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Robert Coote

Robert Coote

Birthday: 1909-02-04 | Place of Birth: London, England, UK

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.

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Known For

Acting

Year
Title

Role

1981
Nero Wolfe

as    Theodore Horstmann

1973
Theatre of Blood

as    Oliver Larding

1966
A Man Could Get Killed

as    Hatton / Jones

1966
The Swinger

as    Sir Hubert Charles

1966
Alice Through the Looking Glass

as    The Red King

1961
The League of Gentlemen

as    Bunny Warren

1958
The Horse's Mouth

as    Sir William Beeder

1952
The Prisoner of Zenda

as    Fritz von Tarlenheim

1952
Scaramouche

as    Gaston Binet

1952
The Merry Widow

as    Marquis De Crillon

1951
Soldiers Three

as    Maj. Mercer

1951
Othello

as    Roderigo

1949
The Red Danube

as    Brigadier C.M.V. Catlock

1948
The Three Musketeers

as    Aramis

1948
Berlin Express

as    Sterling

1947
Lured

as    Detective Wilson

1947
The Exile

as    Dick Pinner

1947
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir

as    Mr. Coombe

1942
Commandos Strike at Dawn

as    Robert Bowen

1939
Gunga Din

as    Bertie Higginbotham

1939
Nurse Edith Cavell

as    Bungey

1939
Bad Lands

as    Eaton

1939
The House of Fear

as    Robert Morton

1939
Mr. Moto's Last Warning

as    Rollo Venables

1938
Blond Cheat

as    Gilbert Potts

1938
The Girl Downstairs

as    Karl