes in 1977. In 2014 Armitage stated in an interview that he had hoped to return to the series after successfully battling bowel cancer.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/02/27/coronation-street-actor-peter-armitage-bill-webster-cobbles_n_4865259.html|title='Corrie' Star Wants Soap Return After Beating Cancer|date=27 February 2014|website=HuffPost UK|access-date=5 December 2018|archive-date=5 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181205193422/https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2014/02/27/coronation-street-actor-peter-armitage-bill-webster-cobbles_n_4865259.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/coronation-street/a554115/corries-peter-armitage-beats-cancer-id-like-to-return-to-the-show/|title=Corrie star beats cancer, wants return|first=Catherine|last=Earp|date=26 February 2014|website=Digital Spy|access-date=5 December 2018|archive-date=6 December 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181206192604/https://www.digitalspy.com/soaps/coronation-street/a554115/corries-peter-armitage-beats-cancer-id-like-to-return-to-the-show/|url-status=live}}</ref>
In the 1970s Armitage appeared in two British drama series, ''[[The Sweeney]]'' and ''[[The Professionals (TV series)|The Professionals]]''. In ''The Sweeney'' Armitage appeared as Herbert ''"Jacko"'' Jackson in the episode ''Big Spender.'' His character was that of a crooked ticket attendant of a car park company who becomes involved with an organized crime family in and attempt to defraud his employers. Whilst in ''The Professionals'' Armitage appeared as [[Special Branch]] detective Ray Kerrigan, the episode entitled ''Stake Out''.
In 1988, a century after the [[Whitechapel Murders]], Armitage appeared in the television mini-series ''[[Jack the Ripper (miniseries)|Jack the Ripper]]'' in which he played the part of Sergeant Kirby. His other TV credits include ''Lovejoy'', ''[[The Befrienders]]'', ''Couples'' and ''[[Hearts and Minds (1995 TV series)|Hearts and Minds]]''. He also appeared in ''[[Lucky Feller]]'', a short-lived sitcom starring [[David Jason]].<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IY88AAAAQBAJ&q=peter+armitage+coronation+street&pg=PT87|title=Sir David Jason - A Life of Laughter|first1=Stafford|last1=Hildred|first2=Tim|last2=Ewbank|date=3 September 2012|publisher=John Blake Publishing|access-date=5 December 2018|via=Google Books|isbn=9781782190721}}</ref> In 1998, played Danny Ormondroyd in a stage adaptation of the film ''[[Brassed Off]]'' at the [[Sheffield Crucible]] and London’s [[Olivier Theatre]].<ref name=obituary/>
==Personal life== Armitage married actress Annabel Scase in 1970; the couple had two children, Daniel and Sally, and later divorced.<ref name=obituary/>
Armitage lived in [[Cross Hills]], [[North Yorkshire]]<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.yorkshirelife.co.uk/out-about/places/cross-hills-north-yorkshire-has-plenty-to-trumpet-about-1-1635874|title=Cross Hills, North Yorkshire has plenty to trumpet about|website=Yorkshire Life|access-date=5 December 2018|archive-date=19 September 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180919211435/https://www.yorkshirelife.co.uk/out-about/places/cross-hills-north-yorkshire-has-plenty-to-trumpet-about-1-1635874|url-status=live}}</ref> and subsequently in [[Cononley]] near [[Skipton]].<ref name="mirror">{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/corrie-bill-webster-beaten-cancer-3186270|title=Corrie Bill Webster has beaten cancer and wants to get on the cobbles|first=Sue|last=Crawford|date=26 February 2014|website=Mirror.co.uk|access-date=5 December 2018}}</ref> He was appointed a [[Order of the British Empire|Member of the Order of the British Empire]] (MBE) in the [[2011 Birthday Honours]] for services to amateur theatre in [[Yorkshire]].
Armitage died of a heart attack on 30 November 2018, aged 79. He was survived by his children.<ref name=obituary /><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrity-news/breaking-coronation-street-star-peter-13689007|title=Peter Armitage dead: Coronation Street star who played Bill Webster dies aged 78|website=Mirror.co.uk|access-date=5 December 2018|date=5 December 2018}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== * {{IMDb name|id=0035513|name=Peter Armitage}} * {{YouTube|RnJk6bkjgko|Yellow Pages commercial}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Armitage, Peter}} [[Category:1939 births]] [[Category:2018 deaths]] [[Category:Alumni of East 15 Acting School]] [[Category:English male soap opera actors]] [[Category:English male stage actors]] [[Category:English people of German descent]] [[Category:20th-century English male actors]] [[Category:21st-century English male actors]] [[Category:People from Skipton]] [[Category:Male actors from North Yorkshire]] [[Category:Members of the Order of the British Empire]] [[Category:Actors from Craven District]]