Peter Wilton Cushing (26 May 1913 – 11 August 1994) was an English actor. He is best known for his appearances in British horror films between the 1950s and the 1970s. In Hammer films, he played Baron Frankenstein, Sherlock Holmes, and the vampire hunter Doctor Van Helsing among others.
In 1976, Cushing was cast in Star Wars in the supporting part of Grand Moff Tarkin. Like all of the other actors portraying Galactic Imperial officers, he was presented with ill-fitting riding boots, which pinched his feet so much that he was given permission by director George Lucas to play the role wearing his slippers. As a result, the camera operators filmed him throughout the film only from the knees up, or else standing behind the table of the Death Star conference room set. This costuming discomfort aside, Cushing contrasted sharply with co-star Alec Guinness in that he enjoyed his experience on the film, appreciated the renewed interest in his work from young fans and only regretted that he could not appear in the sequels.
For the 2016 film Rogue One, CGI and digitally-repurposed-archive footage were used to insert Peter Cushing's likeness from the original movie over the body of actor Guy Henry. Henry provided the on-set capture and voice work with the reference material augmented and mapped over his performance like a digital body-mask. Cushing's estate owners were heavily involved with the creation which took place over twenty years after his death. This extensive use of CGI to "resurrect" an actor who had died decades ago created a great deal of controversy about the ethics of using a deceased actor's likeness. Joyce Broughton, Cushing’s former secretary, had approved recreating Cushing in the film. After attending the London premiere, she was reportedly "taken aback" and "dazzled" with the effect of seeing Cushing on screen again