Peter Coyote Actor, author, narrator, journalist, and politically engaged

Peter Coyote's Biography After graduating from Grinnell College with a bachelor’s degree in English literature in 1964, and despite having been accepted at the prestigious Writer’s Workshops in Iowa, Coyote moved to the West Coast to pursue a master’s degree in creative writing at San Francisco State University. After a short apprenticeship at the San Francisco Actor’s Workshop, he joined the San Francisco Mime Troupe, a radical political street theater group that had recently been arrested for performing in the city’s parks without permits.

In the Mime Troupe, he was soon acting, writing, and directing. He directed the first cross-country to tour of The Minstrel Show, Civil Rights in a Cracker Barrel, a highly controversial piece closed by the authorities in several cities. The cast was arrested several times before a tour of eastern colleges and universities, ending triumphantly in New York City, where members were invited and sponsored by comedian Dick Gregory. The following year, a play, Olive Pits, (which Peter co-wrote, directed and performed in) won a Special OBIE from The Village Voice.

From 1967 to 1975, Peter took off to “do the sixties” where he became a prominent member of the San Francisco counterculture community and founding member of the Diggers, an anarchistic group that supplied free food, free housing and free medical aid to the hordes of runaways who appeared during the Summer of Love. The Diggers evolved into a group known as the Free Family that established chains of communes around the Pacific Northwest and Southwest. Many of the stories of that period are included in his memoir called Sleeping Where I Fall, published by Counterpoint Press in April 1998. One of the stories incorporated into his book is “Carla’s Story,” which was awarded the 1993-94 Pushcart Prize, a national prize for excellence in writing, published by a noncommercial literary magazine.

From 1975 to 1983 Peter was a member of the California State Arts Council, the state agency that determines art policy. After his first year, he was elected chairman by his peers three years in a row, and during his tenure as chairman, the council’s overhead expenses dropped from fifty percent to fifteen percent, the lowest in the state, and the Arts Council annual budget rose from $1 million to $14 million. It has never been higher since.

These political victories, among others, fostered Peter’s decision to re-enter acting. In 1978, he began to work at San Francisco’s award-winning Magic Theater doing plays continuously “to shake out the rust” and get his unused skills back in working order. While playing the lead in the world premiere of Sam Shepard’s True West, he was spotted by a Hollywood agent who asked to represent him. More than seventy films later, Peter is still acting.

Beginning in the early 1980s, Peter began doing voice-overs, which has led to a very successful side venture, now numbering more than seventy films. His mellow voice, often compared with Henry Fonda’s, is a gift that won him an Emmy in 1992 for his narration of the “The Meiji Revolution” episode, part of the PBS American Experience ten-part series called The Pacific Century. He continues to lend his rich voice to narrations for commercials, such as Brita and Oracle, as well as television documentaries and also donates his voice to films that support issues close to his heart.

Peter maintains his political interests in a number of ways. He is currently a board member of Baykeepers, an organization that tracks pollution and polluters in the San Francisco Bay and aggressively pursues cessation of damage to the bay. He is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, The Screen Actor’s Guild, American Federation of Radio and Television Artists, Actor’s Equity, and The Player’s Club, a professional club for performers and artists in New York City, and in 1997 was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention, which he also covered for Mother Jones Magazine.

Coyote has performed in European films, he speaks French and Spanish, and he especially enjoys returning to London and Paris. His home has been in Marin County in Northern California since the early 1970s. An avid outdoorsman, Peter considers either a week passing without fishing, or a year without at least one month living rough, a waste. He is a passionate songwriter and guitarist and amateur photographer, and he considers his completely rebuilt 1964 Dodge 4x4 Town Wagon, which he has owned since 1969, his longest-lasting addiction.

Other works by Coyote include:

Commencement Speech at the University of Minnesota on May 8th, 2004; “Midstream”

High Times magazine, “Outlaw Politics,” January 2004 issue.

Opening speech at the two-day symposium at the California College of Arts & Crafts, Wattis Institute, on February 8th, 2002. The topic was “Generority Projects: Strategies for Exchange in Contemporary Art.”

Pausing for Thought, an essay written in October 2001 about the war on terror.

Flags, a poem reflecting the aftermath of 9/11.

Keynote address given to California’s 1998 Governor’s Conference on the Arts at the Hotel Intercontinental in Los Angeles on December 7th, 1998.

Terra Nova: Nature & Culture magazine, Fall 1998 issue, published by the MIT Press. Coyote contributes an essay called “Full Bloom,” drawn from his memoir, Sleeping Where I Fall.

