Peter Bonke started life far away from the chaotic crowds of the movie house and theater. He was born on a farm on the Danish island of Lolland. This isolation didn't last long, however, and he became involved in acting from a very early age. Bonke won some of his first big roles as a young man in the mid-1960s, appearing in domestic films such as the family offering "Nu Stiger Den" and the poorly received "Kisses Right and Left." The actor was successful in the small and contained world of Danish film, but he was more ambitious. After winning a scholarship from the country's ministry of culture in 1975, his was able to pursue an international career and so promptly moved to Paris. Although his early time in France was a struggle, he gradually won roles in local film and TV productions. He had a part in the grim prison film "L'Ombre et la Nuit" in 1977 and acted in a episode of the TV mystery serial "Les Enquetes du Commissaire Maigret" in 1979. Despite returning from time to time to perform in theater and screen productions in Denmark, Bonke spent the latter-half career performing for French audiences.