London
(ANI):
British
filmmaker
Peter
Yates
passed
away
in
London
on
Sunday
following
an
illness.
He
was
81.
He
left
behind
his
wife
Virginia
Pope,
a
son
and
a
daughter,
reports
the
BBC.
The
family
will
hold
a
private
funeral,
according
to
his
agent
Judy
Daish.
A
graduate
of
the
Royal
Academy
of
Dramatic
Art,
Yates
started
out
as
an
actor
before
becoming
an
assistant
director
on
such
films
as
The
Guns
of
Navarone
and
A
Taste
of
Honey.
He
made
his
directorial
debut
in
1963
with
Cliff
Richard
vehicle
Summer
Holiday,
going
on
to
make
episodes
of
The
Saint
and
Danger
Man.
Bullitt,
his
first
US
film,
followed
a
year
later,
casting
McQueen
as
the
head
of
a
police
unit
guarding
a
man
about
to
testify
against
his
mobster
brother.
Yates
was
nominated
for
the
best
director
Oscar
in
1980
for
Breaking
Away,
and
again
in
1984
for
The
Dresser.