Book review of The Other Side of the Mountain by Thomas Merton, published in the San Francisco Chronicle on September 27th, 1998.

Grinnell College, fall 1998 magazine: In the Book Shelf section, “Roman Candle” (chapter 21) is featured from Sleeping Where I Fall.

San Francisco Magazine, March 1998, “And the Walkin’ Man Walks.”

Grinnell College Speech, given at Coyote’s alma mater on January 24th, 1997.

Democratic National Convention Diary, August 1996: As a delegate at the DNC, Coyote sent daily dispatches to MoJoWire (Mother Jones) sharing his thoughts and observations. The unexpurgated version is now on the Mother Jones site.

Steelhead magazine, summer 1996: “Sweet William,” chapter from Sleeping Where I Fall.

The Pushcart Prize XVIII: 1993-1994: Best of the Small Presses / ZYZZYVA magazine (1992), “Carla’s Story,”

A Coyote Reader, by William Bright, 1993: “Muddy Prints on Mohair.”

An article called “Tracking Bob Dylan“ at bobdylan.com.

Tricycle, The Buddhist Review: “In the Mix,” 1992 winter edition.

The Nissan Report, A Bold New Blueprint For Successful Innovation in American Business. Edited by Steve Barnett, 1992. This book reveals how a world-class corporation met the challenge of reexamining the innovation process by assembling twenty-five top minds from a wide variety of fields outside of the manufacturing arena, for an in-depth exchange of ideas. Besides Coyote, participants included Peter Schwartz, Stewart Brand, Mary Catherine Bateson, and Rusty Schweickart.

Gary Snyder, Dimensions of a Life edited by Jan Halper.
Published April 1, 1991, by Sierra Club Books.
A look at the life and works of Gary Snyder (a hero of Coyote’s). Poet, essayist, mountaineer, anthropologist, Zen Buddhist, environmentalist and Pulitzer Prize winner. This book is a compilation of photographs and writings by sixty-five friends and associates of Snyder’s throughout his lifetime. Contributors include Coyote, Ursula LeGuin, Anne Waldman, Allen Ginsberg, and Jim Dodge.

Vogue Homme: fall 1989, an article called “The Soft Wars.”

A Few Thoughts on Drugs, Bolivia, and Transcendence: a 1989 article which provided the notes for a talk Peter delivered at Harvard to students in the JFK School of Government.

Open Letter to the Presidential Candidates: In 1988, Coyote expresses his concerns that the candidates are not discussing the issues that need to be addressed.

The CoEvolution Quarterly, Journal for the Protection of All Beings. Issue No. 19, fall 1978: article by Coyote called “The Blind Side of the Future.”

Items written about Coyote include:

Erie-Times News, April 8th, 2007, “Peter Coyote’s maelstrom.”

Off the Radar, September 5th, 2003, interview by Thom Fowler.

San Francisco Chronicle, June 30th, 2003, article on Worldlink TV’s “The Active Opposition“ hosted by Peter.

Liberation (Paris), December 25th, 2000 - “In search of the California anarchists with the noted actor,” by Edward Waintrop.

Portland Mercury, November 2nd, 2000, “What’s the Worst That Could Happen?“ by Monica Drake.

Detour, April 2000, “Voice Lessons,” by Lael Loewenstein

Poetry Flash, November/December 1999 issue, “Freewheeling the Details: A Conversation With Gary Snyder and Peter Coyote.”

Interview With Icons: Flashing on the Sixties, by Lisa Law (1999).

Orlando Weekly, February 9th, 1999, “Coyote Prowling,” by Deborah Hochberg.

AudioFile, October/November 1998 issue, “I Know That Voice,” by Marty Crisp.

Jewish Bulletin of Northern California, January 1998, “Peter Coyote — An Outsider with a Jewish Sense of Humor,” by Lori Eppstein.

Salon.com, November 1997, “Coyote Dreams,” by Cynthia Romanov.

Spirit Matters, May 1996, “Conversation with Coyote,” interview by Gaylynn Baker.

From a New York Times article, March 1996, “Where Screenwriters Can Get a Hearing,” regarding the screenplay “Crimes of Opportunity.”

Sixties Radicals, Then and Now: Candid Conversations With Those Who Shaped the Era, (1995) by Ron Chepesiuk. During a period spanning more than five years, Chepesiuk interviewed eighteen of the best-known activists of the 1960s. Among those interviewed are Abbie Hoffman and Jerry Rubin (done just before their deaths), Peter Coyote, former Weather Underground leader Bernadette Dohrn, and black student protest leader Cleveland Sellers.

