Peter Arne

Biography

Peter Arne, born in Kuala Lumpur, British Malaya, to a Swiss-French mother and an American father, was an actor and antique dealer whose life was tragically cut short in 1983. In the late 1940s, he and his partner Jack Corke became close friends with renowned author Mary Renault and her partner, Julie Mullard, aboard the SS Cairo on a journey from Britain to South Africa. The two couples embarked on a venture to construct homes for immigrants, with Renault investing her £25,000 MGM award to fund the project. However, Arne and Corke mismanaged the funds, accumulating significant debts, and ultimately fled back to the UK after stealing Renault's car to evade embezzlement charges.

On August 1, 1983, Arne was at a costume fitting for an upcoming role in Doctor Who. After returning home, neighbors reported hearing a heated argument, prompting police intervention. Officers discovered Arne's lifeless body in his Knightsbridge flat, brutally bludgeoned to death with a stool and a log from his fireplace. The main suspect was Giuseppe Perusi, an Italian schoolteacher living in a nearby park, whom Arne had been helping with food. Four days later, Perusi’s body was found in the River Thames, an apparent suicide by drowning. An inquest held in October 1983 concluded that Perusi had murdered Arne before taking his own life.