Peter Rogers has produced over a hundred films since he first diverged his career from writing to producing cinema entertainment some forty years ago. He is, however, best known as the creator of the universally famous Carry On films, which surely have won a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the longest running series in world film history.
Born in Rochester, Kent, on February 20 1914, Peter Rogers combines his success with a shy and unassuming approach to life. When asked what he did with the first half of his life, before he established his record-making career in films, he replies that he was preparing himself for the second phase of his life as a writer and producer of screen entertainment.
It is on record, however, that his initiation stage took the form of journalism and the writing of radio plays for the BBC.
He first set foot in the world of the cinema as a writer of religious subjects for Lord Rank. After the war, he worked as a film scriptwriter for Gainsbrough Pictures.
Later, he wrote and produced several children's films which permitted him to combine his entertainment flair with his love of animals. These comprised of The Gay Dog, Circus Friends and The Dog and the Diamonds. The last named won a Venice Festival award in 1953.
Since he started making Carry On comedies, Peter Rogers has also made several departures into drama, including Assault, a thriller; Quest for Love, an off-beat love story with a time-skidding element and Revenge, an unusual murder story.
He moved into television, producing the popular Christmas television Carry Ons and the half hour Carry On shows directed by his film director Gerald Thomas. The first of the television series, Carry On Laughing, proved so popular that a second series was immediately scheduled for production.
Peter Rogers also achieved a personal ambition by putting his famous Carry On team on stage in the hit show Carry On London at London's Victoria Palace.
Peter is currently working on a new generation of Carry Ons and continues to work at the films' old home, Pinewood Studios.
