Peter Cotes (19 March 1912 – 10 November 1998) was an English director, producer, actor, writer and production manager. Cotes was born as Sydney Boulting in

Maidenhead Maidenhead is a market town in the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead in the county of Berkshire, England, on the southwestern bank of the River Thames. It had an estimated population of 70,374 and forms part of the border with southern Bu ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; in the 17th century sometimes spelt phonetically as Barkeshire; abbreviated Berks.) is a historic county in South East England. One of the home counties, Berkshire was recognised by Queen Elizabeth II as the Royal County of Berk ...

. His brothers John and Roy Boulting became noted film makers. He began as an actor, before concentrating on theatre production. He was the original director of the world's longest-running production '' The Mousetrap'', still playing at the

St Martins Theatre St Martin's Theatre is a West End theatre which has staged the production of ''The Mousetrap'' since March 1974, making it the longest continuous run of any show in the world. The theatre is located in West Street, near Shaftesbury Avenue, in t ...

, London. He wrote several books, including an acclaimed biography of

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin Jr. (16 April 188925 December 1977) was an English comic actor, filmmaker, and composer who rose to fame in the era of silent film. He became a worldwide icon through his screen persona, the Tramp, and is consider ...

in 1951. He was twice married: Myfanwy Jones (marriage annulled) and Joan Miller (widowed 1988). He died from natural causes in Chipping Norton,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in the north west of South East England. It is a mainly rural county, with its largest settlement being the city of Oxford. The county is a centre of research and development, primarily ...

, aged 86.

Cinema and television credits

'' As actor'' * ''Pal O'Mine'' (1936) ... Archie * '' Pastor Hall'' (1940) ... Erwin Kohn * '' Fingers'' (1941) (uncredited) * '' The Gentle Sex'' (1943) (uncredited) ...Taffy * '' Don't Take It to Heart'' (1944) ...Patterson, Junior Counsel * '' The Way to the Stars'' (1945) ...Aircraftsman * '' Beware of Pity'' (1946) ...Kosma * '' The Upturned Glass'' (1947) ... Questioner '' As writer '' * '' London Playhouse'' (3 episodes, 1955–56) **''Lady Must Sell'' (1955) (adaptation) **''Summer in Normandy'' (1955) (production supervisor) **''The Guv'nor'' (1956) TV episode (production supervisor) * ITV Playhouse (1 episode 1956) **''Ashes in the Wind'' (1956) (adaptation) * '' ITV Play of the Week'' (1 episode 1965) **''Winter in Ischia'' (1965) (television adaptation) ''As producer'' * London Playhouse'' (5 episodes 1955–56) **''The Inward Eye'' (1955) (producer) **''Lady Must Sell'' (1955) (producer) **''Fighting Chance'' (1955) (producer) **''Adeline Girard'' (1955) (supervising producer) **''Yesterday's Mail'' (1956) (producer) * ITV Playhouse **''Woman in a Dressing Gown'' (1956) (producer) * ''

BBC Sunday Night Theatre ''Sunday Night Theatre'' was a long-running series of televised live television plays screened by BBC Television from early 1950 until 1959. The productions for the first five years or so of the run were re-staged live the following Thursday, p ...

'' **''The Road'' (1953) (producer) **''What the Public Wants'' (1959) (producer) * '' The World of Wooster'' **''Jeeves and the Delayed Exit of Claude and Eustice'' (1966) (associate producer) **''Jeeves and the Indian Summer of an Uncle'' (1966) (associate producer) ''As director'' * BBC Sunday Night Theatre (1 episode 1953) **''The Road'' (1953) (uncredited) * ''

The Right Person ''The Right Person'' is a 1955 featurette made in the United Kingdom by Hammer Film Productions. It was directed by Peter Cotes. Production It was filmed almost entirely on one set at Bray Studios, by then Hammer's permanent home. Establishi ...

'' (1955) * London Playhouse (3 episodes 1955–56) **''Area Nine'' (1955) **''Lady Must Sell'' (1955) **''Yesterday's Mail'' (1956) * '' Sword of Freedom'' (1 episode 1957) **''Alessandro'' (1957) * ''

The Young and the Guilty ''The Young and the Guilty'' is a 1958 British drama film directed by Peter Cotes and starring Phyllis Calvert, Andrew Ray and Edward Chapman. The film's art direction was by Terence Verity. Premise Parents misconstrue the innocent nature of ...

'' (1958) * ITV Television Playhouse (5 episodes 1956–58) **''Ashes in the Wind'' (1956) **''Woman in a Dressing Gown'' (1956) **''The Young and the Guilty'' (1956) **''Not Proven'' (1957) **''Look in Any Window'' (1958) *''

Shadow of the Vine "Shadow of the Vine" is a 1962 Australian television play adapted from a 1949 play by Beverly Nichols. It was originally made for HSV-7 then presented as part of the '' General Motors Hour'' It was produced by Peter Cotes, who made four TV produc ...

'' (1962) * ITV Play of the Week (1 episode 1964) **''The Offence'' (1964) (TV episode) * ''Janie Jones'', at the New Theatre, London, (opened 15 July 1968)

Selected theatre credits

* ''The Mousetrap'' (1952, director of original London stage production)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cotes, Peter 1912 births 1998 deaths English male film actors English television directors English theatre directors English television producers English theatre managers and producers English writers 20th-century English male actors Place of birth missing 20th-century English male writers 20th-century English businesspeople