Arnold Peters

Who was Arnold Peters?

Arnold Peters was an English actor, who played Jack Woolley in The Archers radio soap opera for 31 years.

Born in Hendon, Middlesex, as Peter Reginald Gadd, but brought up in Northamptonshire, he was educated as a day boy at Wellingborough School. He joined the Royal Air Force in 1944, but was found to be unfit for military service. and after the war spent five years at the Northampton Repertory Theatre. While performing in a pantomime during this period he met Beryl, a dancer, who became his wife.

Peters made many appearances on TV, including a regular role in Swizzlewick, which also featured Philip Garston-Jones, whom he replaced as Jack Woolley, and Margot Boyd, also known for her work in The Archers. He also appeared in London Belongs to Me, Dennis Potter's Pennies from Heaven and an episode of Only Fools and Horses called "A Royal Flush". In the 1990s, Peters appeared in television advertisements for Werther's Original Toffees.

He was best known for playing businessman and hotelier Jack Woolley in the long running BBC radio series The Archers from May 1980 until 2011.