Tristan John de Vere Cole (born 16 March 1935) is an English television director, now retired. He is believed to be the last-surviving illegitimate son of the painter

Augustus John Augustus Edwin John (4 January 1878 – 31 October 1961) was a Welsh painter, draughtsman, and etcher. For a time he was considered the most important artist at work in Britain: Virginia Woolf remarked that by 1908 the era of John Singer Sarg ...

(1878–1961). In his first career, he was a

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

officer for seven years. His career as a television director included work on ''

Z-Cars ''Z-Cars'' or ''Z Cars'' (pronounced "zed cars") is a British television police procedural series centred on the work of mobile uniformed police and CID detectives in the fictional town of Newtown, based on Kirkby, near Liverpool. Produced by ...

,'' ''

Doctor Who ''Doctor Who'' is a British science fiction television series broadcast by the BBC since 1963. The series, created by Sydney Newman, C. E. Webber and Donald Wilson (writer and producer), Donald Wilson, depicts the adventures of an extraterre ...

,'' ''

Emmerdale Farm ''Emmerdale'' (known as ''Emmerdale Farm'' until 1989) is a British television soap opera that is broadcast on ITV. The show is set in Emmerdale (known as Beckindale until 1994), a fictional village in the Yorkshire Dales. Created by Kevin ...

,'' ''

Howards' Way ''Howards' Way'' is a television drama series produced by BBC Birmingham and transmitted on BBC1 between 1 September 1985 and 25 November 1990. The series deals with the personal and professional lives of the wealthy yachting and business com ...

and'' '' Bergerac.''

Life

His mother, Mavis Cole, met painter

(1878–1961) at the

Café Royal A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargile ...

in 1928, and agreed to model for him. In 1931 she married

Horace de Vere Cole William Horace de Vere Cole (5 May 1881 – 25 February 1936) was an eccentric prankster born in Ballincollig, County Cork, Ireland. His most famous prank was the ''Dreadnought'' hoax where he and several others in blackface, pretending to b ...

, a well-known Edwardian practical joker, then in 1932 she became the mistress of Augustus John. Cole was born in 1935 and is believed to be John's last-surviving illegitimate son. Cole was brought up in the John household at Fryern Court,

Fordingbridge Fordingbridge is a town and broader civil parish with a population of 6,200 on the River Avon in the New Forest District of Hampshire, England. It is located near the Dorset and Wiltshire borders and on the edge of the New Forest. It is sou ...

, from the age of 18 months, partly by his mother, and then later by

Dorelia McNeill Dorelia McNeill (born Dorothy McNeill; 19 December 1881 – 23 July 1969) was best known as a model for the Welsh artists Gwen John and Augustus John, was the common-law wife of the latter, and has been credited for inspiring "his first unequ ...

. Cole was educated for three years at Kelly College,

Tavistock Tavistock ( ) is an ancient stannary and market town and civil parish in the West Devon district, in the county of Devon, England. It is situated on the River Tavy, from which its name derives. At the 2011 census, the three electoral wards (N ...

. He married Diana Crosby Cook in 1962 and they had two children, including a son, London fine art dealer Cassian de Vere Cole (born 1966). She died in 2025. In 2000, he married lawyer Prudence Murdoch. She died in 2010. He lives in Sutton Scotney, not far from his partner Anne Stow, eldest grandchild of

Neville Chamberlain Arthur Neville Chamberlain (; 18 March 18699 November 1940) was a British politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from May 1937 to May 1940 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from ...

, a former

prime minister A prime minister or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. A prime minister is not the head of state, but r ...

, whose wife was a sister of Horace de Vere Cole. Through his father,

Gwen John Gwendolen ''Gwen'' Mary John (22 June 1876 – 18 September 1939) was a Welsh people, Welsh artist who worked in France for most of her career. Her paintings, mainly portraits of anonymous female sitters, are rendered in a range of closely relat ...

was Cole's aunt, his half-siblings were cellist Amaryllis Fleming, Sir Caspar John, Gwyneth Johnstone, and

Vivien John Vivien John (8 March 1915 – 20 May 1994) was a British painter. Biography Vivien John was born at Alderney Manor in Dorset, the daughter of Dorelia McNeill and the artist Augustus John; she was the youngest of their four children together. A ...

