Robert Coates (actor)
Encyclopedia
Robert Coates often called Romeo Coates, was a West Indian-born heir to significantly profitable, sugar
-growing slave plantations. As a young adult, he emigrated to England
. Lacking heirs of his own, he lived off his fortune in comfort for the rest of his life.
Coates is numbered among the ranks of famous British eccentric
s because of his unusual career as an amateur actor
. His self-image included a highly mistaken belief in his own thespian prowess. After professional theatrical producer
s failed to cast Coates in significant roles, he used his family fortune to subsidize his own productions in which he was both the producer and the lead actor. His favourite part was Shakespeare
's Romeo, hence his widely-used nickname
.
in the West Indies as a son of a wealthy sugar planter. His lack of any skill in acting was obvious to his contemporaries. When he inherited the estate in 1807, he moved to Bath, England
. He eventually drew the attention of the manager of the Theatre Royal, Bath
and had begun to appear in plays in 1809.
Later he appeared in Romeo and Juliet
in the part of Romeo – in a costume of his own design. The costume had a flowing cloak with sequin
s, red pantaloons, a large cravat and a plumed hat – not to mention dozens of diamond
s – which was hardly suitable for the part. The audience cracked up with laughter.
Despite this ridicule, Coates went on to tour the British Isles. If a theatre manager would hesitate to let him show his talents, he would bribe
them. Managers, in turn, often called in the police in case things went seriously wrong.
Coates was convinced he was the best actor in business – or at least that is what he claimed. He forgot his lines all the time and invented new scenes and dialogue
on the spot. He loved dramatic death scenes and would repeat them – or any other scenes he happened to take a fancy to – three to four times over.
Coates claimed that he wanted to improve the classics. At the end of his first appearance as Romeo he came back in with a crowbar and tried to pry open Capulet's tomb. In another of his antics he made the actress playing Juliet so embarrassed that she clung to a pillar and refused to leave the stage. Eventually no actress would agree to play the part with him.
The audience usually answered with angered catcalls and embarrassed jeering – and loads of laughter. His fellow actors would try to make him leave the stage. If Coates thought the audience was getting out of hand, he turned to them and answered in kind.
His fame spread and people would flock to see whether he really was as bad as they had heard. For some reason, Baron Ferdinand de Geramb
became his foremost supporter. Even the Prince Regent
(the future King George IV
) would go to see him. In 1811, when he played the part of Lothario
in The Fair Penitent
in London's Haymarket Theatre
, the theatre had to turn thousands of would-be spectators away. In another performance in Richmond, Surrey
, several audience members had to be treated for excessive laughter.
Coates went on with his antics. Once, when he dropped a diamond buckle when he was going to exit the stage, he crawled around the stage looking for it.
After 1815 his performances decreased in frequency and his star eventually faded alongside his remaining fortune. He moved to Boulogne-sur-Mer, married and had two children, both of whom predeceased him. In old age he and his wife moved back to London.
Robert Coates died in London
in 1848 in a street accident, when a Hansom cab
hit him as he was leaving a performance at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
. He was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery
.
Sugar
Sugar is a class of edible crystalline carbohydrates, mainly sucrose, lactose, and fructose, characterized by a sweet flavor.Sucrose in its refined form primarily comes from sugar cane and sugar beet...
-growing slave plantations. As a young adult, he emigrated to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Lacking heirs of his own, he lived off his fortune in comfort for the rest of his life.
Coates is numbered among the ranks of famous British eccentric
Eccentricity (behavior)
In popular usage, eccentricity refers to unusual or odd behavior on the part of an individual. This behavior would typically be perceived as unusual or unnecessary, without being demonstrably maladaptive...
s because of his unusual career as an amateur actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
. His self-image included a highly mistaken belief in his own thespian prowess. After professional theatrical producer
Theatrical producer
A theatrical producer is the person ultimately responsible for overseeing all aspects of mounting a theatre production. The independent producer will usually be the originator and finder of the script and starts the whole process...
s failed to cast Coates in significant roles, he used his family fortune to subsidize his own productions in which he was both the producer and the lead actor. His favourite part was Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
's Romeo, hence his widely-used nickname
Nickname
A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....
.
Actor
Robert Coates was born in AntiguaAntigua
Antigua , also known as Waladli, is an island in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands in the Caribbean region, the main island of the country of Antigua and Barbuda. Antigua means "ancient" in Spanish and was named by Christopher Columbus after an icon in Seville Cathedral, Santa Maria de la...
in the West Indies as a son of a wealthy sugar planter. His lack of any skill in acting was obvious to his contemporaries. When he inherited the estate in 1807, he moved to Bath, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. He eventually drew the attention of the manager of the Theatre Royal, Bath
Theatre Royal, Bath
The Theatre Royal in Bath, England, is over 200 years old. It is one of the more important theatres in the United Kingdom outside London, with capacity for an audience of around 900....
and had begun to appear in plays in 1809.
