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. It lies on the southwestern bank of the River Thames, which at this point forms the border with Buckinghamshire. In the 2021 Census, ...

Berkshire Berkshire ( ; abbreviated ), officially the Royal County of Berkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Oxfordshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the north-east, Greater London ...

. His brothers

John and Roy Boulting John Edward Boulting (21 December 1913 – 17 June 1985) and Roy Alfred Clarence Boulting (21 December 1913 – 5 November 2001), known collectively as the Boulting brothers, were English filmmakers and identical twins who became known for thei ...

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

Charlie Chaplin Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin (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 considered o ...

in 1951. Cotes travelled to Australia in 1961 to direct some television plays. He was fired during the filming of ''Bitter Harvest''. He was twice married: Myfanwy Jones (marriage annulled) and Joan Miller (widowed 1988). He died from natural causes in Chipping Norton,

Oxfordshire Oxfordshire ( ; abbreviated ''Oxon'') is a ceremonial county in South East England. The county is bordered by Northamptonshire and Warwickshire to the north, Buckinghamshire to the east, Berkshire to the south, and Wiltshire and Glouceste ...

, 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'' **''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'' (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'' (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'' (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