Peter Yates (born 24 July 1929 in Aldershot, Hampshire) is an English film director and producer.
He went to Charterhouse School as a boy, graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked for some years as an actor, director and stage manager.
In the 1950s he started in the movie industry as a dubbing assistant and later an assistant director for Tony Richardson.
He made his first film Summer Holiday (1963) with Cliff Richard and later One Way Pendulum (1965), before directing the crime thriller Robbery, a fictionalised version of the Great Train Robbery, in 1967. This led to his first American film, Bullitt, the following year.
He earned four Oscar nominations - one for Best Director and a second for Best Producer for the movie Breaking Away in 1979, and another two (Director and Producer) for The Dresser, an adaptation of the popular stage play, in 1983.
Educated at Charterhouse School.
Has directed 3 actors to Oscar nominations: Barbara Barrie (Best Supp. Actress - Breaking Away) & Tom Courtenay/Albert Finney (Best Actor - The Dresser)
