Peter Archer (actor)

Peter Archer
Born Peter Ian Archer
(1948-07-08)8 July 1948
Queensland, Australia
Died 13 April 2000(2000-04-13) (aged 51)
Sydney, Australia
Occupation CEO of Jackel Australia

Peter Ian Archer (8 July 1948 – 13 April 2000) was an Australian entrepreneur and martial arts champion. He guest starred as Parsons (bully on boat) in the classic martial-arts movie Enter the Dragon starring Bruce Lee. He appeared in the famous The Art of Fighting Without Fighting scene.

He started a company called Jackel Australia, which markets and distributes baby products and dye products in Australia.

He had a black belt in both Goju-ryu and Shotokan karate. He died of cancer in April 2000.

Career

Peter Archer was a successful Karate champion in Hong Kong. After a tournament, Bruce Lee approached him after watching Peter fight.

"Would you like to be in my film?", Bruce asked.

"Sure," Peter responded, "what as?"

"Not sure," Bruce replied, "I'll write something in for you."

The film was Enter The Dragon.

The scene where Parson's boat starts to sink, ultimately with the insinuation that Parson could drown, was not written in the original script. The little boat was released, as per the script, but the film production team didn't realise the boat had a leak in it. As the boat started to sink, the film crew panicked. "Don't worry, get the shot, I can swim!" Peter cried, being an Australian who grew up around water. The director kept filming and the boat continued to sink into the water. Peter reminisced "It was fine as I was a strong swimmer, but gee that river stank! I was covered in it".

Parson's voice was dubbed by another actor. The director did not feel that Peter's voice was "New Zealand" enough, though the dubbed voice sounded nothing like a New Zealander's accent.

Peter Archer remembered Bruce to be a deeply philosophical man, who loved to discuss and break down the philosophies behind martial arts and life itself. Lee and Archer enjoyed their filmmaking experience together, with Bruce reportedly asking Peter to be in his next film. However, neither knew that this film was to be Bruce's last.

After fighting in Hong Kong and becoming a karate champion, Archer moved into a business career. He founded Jackel Australia in 1975, becoming the sole Australian and New Zealand Tommee Tippee licensee.

Personal

Peter Ian Archer comes from an historical Australian family that discovered and founded parts of Queensland and Rockhampton in the early 1800s. Within this family is also a famous naval architect Colin Archer.

He was born in Queensland to Alexander (Sandy) and June Archer. Having grown up on a farm, Peter had a down to earth personality - no matter the accomplishments he achieved throughout his short life. He would always joke that "you could take the boy out of the bush, but you can never take the bush out of the boy".

Peter had one sibling, Lynn, who was his eldest sister and currently resides in the Australian Capital Territory. His first marriage to Hazel Lo resulted in two daughters, Jacqueline Archer (born 1978) and Christine Archer (born 1979). His second marriage was to Sandra Webster in 1985. He remained happily married until his death after battling cancer for nearly 3 years in 2000. A battle he fought hard to overcome, his martial art fighting spirit ever with him, but ultimately the cancer won the fight.

A great man—well loved and liked, Peter Archer will be remembered for being a great leader, entrepreneur, husband, father, brother and friend. He had a brilliant mind, with a passion for reading, writing, technology, philosophy, business and a natural love for family, water, animals and friends. Peter had a generous spirit, and an incredible focus for his pursuit of excellence in everything he ventured in. He had a wonderful gusto for life - and was never lost for words with a poignant or humorous anecdote.

As Bruce Lee famously commented, "The key to immortality is living a life worth remembering". With Peter, these words ring true to his own life - he lived the life few could achieve in a such a short period of time. His memory lives on forever with his film and with the company in which he built (one of the most successful baby brands in Australia). More importantly, his memory lives on in the hearts of all those who were fortunate enough to have known him, and in those who were lucky enough to have loved him.

External links

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