Idaho Shakespeare Festival co-founder and actor Dan Alan Peterson, 55, died of natural causes Tuesday at his West Boise home.

A funny guy with a folksy charm, he was one of the most venerable members of the Idaho Shakespeare Festival's founding company. He appeared in the first production, "A Midsummer Night's Dream," in 1977.

In many ways, Peterson embodied the qualities that make the festival what it is. He had an unassuming manner and a sophisticated understanding of the work.

Peterson was an actor who carried the salt of the earth in his pocket, said Idaho Shakespeare Festival producing artistic director Charles Fee. Peterson's loss leaves a gap in the company that will be impossible to fill.

"There are no words to really describe this. He was a founder of this festival, and just the sweetest guy in the world," Fee said. "He has meant so much to all of us. I mean, he's been in virtually everything I've directed."

Called Danny by almost everyone, Peterson caught the acting bug in junior high in Lewiston. By the time he reached Capital High School, he had decided to pursue acting as a career. He received a degree in theater from Boise State University and has been a presence in Valley theater since.

He was a mainstay in Idaho Theater for Youth, a group that brought original plays to schools across the state, and became one of the first actors many Idahoans remember. He also worked at Boise Contemporary Theater, Idaho Repertory Theater in Moscow and other regional theaters.

Over the years, Peterson proved himself a character actor's character actor and created a bevy of memorable performances, from kings to shepherds to cowboy poets - with a few female roles thrown in.

Whenever possible, "they always manage to get me into a dress," he once said.

Through it all, he always kept his Danny-ness, said Doug Copsey, another of the festival co-founders.

"He was the driving force that got it off the ground and helped it grow," Copsey said. "He had a focus and passion for what he did that was rare."

His friends and colleagues spoke Tuesday afternoon of Peterson's zest for life, love of theater and his good-natured approach to acting.

"It was his humanity, I think, his kindness, that made him so special," said Stitch Marker, who had known and worked with Peterson for more than 40 years.

Every moment Peterson spent on stage was memorable, Copsey said.

"He used to say to me, 'I don't care if it's an audition, a one-liner or a walk-on, always bring something extra to it.' That's a piece of philosophy I keep with me from Danny," Copsey said.

Some of his most memorable performances include Billy Bishop in 1984's "Billy Bishop Goes to War," Flute the Bellows Mender in the 1998, 1999 and 2003 productions of "A Midsummer Night's Dream," especially his Marge Simpson-wigged Thisbe in the play within the play, and Belauius in "Cymbeline," portrayed as a cowboy poet. Peterson reprised that role in a production at Seattle's Intiman Theatre.

For Copsey, Peterson's most memorable role was as Prospero in 1991's "The Tempest."

"He was so excited and grateful to do that role," Copsey said. "Sometimes he felt relegated to the character roles."

Though he dipped his toe in the "regular world" occasionally, he always came back to acting. In 1984, after such a stint, then ISF director Mark Cuddy asked him to come back for just one play, "Billy Bishop Goes to War."

The show was a hit.

"I never looked back," Peterson said in a 2007 interview. "I don't remember ever having a huge goal, like I want to go to New York or L.A. I just wanted to do theater and I did. It was just one (play) after another, after another. Sometimes, now as I've gotten older I wonder what would have happened if I had tried New York, but I don't have a huge amount of regret that I didn't."

Dana Oland: 377-6442