Later he appeared in Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
in the part of Romeo – in a costume of his own design. The costume had a flowing cloak with sequin
Sequin
Sequins are disk-shaped beads used for decorative purposes. They are available in a wide variety of colors and geometrical shapes. Sequins are commonly used on clothing, jewelry, bags, shoes and lots of other accessories. Large sequins, fastened only at the top, have been used on billboards and...
s, red pantaloons, a large cravat and a plumed hat – not to mention dozens of diamond
Diamond
In mineralogy, diamond is an allotrope of carbon, where the carbon atoms are arranged in a variation of the face-centered cubic crystal structure called a diamond lattice. Diamond is less stable than graphite, but the conversion rate from diamond to graphite is negligible at ambient conditions...
s – which was hardly suitable for the part. The audience cracked up with laughter.
Despite this ridicule, Coates went on to tour the British Isles. If a theatre manager would hesitate to let him show his talents, he would bribe
Bribery
Bribery, a form of corruption, is an act implying money or gift giving that alters the behavior of the recipient. Bribery constitutes a crime and is defined by Black's Law Dictionary as the offering, giving, receiving, or soliciting of any item of value to influence the actions of an official or...
them. Managers, in turn, often called in the police in case things went seriously wrong.
Coates was convinced he was the best actor in business – or at least that is what he claimed. He forgot his lines all the time and invented new scenes and dialogue
Dialogue
Dialogue is a literary and theatrical form consisting of a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people....
on the spot. He loved dramatic death scenes and would repeat them – or any other scenes he happened to take a fancy to – three to four times over.
Coates claimed that he wanted to improve the classics. At the end of his first appearance as Romeo he came back in with a crowbar and tried to pry open Capulet's tomb. In another of his antics he made the actress playing Juliet so embarrassed that she clung to a pillar and refused to leave the stage. Eventually no actress would agree to play the part with him.
The audience usually answered with angered catcalls and embarrassed jeering – and loads of laughter. His fellow actors would try to make him leave the stage. If Coates thought the audience was getting out of hand, he turned to them and answered in kind.
His fame spread and people would flock to see whether he really was as bad as they had heard. For some reason, Baron Ferdinand de Geramb
Ferdinand de Géramb
Ferdinand de Géramb was a French supposed aristocrat and Trappist monk . He became abbot and procurator-general of La Trappe.-Life:...
became his foremost supporter. Even the Prince Regent
Prince Regent
A prince regent is a prince who rules a monarchy as regent instead of a monarch, e.g., due to the Sovereign's incapacity or absence ....
(the future King George IV
George IV of the United Kingdom
George IV was the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and also of Hanover from the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820 until his own death ten years later...
) would go to see him. In 1811, when he played the part of Lothario
Lothario
Lothario is a male first name which came to connote an unscrupulous seducer of women.In The Impertinent Curiosity, a story-within-the-story in Don Quixote , by Miguel de Cervantes, a man named Anselmo coerces Lothario, his faithful friend, to test the virtue of Anselmo's wife, Camila...
in The Fair Penitent
The Fair Penitent
The Fair Penitent is Nicholas Rowe's stage adaptation of the tragedy The Fatal Dowry, the Philip Massinger and Nathan Field collaboration first published in 1632...
in London's Haymarket Theatre
Haymarket Theatre
The Theatre Royal Haymarket is a West End theatre in the Haymarket in the City of Westminster which dates back to 1720, making it the third-oldest London playhouse still in use...
, the theatre had to turn thousands of would-be spectators away. In another performance in Richmond, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, several audience members had to be treated for excessive laughter.
Coates went on with his antics. Once, when he dropped a diamond buckle when he was going to exit the stage, he crawled around the stage looking for it.
Offstage
Outside the stage Coates tried to amaze the public with his taste in clothing. He wore furs even in hot weather. He went out in a custom-built carriage with a heraldic device of a crowing cock and the motto While I live, I'll crow. In receptions he glittered from head to toe with diamond buttons and buckles. His predilection for diamonds of all kinds gave him the nickname "Diamond Coates".After 1815 his performances decreased in frequency and his star eventually faded alongside his remaining fortune. He moved to Boulogne-sur-Mer, married and had two children, both of whom predeceased him. In old age he and his wife moved back to London.
Robert Coates died in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1848 in a street accident, when a Hansom cab
Hansom cab
The hansom cab is a kind of horse-drawn cart designed and patented in 1834 by Joseph Hansom, an architect from York. The vehicle was developed and tested by Hansom in Hinckley, Leicestershire, England. Originally called the Hansom safety cab, it was designed to combine speed with safety, with a low...
hit him as he was leaving a performance at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
Theatre Royal, Drury Lane
The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane is a West End theatre in Covent Garden, in the City of Westminster, a borough of London. The building faces Catherine Street and backs onto Drury Lane. The building standing today is the most recent in a line of four theatres at the same location dating back to 1663,...
. He was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery
Kensal Green Cemetery is a cemetery in Kensal Green, in the west of London, England. It was immortalised in the lines of G. K. Chesterton's poem The Rolling English Road from his book The Flying Inn: "For there is good news yet to hear and fine things to be seen; Before we go to Paradise by way of...
.