Editing Peter Cushing (section)

==Personal life==
Cushing had a variety of interests outside acting, including collecting and battling [[Toy soldier|model soldiers]], of which he owned over five thousand.<ref>Cushing, p. 169</ref> He hand-painted many and used the ''[[Little Wars]]'' rule set by the English writer [[H. G. Wells]] for [[miniature wargaming]].<ref>{{YouTube|BGag8Qllgnw|title=British Pathé: Peter Cushing (1956)}}</ref> He also loved games and [[practical joke]]s,<ref name="Payne" /> and enjoyed drawing and painting watercolours, the latter of which he did often in his later years.<ref name="Higham" />

After his wife's death, Cushing visited several churches and spoke to religious ministers, but was dissatisfied by their reluctance to discuss death and the afterlife, and never joined an organised religion. He nevertheless maintained a belief in both [[God]] and an [[afterlife]].<ref name="Scully" /><ref name="Hollywood Reporter"/> He was an ardent [[Vegetarianism|vegetarian]] for most of his life and served as a patron with the [[Vegetarian Society]] from 1987 until his death.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.vegsoc.org/HQdata/cushing.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19981205075607/http://www.vegsoc.org/HQdata/cushing.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=5 December 1998 |title=Peter Cushing's Obituary – The Vegetarian (Autumn 1994) |date=5 December 1998 |access-date=22 August 2012}}</ref> He also had a great interest in [[ornithology]] and wildlife in general.<ref name="Veg" /> He suffered from [[nyctophobia]] from early in his life, but in his later years overcame this by forcing himself to take walks outside after midnight.<ref>Cushing, p. 27</ref>

Cushing was known among his colleagues for his gentle and gentlemanly demeanour, as well as his professionalism and rigorous preparation as an actor.<ref name="Monush" /> He once said that he learned his parts "from cover to cover" before filming began.<ref name="Meikle71">Meikle, p. 71</ref> His co-stars and colleagues often spoke of his politeness, charm, old-fashioned manners and sense of humour.<ref name="SWI56" /> While working, he actively provided feedback and suggestions on other elements beyond his performance, such as dialogue and wardrobe. At times, this put him at odds with writers and producers; the Hammer producer Anthony Hinds once declared him a "fusspot [and] terrible fusser about his wardrobe and everything, but never a difficult man."<ref name="Earnshaw10" />

Although he appeared in both television and stage productions, Cushing preferred the medium of film, which allowed his perfectionist nature to work out the best performance possible.<ref name="SWI56" /> He did not enjoy the repetitive nature of stage performances, and once compared it to a painter being forced to paint the same picture every day.<ref name="CKnight" /> Cushing himself was not a particular fan of horror or science fiction films, but he tended to choose roles not based on whether he enjoyed them, but whether he felt his audience would enjoy him in them.<ref name="SWI56" /> Nevertheless, Cushing was very proud of his experiences with the Hammer films, and never resented becoming known as a horror actor.<ref name="Barker" /> He always took the roles seriously and never portrayed them in a [[Camp (style)|campy]] or [[tongue-in-cheek]] style because he felt it would be insulting to his audience.<ref name="SWI56" /><ref name="Wogan" /><ref name="CushDoc" />

On 10 April 1943, Cushing married {{anchor|Violet Hélène Beck}}Violet Hélène Beck, sister of [[Reginald Beck]].<ref name="Bangor" /><ref name="Veg">[https://web.archive.org/web/19981205075607/http://www.vegsoc.org/HQdata/cushing.html "Obituary: Peter Cushing OBE"] (Autumn 1994). ''[[Vegetarian Society|The Vegetarian]]''.</ref><ref name="Cush81">Cushing, p. 81</ref><ref name="petercushing/helen">{{cite web |title=Remembering Helen |url=http://www.petercushing.co.uk/helen.htm |website=petercushing.co.uk |access-date=3 October 2022}}</ref>

In 1971 Cushing's wife died of [[emphysema]]. Cushing often said he felt his life had ended when hers did,<ref name="SWI56" /> and he was so crushed that when his first autobiography was published in 1986, it made no mention of his life after her death.<ref name="Veg" /> In 1972 he was quoted in the ''[[Radio Times]]'' as having said, "Since Helen passed on I can't find anything; the heart, quite simply, has gone out of everything. Time is interminable, the loneliness is almost unbearable and the only thing that keeps me going is the knowledge that my dear Helen and I will be reunited again some day. To join Helen is my only ambition. You have my permission to publish that&nbsp;... really, you know, dear boy, it's all just killing time. Please say that."<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Hearn |first1=Marcus |year=2013 |title=The Peter Cushing Scrapbooks |journal=[[Doctor Who Magazine]] |issue=461 |pages=16–21 |publisher=[[Panini Comics]]}}</ref>

In his autobiography, Cushing implies that he attempted suicide on the night of his wife's death by running up and down stairs in the vain hope that it would induce a [[heart attack]]. He later stated that this had simply been a hysterical response borne out of grief, and that he had not purposely attempted to end his life; a poem left by Helen had implored him not to die until he had lived his life to the full.<ref name="Hollywood Reporter">{{cite web|first=Aaron|last=Couch|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/rogue-one-peter-cushings-views-death-revisited-grand-moff-tarkin-return-957353/|title='Rogue One': Peter Cushing's Views on Life, Death and the Beyond Are Worth Revisiting|work=[[The Hollywood Reporter]]|date=December 19, 2016|accessdate=May 21, 2022}}</ref>

The effects of his wife's death proved to be as much physical as mental. For his role in ''[[Dracula A.D. 1972]]'', Cushing (who was 58) had originally been cast as the father of [[Stephanie Beacham]]'s character, but had aged so visibly and lost so much weight that the script was hastily rewritten to make him her grandfather: it was done again in the last Dracula film from Hammer, ''[[The Satanic Rites of Dracula]]''.<ref>{{cite book|first=Marcus|last=Hearn|date=2009|title=Hammer Glamour: Classic images from the archive of Hammer Films|publisher=[[Titan Books]]|location=London, England|isbn=978-1848562295|page=20}}</ref> In a silent tribute to Helen, a shot of [[Van Helsing]]'s desk includes a photograph of her. He repeated the role of the man who lost family in other horror films, including ''[[Asylum (1972 horror film)|Asylum]]'' (1972), ''[[The Creeping Flesh]]'' (1973), and ''[[The Ghoul (1975 film)|The Ghoul]]'' (1975).