Peter Vaughan as Maester Aemon in the hit show. HBO.com HBO.com

BRITISH ACTOR PETER Vaughan, best known for his role as Maester Aemon in hit television series Game of Thrones, has died at the age of 93.

The character actor had been a recognisable figure on British television screens since the 1950s, but his appearance in the fantasy epic over five years from 2011 won him global fans.

“Very sadly Peter Vaughan passed away at approximately 10.30 this morning. He died peacefully with his family around him,” his agent Sally Long-Innes said.

Partially sighted in real life, in Game of Thrones he played the blind maester of Castle Black, one of the lord commander’s closest advisors in the Night’s Watch.

Vaughan also appeared as the villain Harry Grout in prison sitcom Porridge in the 1970s, and starred in Our Friends in the North in the 1990s, for which he was nominated for a BAFTA television award.

Born on 4 April, 1923, he was married to actress Billie Whitelaw for 12 years. He is survived by his second wife, actress Lillias Walker.

© – AFP 2016 with reporting by Rónán Duffy 

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