‘Peppa Pig’ And ‘Thunderbirds’ Voice Actor David Graham Dies

Grandpa Pig in Peppa Pig; Daleks in Doctor Who; and multiple characters in Thunderbirds. They share one immediate commonality; they were all voiced by British actor David Graham. And today we mourn the loss of Mr. Graham, who has died at age 99.

Born in London on July 11, 1925, David Graham trained to be an actor in New York City at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre following service in the Royal Air Force as a radar mechanic.

Graham returned to England and began his theatre career, with Givola in The Resistible Rise of Auturo Ui in 1967 considered his breakout role. He then auditioned for Laurence Olivier’s theatre company, and eventually appeared alongside him in Saturday Sunday Monday.

While playing characters in the TV series Private Investigator in 1958, Graham segued to voicing puppets in various productions by writer and producer Gerry Anderson. He began with Grandpa Twink (who he based on Walter Brennan) in Four Feather Falls.

On-screen, Graham appeared in two episodes of the first edition of Doctor Who as an actor, but became much better known as the commanding voice of the Daleks.

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Addionally, Graham played the role of “Big Brother” in the 1984 Super Bowl advertisement to introduce the Apple Macintosh computer. He provided the voice for Wise Old Elf and Mr Gnome in animated Ben & Holly's Little Kingdom. And he made brief appearances in the British dramas Coronation Street, The Bill and London's Burning, among other career highlights.

Graham’s final projects included voicing Zeke in the animated Toca Life Stories and voicing Grandpa Pig in several Peppa Pig video games.