OBITUARIES

'Bullitt' & 'Krull' Director Peter Yates Passes Away at 82 Years Old

by Ethan Anderton
January 10, 2011
Source: Deadline

Sad news kicks off this January week as Deadline reports director Peter Yates, the man behind the prolific action-filled cop drama Bullitt has passed away at 82-years old. Though he hadn't directed anything since 2004, Yates had already left a permanent impression on the film industry. After studying at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, the filmmaker worked as an assistant and assistant director before finally getting his first feature, Summer Holiday starring Cliff Richards, in 1963. But it wouldn't be until he helmed Robbery in 1967 that he would catch a break that would lead him to direct one of the most memorable cop movies of all time.

In 1968 the British filmmaker directed Steve McQueen and some of the best car chases you've ever seen in Bullitt. You may have seen The Fast and the Furious, but Bullitt has some real, kick-ass driving. Since then Yates has also worked with Dustin Hoffman on John and Mary, Peter O'Toole on Murphy's War, and a young Jackie Earle Haley and Dennis Quaid in Breaking Away. Yates was also responsible for Krull, a cult sci-fi favorite, but he followed that up with a film on the opposite end of the spectrum in The Dresser, a drama with Albert Finney and Tom Courtenay that would garner a Best Picture nomination and a Best Director nod for Yates. Hollywood has lost a truly influential director today, and we will miss him dearly.

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