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Celebrated British actor Peter Vaughan has died at the age of 93.

“This is to confirm that very sadly Peter Vaughan has passed away at approximately 10.30 [GMT] this morning. He died peacefully with his family around him,” his agent announced. Vaughan became known in recent time to genre fans for his role as Maester Aemon, the elderly, blind master of the Night Watch in the first five seasons of HBO’s Game of Thrones, but he had a long career before that including appearances in Terry Gilliam’s Time Bandits and Brazil. He also voiced Denethor in the 1981 radio adaptation of The Lord of the Rings.

His first film appearance came in 1959. British audiences associate him most with the character of Harry Grout in the prison comedy Porridge, although he only actually made three appearances.