British filmmaker Peter Yates, who directed ‘The Deep' which was filmed in Bermuda, has died at the age of 81.The film was shot in Bermuda 34 years ago. It is based on a book written by Peter Benchley, who also wrote Jaws. Local diving legend Teddy Tucker was the inspiration for one of Mr Benchley's characters in ‘The Deep' and was a consultant on the film.His daughter Wendy is now the director of the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute (BUEI). Yesterday she said she was saddened to hear of Mr Yates passing.“He was a dear family friend,” she said. “I have known him for many years and will miss him. We always stayed in touch after the filming and sometimes when we were passing through New York, where he lived, we would meet up with him and his wife.“He was last on the Island in 2004 for the lunch of BUEI. He went diving on the Constellation wreck with my father. They enjoyed it; they were reliving the filming of the movie.”She said the DVD of the movie is one of the top sellers a the BUEI gift shop.“Our American visitors like it because they saw the movie and now they can see the location,” she said. “We have a display of the Constellation, the wreck the movie was filmed on, at BUEI. “Locals like it too because they can see what Bermuda was like in the good old days.”The film was released in 1977 and was the second highest grossing movie of that year despite the fact that most critics panned it. The top grossing film of 1977 was Star Wars.During his lifetime Mr Yates was nominated for four Academy Awards two as director and two as producer for cycling tale ‘Breaking Away' and backstage drama ‘The Dresser'. He also directed ‘Bullitt', which starred Steve McQueen and featured one of the first great movie car chases through the streets of San Francisco.During the opening of BUEI, actress Jacqueline Bisset, who starred in both ‘The Deep' and ‘Bullitt', said working with Mr Yates was a pleasure.“Peter is a particularly civilised person, for a start, and being around people with whom you feel a connection, on many levels, not just a professional one, is very relaxing,” she said. “Your ears are more open to someone who is not a cantankerous b*****d. Peter is a distinguished man, as well as a fine director, and that helped make the work a great pleasure.”