What is Peter Coyote's Net Worth?
Peter Coyote is an American actor, director, writer, and narrator who has a net worth of $2 million. Peter Coyote is known for his roles in such films as "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial," "Cross Creek," "Bitter Moon," "Sphere," and "A Walk to Remember." He is also a prolific narrator, having narrated numerous PBS documentary miniseries by Ken Burns, as well as various films and audiobooks. As an author, Coyote has penned memoirs and poetry collections. He published his autobiography, "Sleeping Where I Fall: A Chronicle," in 1998.
Early Life and Education
Peter Coyote was born as Robert Peter Cohon on October 10, 1941 in New York City to Jewish parents Ruth and Morris. He grew up in Englewood, New Jersey, where he graduated from Dwight Morrow High School in 1960. Coyote went on to attend Grinnell College in Iowa, from which he graduated in 1964 with his BA in English literature. While a student at Grinnell, he ingested peyote and had a trip during which he saw paw prints. A few years later, after seeing the same paw prints in the poetry magazine Coyote's Journal, he decided to change his surname to Coyote.
West Coast Counterculture
Having moved to the West Coast in the mid-1960s, Coyote began a master's program in creative writing at San Francisco State University. He also did an apprenticeship at the San Francisco Actor's Workshop. Following that, Coyote joined the radical political street theater group the San Francisco Mime Troupe. He became increasingly involved in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury counterculture over the ensuing years, and helped found the radical community-action group the Diggers, which created street performances and fed people in need. The Diggers eventually became the Free Family, which established communes around the Pacific Northwest and Southwest. Coyote became a resident of the Black Bear Ranch commune in Siskiyou County, California. In the mid-1970s, he practiced meditation and became a practitioner of American Zen Buddhism at the San Francisco Zen Center.
(Photo by Theo Wargo/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival)
Film Acting
After acting on stage in San Francisco in the late 70s, Coyote transitioned to film. He first appeared on the big screen in 1980 with supporting roles in "Die Laughing" and "Tell Me a Riddle." Coyote subsequently appeared in Walter Hill's "Southern Comfort." In 1982, he was in three films, all science-fiction: "Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann," "E.T. the Extra Terrestrial," and "Endangered Species." Coyote next starred in "Strangers' Kiss," "Cross Creek," and "Slayground" in 1983. He starred in many more films over the remainder of the decade, including "Heartbreakers," "Jagged Edge," "The Blue Yonder," "A Man in Love," and "Heart of Midnight." In the early 1990s, Coyote starred in "The Man Inside," "A Grande Arte," "Bitter Moon," and "Kika." He went on to appear in such other 90s films as "Moonlight and Valentino," "Unforgettable," "Sphere," and "The Basket."
Coyote began the new millennium playing Kurt Potter in Steven Soderbergh's "Erin Brockovich." He was subsequently in "Jack the Dog," "Midwives," "Femme Fatale," and "A Walk to Remember." In 2003, Coyote appeared in "Bon Voyage" and "The Hebrew Hammer." His credits after that included "Deepwater," "A Little Trip to Heaven," and "Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil." Closing out the decade, Coyote appeared in "Five Dollars a Day," "All Roads Lead Home," and "The Lena Baker Story." In the early 2010s, he was in "This is Not a Movie," "Last Will," and "The Gundown." Coyote's later film credits have included "The Price of Fame," "Eva & Leon," "1 Mile to You," and "The Girl Who Believes in Miracles."
Television Acting
On the small screen, Coyote had his first major role in the 1981 television film "Isabel's Choice." Later in the decade, he starred in the miniseries adaptation of the book "Echoes in the Darkness." In the early 90s, Coyote starred in the television films "Keeper of the City" and "Breach of Conduct." He starred in the miniseries "Buffalo Girls" in 1995, and the television film "Two for Texas" in 1998. Coyote later starred in the 2001 television film "Midwives." A few years after that, he appeared on the HBO Western show "Deadwood." Coyote continued to make guest appearances on various shows over the years, including "Law & Order: Trial by Jury," "The Inside," and "NCIS." He also had recurring roles on "Commander in Chief" and "Brothers & Sisters" and a main role on "The 4400." In 2009, he played the president on the short-lived series "FlashForward." Coyote's other credits include "Law & Order: Los Angeles" and the miniseries "The Disappearance" and "The Comey Rule."
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Narration
Coyote is renowned for his narration for films, television programs, and audiobooks. Notably, he has narrated multiple PBS documentary miniseries by Ken Burns, including "Prohibition," "The Dust Bowl," "The Roosevelts: An Intimate History," "The Vietnam War," and "Hemingway." For his work on "The Roosevelts," he won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Narrator. Coyote also won an Emmy for his narration of the PBS series "The Pacific Century." Among his many other credits as narrator are the documentary films "Waldo Salt: A Screenwriter's Journey," "Oil on Ice," "Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room," and "Fog City Mavericks."
Books
As an author, Coyote penned the memoirs "Sleeping Where I Fall" and "The Rainman's Third Cure: An Irregular Education." He also wrote a poetry collection called "Tongue of a Crow," which was published in 2021.
Personal Life
Coyote married his first wife, Marilyn McCann, in 1975; they divorced in 1998. That year, he wed Stefanie Pleet. The couple divorced in 2015. Coyote has two children named Ariel and Nick.
Real Estate
In 1997 Peter paid $735,000 for a 4,000 square foot home in Mill Valley, California. He sold this home in January 2015 for $1.685 million. After selling his Mill Valley home, in May 2015 Peter paid $852,000 for a 1.5-acre property in Sebastopol, California.
