Peter James Yates (24 July 1929 – 9 January 2011) was an English film director and producer. He was born in Aldershot, Hampshire.

The son of an army officer, he attended Charterhouse School as a boy, graduated from the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art and worked for some years as an actor, director and stage manager. In the 1950s he started in the movie industry as a dubbing assistant and later an assistant director for Tony Richardson.