Tristan de Vere Cole
{{Short description|British television director (born 1935)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2025}}
{{infobox person
| honorific_prefix =
| name = {{nowrap|Tristan John de Vere Cole}}
| honorific_suffix =
| image =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=y|1935|3|16}}
| birth_place =
| death_date =
| death_place =
| resting_place =
| education = Kelly College, Tavistock, Devon
| alma_mater = Royal Naval College, Dartmouth
| father = {{nowrap|Augustus John}}
| mother = Mavis Cole
| spouse = {{unbulleted list|{{marriage|Diana Crosby Cook|1962}}|{{marriage|Prudence Murdoch|2000|2010|end=died}}}}
| partner = Anne Stow
| children = 1
| occupation = Actor & TV Director
| known_for =
| relatives = {{unbulleted list|Gwen John (aunt)|Caspar John (half-brother)|Amaryllis Fleming (half-sister)|{{nowrap|Gwyneth Johnstone (half-sister)}}|Vivien John (half-sister)}}
| module = {{infobox military person
| embed = yes
| allegiance = {{flag|United Kingdom}}
| branch = {{navy|United Kingdom}}
| serviceyears = 1953–1960
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}}
}}
Tristan John de Vere Cole (born 16 March 1935) is an English television director, now retired. He is believed to be the last-surviving illegitimate son of the painter Augustus John (1878–1961).
In his first career, he was a Royal Navy officer for seven years. His career as a television director included work on Z-Cars, Doctor Who, Emmerdale Farm, Howards' Way and Bergerac.
Life
His mother, Mavis Cole, met painter Augustus John (1878–1961) at the Café Royal in 1928, and agreed to model for him. In 1931 she married Horace de Vere Cole, a well-known Edwardian practical joker, then in 1932 she became the mistress of Augustus John. Cole was born in 1935 and is believed to be John's last-surviving illegitimate son. Cole was brought up in the John household at Fryern Court, Fordingbridge, from the age of 18 months, partly by his mother, and then later by Dorelia McNeill.[https://archives.library.wales/downloads/tristan-de-vere-cole-augustus-john-manuscripts.pdf Finding aid: Tristan de Vere Cole (Augustus John) manuscripts] at library.wales, accessed 1 March 2019Darren Devine, [http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/last-illegitimate-son-augustus-john-2033921 "Last illegitimate son of Augustus John on life with 'King of Bohemia'"], in Wales Online dated 9 March 2012 Cole was educated for three years at Kelly College, Tavistock.
He married Diana Crosby Cook in 1962 and they had two children, including a son, London fine art dealer Cassian de Vere Cole (born 1966).Bernard Dolman, Who's who in Art, Volume 32 (Art Trade Press, 2006), p. 262 She died in 2025.{{cite newspaper The Times |issue=74623 |date=20 January 2025 |department=Register |page=45 |column=5 |title=De Vere Cole}} In 2000, he married lawyer Prudence Murdoch. She died in 2010.Teresa Davies, [https://www.theguardian.com/theguardian/2010/jul/05/prudence-de-vere-cole-obituary Prudence de Vere Cole obituary] dated in The Guardian dated 5 July 2010, accessed 28 February 2019 He lives in Sutton Scotney, not far from his partner Anne Stow, eldest grandchild of Neville Chamberlain, a former prime minister, whose wife was a sister of Horace de Vere Cole.{{cite book |last1=Holroyd |first1=Michael |author-link1=Michael Holroyd |title=Augustus John – The New Biography |date=1996 |publisher=London: Chatto & Windus}}
Through his father, Gwen John was Cole's aunt, his half-siblings were cellist Amaryllis Fleming, Sir Caspar John, Gwyneth Johnstone, and Vivien John; Johnstone and Vivien also were artists in their own right. Only Caspar was born from his father's marriage, and he later became prominent as an admiral also in the Royal Navy and First Sea Lord.{{cite book|last=Heathcote |first=Tony |title=The British Admirals of the Fleet 1734–1995 |publisher=Pen & Sword Ltd |year=2002 |isbn=0-85052-835-6 |page=136}}{{cite web |title=Gwen John |url=https://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp02438/gwendolen-mary-gwen-john |publisher=National Portrait Gallery |access-date=4 April 2023}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-vivien-john-1438836.html|title=Obituary: Vivien John|date=27 May 1994|website=The Independent}}{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2011/jan/06/gwyneth-johnstone-obituary|title=Gwyneth Johnstone obituary|work=The Guardian|date=6 January 2011}}{{cite news|author=Fergus Fleming|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-amaryllis-fleming-1110720.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121105072341/http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-amaryllis-fleming-1110720.html |archive-date=5 November 2012 |url-access=limited |url-status=live|newspaper=The Independent|location=London|title=Obituary: Amaryllis Fleming|date=5 August 1999}}
Career
From 1951, Cole trained for a naval career at the Royal Naval College, Dartmouth. He went on to serve as an officer in the Royal Navy from 1953 to 1960.Roderic Owen, Tristan de Vere Cole, Beautiful and Beloved: The Life of Mavis de Vere Cole (Hutchinson, 1974), pp. 156, 246
After his return to civilian life, Cole worked at the Bristol Old Vic as assistant stage manager and actor,Owen and Cole (1974), p. 265 before moving on to a career with BBC television.{{citation needed|date=April 2020}}
In May 2024 it was reported that Cole had written the screenplay for the adventure thriller Storm Witch, an independent U.K./Ireland co-production, to be directed by David Blair and starring British actress Gemma Arterton.{{Cite news |last=Ritman |first=Alex |date=1 May 2024 |title=Gemma Arterton to Lead David Blair's Adventure Thriller 'Storm Witch' (EXCLUSIVE) |url=https://variety.com/2024/film/global/gemma-arterton-storm-witch-david-blair-1235988376/ |newspaper=Variety}}
Work as television director
- Z-Cars (episodes in 1968)Chris Perry, Kaleidoscope British Christmas Television Guide 1937-2013 (2016), p. 618
- Doctor Who: The Wheel in Space (1968)David Butler, Time and Relative Dissertations in Space: Critical Perspectives on Doctor Who (Manchester University Press, 2008), p. 316
- Take Three Girls (1969)
- Emmerdale Farm (1972–1973)
- Trinity Tales (1975)
- Angels (1976)
- Survivors (1977 episodes)Harris M. Lentz, Science Fiction, Horror & Fantasy Film and Television Credits: Television shows (McFarland, 2001), p. 2132
- Secret Army (1979)
- Juliet Bravo (1980)
- The Spoils of War (1981)
- Howards' Way (1985–1988)
- Rockliffe's Folly (1988)
- Bergerac (1988–1992)
- Trainer (1992)
Work as film director
- Orion's Belt (1985)
- The Dive (1990)
Publications
- With Roderic Owen, Beautiful and Beloved: the Life of Mavis de Vere Cole (Hutchinson, 1974)
References
{{reflist|30em}}
- [https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0170828/bio?ref_=nm_ov_bio_sm IMDb biography]
- [http://csicon.fm/cwj164/]
External links
- {{IMDb name|id=0170828|name=Tristan DeVere Cole}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Tristan De Vere}}
Category:British film directors
Category:Graduates of Britannia Royal Naval College
Category:Military personnel from Berkshire
Category:People educated at Kelly College
Category:People from Newbury, Berkshire