; Johnstone and Vivien also were artists in their own right. Only Caspar was born from his father's marriage, and he later became prominent as an admiral also in the Royal Navy and

First Sea Lord First Sea Lord, officially known as First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS), is the title of a statutory position in the British Armed Forces, held by an Admiral (Royal Navy), admiral or a General (United Kingdom), general of the ...

Career

From 1951, Cole trained for a naval career at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. He went on to serve as an officer in the Royal Navy from 1953 to 1960. After his return to civilian life, Cole worked at the

Bristol Old Vic Bristol Old Vic is a British theatre company based at the Theatre Royal, Bristol. The present company was established in 1946 as an offshoot of the Old Vic in London. It is associated with the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School, which became a fin ...

as assistant stage manager and actor, before moving on to a career with

BBC television BBC Television is a service of the BBC. The corporation has operated a Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television service in the United Kingdom, under the terms of a royal charter, since 1 January 1927. It p ...

. In May 2024 it was reported that Cole had written the screenplay for the adventure thriller ''Storm Witch'', an independent U.K./Ireland co-production, to be directed by David Blair and starring British actress

Gemma Arterton Gemma Christina Arterton (born 2 February 1986) is a British actress. After her stage debut in Shakespeare's ''Love's Labour's Lost'' at the Globe Theatre (2007), Arterton made her feature-film debut in the comedy '' St Trinian's'' (2007). She p ...

Work as television director

*''

'' (episodes in 1968) *''

'': '' The Wheel in Space'' (1968) *''

Take Three Girls ''Take Three Girls'' is a British comedy-drama television series that aired on BBC1 from 17 November 1969 to 1 January 1971. It follows three young women sharing a flat in "Swinging London" (located at 17 Glazbury Road, West Kensington, W14). I ...

'' (1969) *''

'' (1972–1973) *''

Trinity Tales ''Trinity Tales'' is a 1975 British television series, consisting of six 50-minute programmes, written by Alan Plater and shown on BBC2. It was loosely based on Geoffrey Chaucer's ''Canterbury Tales'', updated to a modern setting. The series e ...

'' (1975) *''

Angels An angel is a spiritual (without a physical body), heavenly, or supernatural being, usually humanoid with bird-like wings, often depicted as a messenger or intermediary between God (the transcendent) and humanity (the profane) in variou ...

'' (1976) *''

Survivors Survivor(s) may refer to: * one who survives Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Survivors, characters in the 1997 KKnD series#Armies, ''KKnD'' video-game series * ''The Survivors'', or the ''New Survivors Foundation'', a fictional ...

'' (1977 episodes)Harris M. Lentz, ''Science Fiction, Horror & Fantasy Film and Television Credits: Television shows'' (McFarland, 2001), p. 2132 *'' Secret Army'' (1979) *''

Juliet Bravo ''Juliet Bravo'' is a television in the United Kingdom, British television police procedural drama series, first broadcast on 30 August 1980, that ran for six series and a total of 88 episodes on BBC One, BBC1. The theme of the series concerned ...

'' (1980) *'' The Spoils of War'' (1981) *''

'' (1985–1988) *''

Rockliffe's Folly Rockliffe may refer to: People *Rockliffe Fellowes (1883–1950), Canadian actor *David Lunn-Rockliffe (1924–2011), British businessman *Thornton Rockliffe (1887–1961), Australian cricketer Others *Rockliffe Park (Hurworth), training facilit ...

'' (1988) *'' Bergerac'' (1988–1992) * ''Trainer'' (1992)

Work as film director

*''

Orion's Belt Orion's Belt is an asterism in the constellation of Orion. Other names include the Belt of Orion, the Three Kings, and the Three Sisters. The belt consists of three bright and easily identifiable collinear star systems – Alnitak, Alnilam, ...

'' (1985) *'' The Dive'' (1990)

Publications

* With Roderic Owen, ''Beautiful and Beloved: the Life of Mavis de Vere Cole'' (Hutchinson, 1974)

References

IMDb biography

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Tristan De Vere 1935 births Living people British film directors Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College Military personnel from Berkshire People educated at Kelly College People from Newbury, Berkshire People from Redruth People from the City of Winchester Royal Navy officers