PETE WALTERS (d.2022)
Many older members, especially those involved in lighting shows, will be sad to hear that Pete Walters died on 30th December in a nursing home near where he lived with his wife, Lesley, in Emsworth. He had been fighting cancer for many years.
Pete discovered stage lighting at school in Exeter. His first job was as a salesman of church furnishings but he kept up his lighting contacts. This led him to help and learn on local shows with the former lighting director of the city's Theatre Royal. Sales work didn't satisfy him and he took on an apprenticeship in hospital radiography, but his church and lighting contacts continued and got him a memorable gig as lighting designer for a concert in Exeter Cathedral.
A physics degree followed, and a move via Ferranti to EMI. At Hayes he was involved in ground breaking development of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI). As his career settled he started to miss theatre and one day in 1977 he noticed a sign for the Questors.
He quickly became involved, particularly in the lighting department, and lit Mike Green's 1984 Coarse Acting show given in the presence of the then Prince of Wales. He worked backstage when Leslie was DSM at the Minack, and their 45 year relationship became a lifelong marriage.
His talent for finding like-minded contacts served him well in both career and hobbies, and he was invited to manage technical demonstrations for the Royal Institution Christmas Lectures when they featured MRI. It was during Coarse Acting tours in Edinburgh and the West End that he met Jeremy James Taylor who was establishing what has become the National Youth Music Theatre. This led to lighting jobs in professional houses around the country and internationally.
He became increasingly interested in reflecting the real world in his lighting, using watercolour painting and photography to crystallise his ideas. He ran several courses at the Questors based on this work. He could be impatient when his standards weren't matched by others on a production, but was always generous in mentoring and sharing his wide theatre experience.
In the late 90's he started work on the allocation of research grants, liaising between the EU and UK universities. This led to a move to Hampshire and a decision that time at home was more important than theatre. In his career he changed medicine as part of the MRI team, in theatre he become an expert and prolific lighting designer, and with Leslie he had a long and happy marriage. |
