Theatre director, playwright and actor Peter Gill, who has died aged 86, has been described as a "gentle man with a fierce intelligence" who had a "quietly seismic" influence on British theatre. Cardiff-born Gill performed with the Royal Shakespeare Company and appeared in films including HMS Defiant and Zulu before embarking on a successful theatre directing career. Among those to pay tribute was Welsh actor Luke Evans, who credited Gill with launching his own career. He also presented two of his early plays, The Sleeper's Den and Over Gardens Out, at the theatre, before becoming associate director in 1970. In 1980, he was appointed OBE for his services to theatre, also founding the National Theatre Studio in 1984 and running it until 1990.