The Dresser Director Peter Yates was an English film, television and theatre director. He is best known for directing the films Breaking Away, The Dresser, Bullitt and The Friends of Eddie Coyle. Yates won a BAFTA Award for Best Direction for The Dresser and was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Director for Breaking Away. He was also nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series for the television series The House of Eliott.