Peter Coyote Biography

Fast Facts

• Served as a member of the California State Arts Council from 1975 to 1983
• Named an ordained Soto lay priest after becoming a dedicated practitioner of American Zen Buddhism
• Was a founding member of the San Francisco anarchist group the Diggers, which supplied free food, housing and medical aid to runaways during the "Summer of Love․"
• Graduated from Grinnell College with a degree in English literature in 1964 and earned his master's in creative writing from San Francisco State University
• Protested the nuclear race during the Cuban Missile crisis and met with U․S․ National Security Advisor McGeorge Bundy at the White House
• Served as a campaign worker for Adlai Stevenson's presidential run at the age of 14
• Made his screen acting debut in the film "Die Laughing" in 1980
• Quote: "[on acting] "There's no other business I could have started at 40 and gotten my kids through school, bought several houses, traveled all over the world and been overpaid, basically, for what's often silly work․ So I'm grateful․""
• Best known for his role as Keys in "E․T․ the Extra-Terrestrial" and as Reverend Sullivan in "A Walk to Remember․"
• Known for providing his voice to the Apple's iPad campaign and as narrator for the 2002 Winter Olympics