Petherbridge was born in West Bowling, Bradford, the younger son of William and Hannah Petherbridge. He attended Newby Primary school in West Bowling, Bradford, before later attending Grange Grammar School in Little Horton, Bradford, where his favourite subjects were Art and English Literature.[1] The composer Herbert Howells wrote of Petherbridge's boy soprano rendition, at the Wharfedale Festival, of Schubert's 'Trout': "A fine young musician with a fine gift of word delivery." Petherbridge trained as an actor at Esme Church's Northern Theatre School. At the time of national service in the 1950s, he was a conscientious objector.[2] He made his professional stage debut at the Ludlow Festival in 1956, playing Gaveston in Marlowe's Edward II. His first London appearance was at the Open Air Theatre, Regent's Park in 1962 as Demetrius in A Midsummer Night's Dream.
Petherbridge is a winner of the Olivier and London Theatre Critics' Awards (for his role as Charlie Marsden in Strange Interlude), and has twice been nominated for a Tony Award (for Nicholas Nickleby and Strange Interlude). He has also been a recipient of the Sony Award for Best Actor in a Radio Drama.
Petherbridge is married to the actress Emily Richard, with whom he has appeared several times on stage. Petherbridge and Richard live in West Hampstead in North London. The couple have two children, Dora (b. 1983) and Arthur (b. 1986).[4] He has a son, David (b. 1965), by his first marriage to the New Zealand actress and director Louise Petherbridge (née Harris).[5]
In 2007, Petherbridge suffered two strokes while preparing to star in a production of King Lear. He later fictionalised the experience in the play My Perfect Mind, co-written with Paul Hunter.[6]
His book, Slim Chances and Unscheduled Appearances was published in March 2011 and launched with a sell-out Platform at the National Theatre. At the same time he held his first art exhibition at Burgh House in Hampstead. With his friend Kathleen Riley, he is writing a history of West Hampstead, NW6 and All That.
Publications
Petherbridge is the author of Pillar Talk (or Backcloth and Ashes), a one-man show about Saint Simeon Stylites, published in 2005. He has also contributed to The Continuum Companion to Twentieth-Century Theatre.[7]
In 2011, Petherbridge published an autobiographical anthology of essays, poems and artwork under the title Slim Chances and Unscheduled Appearances, which includes a foreword by Sir Ian McKellen.[8][9]
^"Petherbridge, Louise Durant, 1931-". Petherbridge, Louise Durant, 1931- | Items | National Library of New Zealand | National Library of New Zealand. Retrieved 21 June 2021.