PETER COYOTE's (Watts) involvement in acting began in high school when he joined acting classes at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York. After graduating from Grinnell College in Iowa with a BA in English literature, he 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, Coyote joined the San Francisco Mime Troup, a radical political street theater group. In the Mime Troupe, he was acting, writing and directing, and directed the first cross-country tour of The Minstrel Show, Civil Rights in a Cracker Barrel, a highly controversial piece closed by the authorities in several cities. The following year, the troupe toured again, and a play that Coyote co-wrote, directed and performed in, Olive Pits, won a Special OBIE from New York's prestigious newspaper The Village Voice.

After more than 15 years of political activism coupled with theatre involvement, including acting as Chairman of the California State Arts Council, Coyote began his film career at age 39. Since then, he has performed as an actor for some of the world's most distinguished filmmakers, including Barry Levinson (Sphere), Roman Polanski (Bitter Moon), Pedro Almodovar (Kika), Steven Spielberg (E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial), Walter Hill (Southern Comfort), Martin Ritt (Cross Creek), Steven Soderbergh (Erin Brockovich), Diane Kurys (A Man in Love) and Sydney Pollack (Random Hearts). Earlier this year, Coyote was seen in the breakout hit A Walk to Remember, starring Mandy Moore.

Currently, Coyote is in production on Jean-Paul Rappeneau's Bon Voyage, starring alongside Gerard Depardieu and Isabelle Adjani. He also recently wrapped the ABC two-hour pilot Phenomenon and the indie film Hebrew Hammer, starring Adam Goldberg. Coyote will soon be seen in the Polish Brothers film Northfork, co-starring Nick Nolte and James Woods, to be released in early 2003.

Coyote has written a memoir of his diverse adventures, Sleeping Where I Fall, which received universally outstanding reviews, sold five hardback printings and is in its second paperback printing after being released by Counterpoint Press in 1999. A chapter from the book, "Carla's Story," won the 1993/94 Pushcart Prize for Excellence in Non-Fiction. Coyote is currently writing a screenplay, doing research for a novel and preparing to direct his original screenplay, Crimes of Opportunity. Coyote also recently sold an original script for a series pilot, 5150, to CBS-TV.

Well-known for his voiceover work, Coyote has done numerous documentaries and television specials, including the nine-hour PBS special The West. In 1992 he won an Emmy Award as host of the nine-hour series The Pacific Century, which also earned the extremely prestigious duPont-Columbia Award for Excellence in Broadcast Journalism. In 2000 he was the announcer for the Academy Award™ ceremony, broadcast live to an estimated one billion viewers worldwide.

Coyote continues his varied involvement in political and entertainment pursuits.