Peter Leonard Coe (18 April 1929 – 25 May 1987), was an English

theatre director A theatre director or stage director is a professional in the theatre field who oversees and orchestrates the mounting of a theatre production such as a play, opera, dance, drama, musical theatre performance, etc. by unifying various endeavors a ...

Early life

Coe was born in London 18 April 1929 and graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Theatre career

After beginning as an actor, Peter Coe staged dramas, musicals and operas across several continents in a long career. His first London success came in 1959 with the musical ''Lock Up Your Daughters'' and by 1961 he had three hits running simultaneously. He also directed both the Australian and Broadway productions of Oliver! as well as its U.S. national tour and the 1983 London and 1984 Broadway revivals. His operatic credits included ''The Love of Three Oranges'', ''The Angel of Fire'', and ''Ernani''. In 1981 Coe received an Antoinette Perry Award nomination as Best Director for A Life, and in 1982 he won the award for his revival of ''Othello''. He was thrice nominated for the Tony award on Broadway; in 1963 for Best Director (musical) for ''Oliver!'', 1981 for Best Director (play) for ''A Life'' before winning for Best Director (drama) with ''Othello'' in 1982. His theatre productions included: * ''Lock Up Your Daughters'' (Mermaid Theatre, London 1959) * ''The World of Suzie Wong'' (Prince of Wales Theatre, London 1959) * ''The Miracle Worker'' (London 1961) * ''The World of Suzie Wong'' (London 1961) * ''Oliver!'' (New Theatre, London 1961) * ''Castle in Sweden'' (Piccadilly Theatre, London 1962) * ''Caligula'' (Phoenix Theatre, London 1964) * ''Golden Boy'' (1964) * ''Oliver!'' (Hanna Theatre, Cleveland, Ohio 1964) * ''On a Clear Day You Can See Forever'' (1966) * ''The Italian Straw Hat'' (Chichester Festival Theatre 1967) * ''The Skin of Our Teeth'' (Chichester Festival Theatre 1968) * ''Oliver!'' (Piccadilly Theatre, London 1968 revival) * ''The Caucasian Chalk Circle'' (Chichester Festival Theatre 1969) * ''Kiss Me, Kate'' (London Coliseum, 1970) * ''Peer Gynt'' (Chichester Festival Theatre 1970) * ''Hamlet'' (Bankside Globe Playhouse, London 1972) * ''Tonight We Improvise'' (Chichester Festival Theatre 1974) * ''Mister Lincoln'' (1980) * ''On the Twentieth Century'' (Her Majesty's Theatre, London 1980) * ''Barnum'' (London Palladium 1981) * ''Henry V'' (Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford, Connecticut 1981) * ''Hamlet'' (Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford, Connecticut 1982) * ''Othello'' (Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford, Connecticut 1982 revival) * ''Barnum'' (London Palladium 1983 revival) * ''Oliver!'' (London 1983 revival) * ''Hello, Dolly!'' (Birmingham Rep and Prince of Wales Theatre with Danny La Rue) * ''Barnum'' (Manchester Opera House 1984 revival with

Wendy Toye Beryl May Jessie Toye, (1 May 1917 – 27 February 2010), known professionally as Wendy Toye, was a British dancer, stage and film director and actress. Life and career Toye was born in London. She initially worked as a dancer and choreographer ...

) * ''Great Expectations'' (The Old Vic, London 1984) * ''Oliver!'' (Broadway 1984 revival) * ''Jane Eyre'' (Chichester Festival Theatre 1986) His appointments included artistic director of the

Citadel Theatre The Citadel Theatre is the major venue for theatre arts in the city of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, located in the city's downtown core on Churchill Square. It is the third largest regional theatre in Canada. History It began in a former Salvatio ...

, Edmonton, Canada in 1980 and the

American Shakespeare Theatre The American Shakespeare Theatre was a theater company based in Stratford, Connecticut, United States. It was formed in the early 1950s by Lawrence Langner, Lincoln Kirstein, John Percy Burrell, and philanthropist Joseph Verner Reed. The Amer ...

in Stratford, United States. Prior to his death, he was the artistic director of the

Churchill Theatre The Churchill Theatre in Bromley, southeast London was built by the London Borough of Bromley to designs by its borough architect's department. The Churchill is an example of a repertory theatre built in the style of European opera houses, wit ...

, Bromley.

Filmography

* '' Lock Up Your Daughters (1969)'' * ''Barnum'' (1981) * ''Mr Lincoln'' (1981)

References

Film Reference

* ''The Bromley Times obituary'' 1987 * ''Variety obituary'' 27 May 1987

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Coe (theatre director), Peter 1929 births 1987 deaths Alumni of the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art English artistic directors British opera directors English male stage actors English theatre directors English film directors Road incident deaths in London