LONDON (AP) — British actor Peter Sallis, who played irrepressible, cheese-loving inventor Wallace in the "Wallace and Gromit" cartoons, has died. He was 96.

Sallis' agents, Jonathan Altaras Associates, say he died Friday in London.

Sallis caught the acting bug as a Royal Air Force serviceman during World War II and later attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

He became famous in Britain as a star of long-running sitcom "Last of the Summer Wine."

Millions around the world know his voice from animator Nick Park's "Wallace and Gromit" series of shorts and features, which charted the adventures of a tea-loving Yorkshireman and his level-headed dog Gromit.

Millions recognize Wallace's down-to-earth Yorkshire accent and frequent exclamation: "Cheese, Gromit!"

Two of the films, "The Wrong Trousers" and "A Close Shave" won Academy Awards.