Peter Yates

The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes

Peter Yates (24 July 1928 – 9 January 2011) was an English film director and producer. He was born in Aldershot, Hampshire. 

The son of an army officer, he attended 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 Peter Yates started in the movie industry as a dubbing assistant and later an assistant director for Tony Richardson.

Peter Yates made his first film Summer Holiday (1963) with Cliff Richard and later One Way Pendulum (1964), before directing the crime thriller Robbery, a fictionalised version of the Great Train Robbery, in 1967. This led to Bullitt, his first American film, the following year.

Peter Yates gained four Oscar nominations - one for Best Director and a second for Best Producer for the film Breaking Away in 1979, and another two (Director and Producer) for The Dresser (1983), an adaptation of the Ronald Harwood stage play. The Dresser was also entered into the 34th Berlin International Film Festival. 

Peter Yates died in London on 9 January 2011. Peter Yates was 82 years old.