Amica (Italy), February 1995, article and photos.

Gala (France), August 31st-September 6th, 1995, interview and photos in the fashion section.

GQ (U.K. edition), December 1994, “Peter Coyote“ — Style Editor Peter Howarth gets a lead on Hollywood’s wild dog.

High Times, October 1994, “Finding a Pure Place to Stand,” by Malcolm Mackinnon.

Entertainment Weekly, May 27, 1994, “Wildly Coyote.”

MovieMaker, April 1994, “Peter and the Wolves.”

Whole Earth Review, Summer 1993, “An Acting Lesson From Peter Coyote.”

GQ, November 1992, “Coyote in Chic Clothing.” In collar-to-cuff Cerruti, a dapper actor turns in a very natural performance.

Premiere (French edition), October 1992.

Bill Graham Presents: My Life Inside Rock and Out, 1992, by Bill Graham and Robert Greenfield.

Coyote interview with Etan Ben-Ami, January 12, 1989.

Two editions of TV Guide: U.S. edition, October 24th through October 30th, 1987; Canadian edition, October 31st through November 6th, 1987. Both feature articles on Peter in his starring role as William Bradfield in the TV mini series, Echoes in the Darkness, based on Joseph Wambaugh’s book.

City Magazine International, June 1987, Peter Coyote on the cover with inside article regarding several of his films with a special focus on A Man in Love.

Orlando Sentinel, February 5th, 1987, “Peter Coyote Surviving in the Hollywood Wilderness,” by Bruce Cook of the Los Angeles Daily News.

San Francisco Focus, June 1986, “Peter Coyote: Howling at Hollywood,” by Robert Hurwitt.

Starfix (France), April 1986, interview.

Playboy, November 1985, “Edging Toward Stardom.”

Disney Channel Magazine, October 1985, Peter on the cover with an article called “Peter Coyote Soars to Stardom in The Blue Yonder.”

Rolling Stone, October 10th, 1985, “Lonesome Cowboy.”

Films in Review, January 1984, magazine interview in regard to Cross Creek.

The Haight-Ashbury: A History, 1984, by Charles Perry.

The San Francisco Mime Troupe — The First Ten Years, 1975, by R.G. Davis.

Buried Alive — The Biography of Janis Joplin, 1973, by Myra Friedman.

Ringolevio, A Life Played for Keeps, 1972, by Emmett Grogan.

Voices From the Love Generation, 1968, by Leonard Wolf.

We Are the People Our Parents Warned Us Against, 1968, by Nicholas Von Hoffman.

Upcoming Works

  • Working on two books. One is to be called something like Twelve Things We're Afraid to Know:and why they're killing us. It is to reappraise current paradigms so as to see them w/out illusion in the hopes that clear vision might facilitate amelioration. So Chapter titles like:
    It's Not Your Government, We Hate Our Children, Medecine is not about Healing, etc. give an idea of the flavor.
    The second is the story of an 18 yr old black honor student from Henderson, North Carolina who virtually raised me from 3 to 12, creating a condition where my internal image was piebald--an admixture of black and white and a lifetime's thought thinking about the two, and the struggles of balancing them in a culture where they are mutually exclusive. The fact that my personal struggle is being acted out on the national stage this election, is a current frame for the story.

Family

  • Coyote was born Rachmil Pinchus Ben Mosha Cohon in New York City to Ruth (Fidler) and Morris Cohon, an investment banker. His father was of Sephardic Jewish descent and his mother came from a middle-class Ashkenazi Jewish family. Coyote was raised in a “highly intellectual” and “cultural” family involved in left-wing politics.

Causes I Support

  • The Global Security Institute, Native Sovereignty Issues, Wild Earth( Natural Corridors Program),

    Voter Action

Agents

  • Gayla Nethercott (film scripts) at Buchwald and Assoc. in LA.I have a literary agent, but he's so odious, has treated me so cavalierly and with such disrespect that I would rather not write again than deal with him, so he remains unlisted.

Contact Agents

  • Buchwald and Associates
    6500 Wilshire Blvd, #2200
    Los Angeles, CA 90048
    (323) 655-7400

Publishers

  • Clew Press
    Counterpoint Publishing
    Hawthorne Books
    Kensington Publishing
    Parallax Press
    Rodale Press
    University of New Mexico Press
    University of Nevada Press

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