Peter Coe (director)

Peter Leonard Coe (18 April 1929 – 25 May 1987), was an English film and theatre director and actor.

Early life
Coe was born in London on 18 April 1929 and graduated from the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art.

Career
After beginning his career as an actor, Coe staged dramas, musicals and operas across several continents in a long career. His first London success came in 1959 with the musical Lock Up Your Daughters and by 1961 he had three hits running simultaneously. He also directed both the West End and Broadway productions of Oliver! as well as its U.S. national tour and the 1983 London and 1984 Broadway revivals.

His operatic credits included The Love of Three Oranges, The Angel of Fire, and Ernani.

In 1981 Coe received an Antoinette Perry Award nomination as Best Director for A Life, and in 1982 he won the award for his revival of Othello.

His appointments included artistic director for the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton, Canada in 1980, and the American Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford, in United States and prior to his death artistic director of the Churchill Theatre in Bromley, Kent.

Awards and nominations
He was thrice nominated for the Tony award on Broadway; in 1963 for Best Director (musical) for Oliver!, 1981 for Best Director (play) for A Life before winning for Best Director (drama) with Othello in 1982.

Filmography

 * Lock Up Your Daughters (1969)
 * Barnum (1981)
 * Mr Lincoln (1981)