Peter Yates
British film director and producer (1929-2011)
Peter James Yates (24 July 1929 – 9 January 2011) was an English film director and producer, known for making films in a wide variety of genres. He received nominations for four Academy Awards (twice for Best Director and Best Picture), three BAFTA Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards.
Originally training as an actor at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Yates entered the film industry as an assistant director for top directors like Tony Richardson. After directing television programmes like The Saint and Danger Man, Yates made a breakthrough directing the heist film Robbery (1967). This led him to direct, including the Steve McQueen police thriller film Bullitt (1968), which was a major critical and commercial success.
Subsequently, Yates made films in a variety of genres. He directed Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow in the romantic drama John and Mary (1969), the World War II picture Murphy's War (1971), the heist film The Hot Rock (1972), the gangster film The Friends of Eddie Coyle (1973), the coming-of-age dramedy Breaking Away (1979), the cult science fantasy film Krull (1983), and the film version of the acclaimed stage play The Dresser. In the 2000s, he returned to directing television, including Don Quixote (2000).
Early life and education
Peter James Yates was born on 24 July 1929 in Aldershot, Hampshire, the son of an army officer.
He attended Charterhouse School.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Peter Yates” as british film director and producer (1929-2011). Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
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The entry’s evidential value lies in the named roles, institutions and publications that can be tested against primary documentation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 4, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q314301. VIAF identifies the subject as 57511621. The Library of Congress control number is n91100048. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1929, 2011, 1967 and 1968.
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This entry incorporates text from “Peter Yates” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.