British theater and picture director dies elderly 97 – The Hollywood Reporter

Peter Brook, a British theater and film director known for an influential and distinguished career that earned him worldwide recognition, has died. He was 97.

The two-time Tony Award winner, who settled in France decades ago, has directed the film adaptations of his best stage works as well as the 1963 film Lord of the flies.

Brooks publisher Nick Hern Books said in a statement Sunday that he “leaves behind an incredible artistic legacy.” According to French media reports, Brook died in Paris on Saturday.

Born in London in 1925, Brook later studied at Oxford University and directed his first London show. Doctor Faustus, when he was just a teenager.

After working as production manager at the Royal Opera House, he gained further notoriety through his work with the Royal Shakespeare Company or RSC Titus Andronicus, with Laurence Olivier.

In 1966 he won the Tony Award for Best Director for his interpretation of Peter Weiss’ Marat/Sade and in 1970 for the production of Shakespeare A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Brook has also been honored with an Olivier Award, an Emmy, and an International Emmy throughout his seven-decade career.

After settling in Paris in the 1970s, the director founded the International Center for Theater Research, for which he was commissioned to refurbish the run-down Bouffes du Nord theater in the French capital.

Art prizes have also brought him worldwide recognition, including the Japanese Praemium Imperiale, the Italian Prix Italia and, most recently, the Spanish Princess of Asturias in 2019.

British actor Adrian Lester, who has worked with Brook in RSC productions of hamletHe tweeted that he was a “giant in our field.”

Brook was married to actress Natasha Parry since 1951 before she died of complications from a stroke in 2015. They are survived by two children, Irina and Simon, who are both directors.