Peter Reginald Frederick Hall was born in Bury St. Edmunds, England on November 22, 1930. He attended Cambridge University. At the age of 24, he assumed full artistic control of the Arts Theater in London. At the age of 29, he created the Royal Shakespeare Company. He staged more than 300 plays at the National Theater as its artistic director, from 1973 to 1988. He staged the English-language premiere of Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot and the world premiere of Harold Pinter's Homecoming. He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1977. In 1988, he created the Peter Hall Company. He wrote several books including The Peter Hall Diaries, Making an Exhibition of Myself, and Shakespeare's… Advice to the Players. He died from pneumonia on September 11, 2017 at the age of 86.