BoarsHead Theater co-founder John Peakes dies at 83

John Peakes, whose BoarsHead Theater took Lansing to the upper reaches of the arts scene, died Thursday at 83.

“I think his mind lasted longer than his body wanted to,” said his son, Ian Merrill Peakes. “He wanted to stay for our son, Owen.”

As always, Ian said, John had great timing. Owen, 8, came into the room and said, “I love you.” The grandfather, on a morphine drip, “woke and said, 'Oh hi, you're there.' Then he smiled and went back to sleep.”

John died a while later with his son, his wife, Judith, and his ex-wife, Connie, at his side.

That tender moment may help define a man who covered all the extremes. Tall (6-foot-3) and booming, Peakes could make a quick impact.

“He just had a great presence,” said Jane Zussman, a theater buff.

It was a presence he could maintain on and off the stage.

“He was intimidating,” Guy Sanville recalled of the days when Peakes was his teacher and director. “He was very professional and to the point.”

But Sanville, now the artistic director of Purple Rose Theatre, adds that Peakes was no bully. “He was kind; he looked you in the eye and never looked away.”

Dick Hill, who was directed by Peakes, also noted that kindness.

Yes, they “butted heads quite often,” he said. Still: “I had some times of personal problems, and he was immediately supportive and loving.”

It took a great range of emotions and skill to tackle the near-impossible job undertaken by Peakes and Richard Thomsen. In 1966, the two former University of Iowa professors were creating professional theater at the Ledges Playhouse in Grand Ledge.

They made BoarsHead a year-round theater in 1970 and moved into the Center For the Arts in 1975, for a time still doing summers in Grand Ledge. They launched stars – William Hurt, Kristine Thatcher, Carmen Decker, many more – and new plays.

Money was scarce and, Ian said, spirits were high. “I had the best childhood. I had these wonderful, intelligent, silly people around me. It was a great mix of people.”

Peakes continued after Thomsen left for New York. He slowed for a while after the traffic death of Ian's older brother Jonathan, but then returned to full-time.

“They did great work,” Ian said. “They had this little theater, and it lasted for 40 years.”

BoarsHead closed in 2010, a few years after Peakes had moved to Philadelphia, where he continued to be busy as an actor, a director and a theater fan.

“That meant a lot to Ian,” said Terry Nolen, artistic director of the Arden Theatre in Philadelphia. “If his dad gave a standing ovation, he was always quick to tell us.”

And there continued to be ovations for the older Peakes.

His “last great show,” Sanville said, was “On Golden Pond,” three years ago at Purple Rose. “He was wonderful. Ian looked back at me and said, 'That's my dad,' with tears in his eyes."

Ian's own career has prospered, including 20 shows at the Arden -- “we choose our productions around Ian Peakes,” Nolen said – and others nationwide. His father's death came Thursday morning, during a brief break between out-of-town jobs. “He always had perfect timing,” Ian said.

Following his father's wishes, he said, there will be no memorial service. Once Ian returns to Philadelphia, there will be a small family gathering and a note to friends.

“Then they can all raise a glass to him, wherever they are.”