Putting a Face to a Name

In Murder Must Advertise Miss Meteyard describes Lord Peter like this; "Tow-coloured, supercilious-looking blighter...Cross between Ralph Lynn and Bertie Wooster."

Ralph Lynn

Hugh Laurie as Bertie Wooster

Now Hugh Laurie as Peter Wimsey - that would be awesome! Not exactly "tow coloured" but "supercilious" for sure, and, maybe most importantly, capable of conveying Wimsey's feverish, almost manic, intellect.

The BBC's first attempt at casting for Peter was alright. Ian Carmichael was great with the dialogue and had the right energy, but he looked nothing like Peter and I'm permanently scarred from the sight of him in the harlequin's costume. Yikes!

Ian Carmichael

In the 80's the BBC took another stab at it, casting Edward Petherbridge. Edward looked a lot like Peter, but came off strangely dour and his attempts at some of Peter's outbursts were just plain awkward. Oh yeah, and he couldn't keep the monocle from falling off his face!

Peter Petherbridge

The most famous actor to play Peter was Robert Montgomery in MGM's Haunted Honeymoon(1941). Sayers was not a fan of the film, and she'd have had a lot of reasons not to be, including Montgomery's portrayal of a Wimsey completely devoid of eccentricity or brilliance.

Robert Montgomery

Artists have also attempted to put a face on Lord Peter Wimsey.

Very heroic looking. I think Peter would have been amused.

This guy is trying to sell us something.

This portrait belongs to Balliol, where I guess they honor their imaginary alumnae as well as the real ones. The artist scrawled "after Sargent" at the bottom of the painting. If you say so, buddy.

Maybe someday I'll do a painting of Peter and let the world know, once and for all, what he really looks like.