See index for CTFT sketch: Born March 19, 1912, in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England; died November 10, 1998, in Chipping Norton, England. Actor, director, and author. Peter Cotes was well known for directing the first staged production of The Mousetrap, by Agatha Christie but he also made news when he produced the 1946 work Pick-up Girl, which dealt with sexuallytransmitted disease and child abuse. Cotes was exposed to theater early, as his parents were in charge of a South African theater company. He began actingin the 1930s, but discovered his true vocation in directing during the nextdecade. He felt stongly that actors should avoid putting effort into becomingstars at the expense of the plays that they were involved in. During the 1940s and 1950s Cotes contributed to British theater. In the 1950s and 1960s hedirected films and television programs. Cotes authored a biography of CharlieChaplin; some of his later publications included: Misfit Midget(1979), Portrait of an Actor(1980), Dickie: The Story of Dickie Henderson(1988), and Thinking Aloud(1993, autobiography).
Cotes died on November 10, 1998.
OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES
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