Rarely has there been a more quintessential leading man than Gregory Peck who died on 12 June, 2003 aged 87.

With his rich baritone voice, nearly all of Mr Peck’s characters were decent, honest men with an unerring moral compass who personified the solid values of post-war America.

The archetypal Peck character was the small town lawyer, Atticus Finch, in To Kill a Mockingbird (1969) for which he won the Best Actor Oscar.

During a 57-year career he made nearly 70 films and in the process became one of the most popular actors of the 20th century.

Eldred Gregory Peck was born on 5 April, 1916, in La Jolla, a beach-side community in San Diego, California. His parents divorced when he was five and he was raised by his grandmother.

He attended St. John’s Military Academy in Los Angeles, San Diego High School and San Diego State University before going to the University of California , Berkley to study medicine.

Mr Peck soon abandoned the idea of becoming a doctor and instead majored in English. A member of the rowing team, at 6ft 3ins he soon came to the attention of the University’s acting coach who cast him as Starbuck in Moby Dick.

Soon smitten with the acting bug he appeared regularly in University plays before graduating with a BA degree in English. After graduation Mr Peck moved to New York to study at the renowned acting school, the Neighbourhood Playhouse.

Having changed his name to Gregory Peck he made his Broadway debut in 1947 in the Emlyn Williams play The Morning Star and within a year he was in Hollywood where he made his first screen appearance in Days of Glory (1944).

Exempt from military service because of a back condition, Mr Peck was in much demand as an actor during the Second World War and he earned four Oscar nominations in his first five years of screen acting.

As an established star Mr Peck was able to choose his roles carefully, preferring to concentrate on decent, rugged heroes in such films as Moby Dick (1956), and Guns of Navaronne (1961). His last big-screen appearance came in Cape Fear in 1991.

Mr Peck was married twice, to Greta and Veronique, and had five children. He spent the later years of his life touring small theatres lecturing on his life and acting career.

He was also a staunch advocate of liberal and humanitarian causes and particularly enjoyed the celebrity that came from being on President Nixon’s list of “enemies.”

Aside from his one Oscar, Mr Peck won three Golden Globe Awards. In 1969, President Lyndon Johnson honoured him with the nation’s highest civilian award, the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Modest and unassuming, Mr Peck was adored by the public and his peers both as an actor and a man. In tribute to him, his friend Kirk Douglas said: "Gregory Peck was unique. He represents integrity, compassion and honesty.”