Peter Tenny Coffield (July 17, 1945 – November 19, 1983) was an American actor. Coffield worked as an actor in theater, television, and film. He is best known for his role in the film Cry Rape!. His other films include Times Square (1980) and Neil Simon's Only When I Laugh. Career
Coffield guest starred on several TV shows throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, including The Love Boat, Hart to Hart, Eight Is Enough, Wide World Mystery, Family, ‘’ Barnaby Jones’’ and Love, Sidney, and he acted in TV movies such as Washington: Behind Closed Doors, and The Man Without a Country. He also performed in several plays on Broadway, including Hamlet (1969), Abelard and Heloise (1971), The Merchant of Venice (1973), Tartuffe (1977), and The Man Who Came to Dinner (1980).
In addition to Broadway, Coffield had key roles in Misalliance at the Roundabout Theater, in A. R. Gurney's Middle Ages at the Hartman Theater in Stamford, Conn., and in S. N. Behrman's No Time for Comedy at the McCarter Theater in Princeton, N.J., and he performed at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington and at the Old Globe Shakespeare Festival Theater in San Diego.
In The New York Times review of Coffield's performance as a homosexual student in Abelard and Heloise, theater critic Walter Kerr wrote, "Making a mask of his broad, handsome face, Mr. Coffield went about his chores deftly, confidently, with clear and virile purpose. Saying little, he seemed to think a great deal: thought can be a scene-thief, it turns out."
Coffield was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award in 1974 for Best Actor in Daytime Drama for his role in CBS Daytime 90: Legacy of Fear.
Personal life
Coffield grew up in an Irish-Catholic household, the youngest of five children. Peter's eldest three siblings, Carolyn Coffield, Kitty (Katherine Amelia) Coffield, and James Coffield III, are from his father's first marriage. (Peter's father, James L. Coffield, was widowed in 1935; he married Peter's mother, Mary White, in 1939. They had two children together, Michael and Peter, and the children from both marriages lived as a single family. Coffield's father died in 1960; his mother died in 2001 in Tasmania, Australia, at the age of 94. Peter's brother Michael, an attorney in Chicago, died in 2007.
Coffield graduated from New Trier High School in 1963 and from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois in 1967, where he earned a B.S. in Oral Interpretation. He also earned a master's degree from the University of Michigan.
Coffield's longtime life partner was James Tripp, also an actor, who is the Head of Acting at the Stella Adler Conservatory in New York. Relationship confirmed in James Tripp obituary at StellaAdler.com.
Coffield died of an AIDS-related illness on November 19, 1983.
Filmography + Film Year Title Role Notes 1977 Enigma Peter McCauley 1980 Times Square David Pearl 1981 Only When I Laugh Mr. Tarloff
+ Television Year Title Role Notes 1973 The Man Without a Country Lt. VinsonTV movie 1973 Cry Rape Andy Coleman TV movie 1974 CBS Daytime 90 Peter Guest star, episode: "Legacy of Fear" 1974 Oliver TV movie 1974 Medical Center Roger Patman Guest star, episodes: "The Bribe" and "Trial by Knife" 1975 Paul Stocker Guest star, episode: "Solomon's Dilemma" 1975 Adams of Eagle Lake Jimmy Simpkins Recurring role, 2 episodes 1974–1976 Wide World of Mystery Chet / Jerry Gerard Guest star, episodes: "Terror in the Night", "Too Easy to Kill", and "Death Is a Bad Trip" 1975 Beacon Hill Larry Greene Guest star, episodes: "The Pretenders" and "The Test" 1977 Barnaby Jones Tom Landry Guest star, episode: "A Simple Case of Terror" 1977 Family Brian Slater Guest star, episode: "Best Friends" 1977 Eight Is Enough Chuck Guest star, episode: "Hit and Run" 1977 Washington: Behind Closed Doors Eli McGinn TV miniseries 1978 Tartuffe Cleante TV movie 1978 W.E.B. Kevin Recurring role, 5 episodes 1978 Wayne Guest star, episode: "Till Death Do Us Part, Maybe/Chubs/Locked Away" 1980 Hart to Hart Sanford Whitley Guest star, episode: "Sixth Sense" 1981 Nurse Dr. Benson Guest star, episodes: "Life Begins at Dinner" and "The Gifts" 1981 Senior Trip Jerry TV movie 1982 Love, Sidney Eddie Guest star, episode: "Father's Day" 1983 O'Malley Guy Fleming TV pilot
+ TheatreYear Title Role Notes Mar 3, 1969 – Apr 26, 1969 Rosencrantz Lorenzo Revival, Play, Tragedy Mar 10, 1971 – Apr 24, 1971 Abelard and Heloise Robert de Montboissier Original, Play, Drama Jan 20, 1972 – Apr 29, 1972 Vivat! Vivat Regina! Lord Darnley Original, Play Mar 1, 1973 – Apr 7, 1973 Lorenzo Revival, Play, Comedy Sep 25, 1977 – Nov 20, 1977 Tartuffe Cléante Revival, Play, Comedy, Farce Jun 26, 1980 – Sep 7, 1980 Bert Jefferson Revival, Play, Comedy
References
External links
Peter Coffield performances on YouTube Peter Coffield profile on Flixster Memorial notice, The New York Times Peter Coffield Obituary, The New York Times Wilmette Library obituary reference Peter Coffield Obituary, Wilmette Life