Robert Coote

Robert Coote

  • Birthday: 1909-02-04
  • Deathday: 1982-11-26
  • Place of birth: London, England, UK

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Robert Coote (4 February 1909 – 26 November 1982) was an English actor. He played aristocrats or British military types in many films, and created the role of Colonel Hugh Pickering in the long-running original Broadway production of My Fair Lady. Coote was born in London and educated at Hurstpierpoint College in Sussex. He began his stage career at the age of 16, performing in Britain, South Africa, and Australia before arriving in Hollywood in the late 1930s. He played a succession of pompous British types in supporting roles, including a brief but memorable turn as Sgt. Bertie Higginbotham in Gunga Din (1939). His acting career was interrupted by his service as a squadron leader in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II. He played Bob Trubshawe in Powell and Pressburger's A Matter of Life and Death (1946), chosen for the first-ever Royal Film Performance on 1 November 1946, before he returned to Hollywood, where his films included The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947), Forever Amber (1947), The Three Musketeers (1948), and Orson Welles' Othello (1952). In 1956, Coote created the role of Colonel Pickering in the original Broadway production of My Fair Lady (1956–62), which he reprised in the musical's 1976–77 Broadway revival. He also originated the role of King Pellinore in the Broadway production of Camelot (1960–63). He was nominated for an Emmy Award for his performance as Timmy St. Clair in the NBC TV series The Rogues (1964–65). In 1966, Coote appeared with Jackie Gleason and Art Carney in an episode of The Honeymooners entitled "The Honeymooners in England", broadcast on CBS-TV from Miami. In his last feature film performance, Coote portrayed one of the critics dispatched by Vincent Price in Theatre of Blood (1973). His final role was on television, playing orchid nurse Theodore Horstmann in the 1981 NBC-TV series Nero Wolfe, starring William Conrad in the title role. In most film and TV adaptations of Nero Wolfe mysteries, before and since, Horstmann has been a very minor character, but Coote's Horstmann got considerable screen time in the series. The veteran British character actor died in his sleep at the New York Athletic Club in November 1982, at the age of 73. Coote was a close friend of actor David Niven, sharing a house with Niven for a time in the late 1930s and living in a flat over Niven's garage for several years after the Second World War.

Filmography

Othello

1951

As Roderigo

Prudence and the Pill

1968

As Henry Hardcastle

The Swinger

1966

As Sir Hubert Charles

Alice Through the Looking Glass

1966

As The Red King

You Can't Fool Your Wife

1940

As Battincourt

Kenner

1968

As

Rangle River

1936

As Reggie Mannister, Flight-Lieutenant

A Matter of Life and Death

1946

As Bob Trubshawe

Berlin Express

1948

As Sterling

The Horse's Mouth

1958

As Sir William Beeder

Merry Andrew

1958

As Dudley Larabee

Commandos Strike at Dawn

1942

As Robert Bowen

Vigil in the Night

1940

As Dr. Caley

A Man Could Get Killed

1966

As Hatton / Jones

The Cool Ones

1967

As Stanley Krum

Institute for Revenge

1979

As Wellington

Theatre of Blood

1973

As Oliver Larding

Bad Lands

1939

As Eaton

Blond Cheat

1938

As Gilbert Potts

The Exile

1947

As Dick Pinner

Charley's Aunt

1969

As Col. Sir Francis Chesney

The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

1947

As Mr. Coombe

The Prisoner of Zenda

1952

As Fritz von Tarlenheim

Mr. Moto's Last Warning

1939

As Rollo Venables

The House of Fear

1939

As Robert Morton

Gunga Din

1939

As Bertie Higginbotham

The Three Musketeers

1948

As Aramis

The Merry Widow

1952

As Marquis De Crillon

The Girl Downstairs

1938

As Karl

Scaramouche

1952

As Gaston Binet

Soldiers Three

1951

As Maj. Mercer

The Sheik Steps Out

1937

As Lord Eustace Byington

The Red Danube

1949

As Brigadier C.M.V. Catlock

The League of Gentlemen

1960

As Bunny Warren

Nurse Edith Cavell

1939

As Bungey

Lured

1947

As Detective Wilson

Forever Amber

1947

As Sir Thomas Dudley

The Swan

1956

As Capt. Wunderlich

The Thirteenth Chair

1937

As Stanby

Sally in Our Alley

1931

As Waiter At Party

The Constant Husband

1955

As The Best Man

A Yank at Oxford

1938

As Wavertree

The V.I.P.s

1963

As John Coburn

Cloak and Dagger

1946

As Cronin

The Elusive Pimpernel

1950

As Sir Andrew ffoulkes

Loyalties

1933

As Robert

The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel

1951

As British Medical Officer

Forever and a Day

1943

As Blind Officer

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