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Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Birthday
February 4, 1909
Died
November 26, 1982
Place of Birth
London, England, UK
Robert Coote
0.4 Popularity
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.
Known For
7.4
Theodore Horstmann
Nero Wolfe
1981
7.3
Filming Othello
1979
🎬
0.0
Butler
$weepstake$
1979
🎬
5.0
Wellington
Institute for Revenge
1979
6.7
Oliver Larding
Theatre of Blood
1973
4.2
General Burke
Up the Front
1972
🎬
0.0
Col. Sir Francis Chesney
Charley's Aunt
1969
5.4
Henry Hardcastle
Prudence and the Pill
1968
0.0
Kenner
1968
4.9
Stanley Krum
The Cool Ones
1967
Credits
Nero Wolfe
as Theodore Horstmann
1981
7.4
Filming Othello
1979
7.3
🎬
$weepstake$
as Butler
1979
0.0
🎬
Institute for Revenge
as Wellington
1979
5.0
Theatre of Blood
as Oliver Larding
1973
6.7
Up the Front
as General Burke
1972
4.2
🎬
Charley's Aunt
as Col. Sir Francis Chesney
1969
0.0
Prudence and the Pill
as Henry Hardcastle
1968
5.4
Kenner
1968
0.0
The Cool Ones
as Stanley Krum
1967
4.9
🎬
The Whitehall Worrier
1967
0.0
The Swinger
as Sir Hubert Charles
1966
5.2
Alice Through the Looking Glass
as The Red King
1966
6.0
A Man Could Get Killed
as Hatton / Jones
1966
3.8
BBC Play of the Month
as Col. Sir Francis Chesney
1965
5.0
BBC Play of the Month
as Mr. Eager
1965
5.0
The Rogues
as Timmy St. Clair
1964
7.2
The Golden Head
1964
5.3
The V.I.P.s
as John Coburn
1963
6.1
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
as Self
1962
7.5
The League of Gentlemen
as Bunny Warren
1960
7.0
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime
as Baines
1960
0.0
Rawhide
1959
7.2
The Horse's Mouth
as Sir William Beeder
1958
6.7
Westinghouse Desilu Playhouse
as Terry
1958
5.8
Merry Andrew
as Dudley Larabee
1958
6.0
The Swan
as Capt. Wunderlich
1956
6.9
The Constant Husband
as The Best Man
1955
6.9
The Prisoner of Zenda
as Fritz von Tarlenheim
1952
6.8
The Merry Widow
as Marquis De Crillon
1952
6.2
Scaramouche
as Gaston Binet
1952
7.0
Othello
as Roderigo
1951
7.3
The Desert Fox: The Story of Rommel
as British Medical Officer
1951
6.7
Soldiers Three
as Maj. Mercer
1951
3.8
The Elusive Pimpernel
as Sir Andrew ffoulkes
1950
5.9
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Stephen
1950
6.3
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Joe Worton
1950
6.3
🎬
Lux Video Theatre
as Lawton
1950
6.3
Robert Montgomery Presents
1950
5.6
Robert Montgomery Presents
as Sir Archibald Bruern
1950
5.6
The Red Danube
as Brigadier C.M.V. Catlock
1949
6.3
Studio One
as Dr. Gordon
1948
5.0
The Three Musketeers
as Aramis
1948
6.7
Berlin Express
as Sterling
1948
6.2
The Exile
as Dick Pinner
1947
6.1
Forever Amber
as Sir Thomas Dudley
1947
6.0
Lured
as Detective Wilson
1947
6.3
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
as Mr. Coombe
1947
7.5
A Matter of Life and Death
as Bob Trubshawe
1946
7.8
Cloak and Dagger
as Cronin
1946
6.5
Forever and a Day
as Blind Officer
1943
7.4
Commandos Strike at Dawn
as Robert Bowen
1942
5.4
You Can't Fool Your Wife
as Battincourt
1940
4.5
Vigil in the Night
as Dr. Caley
1940
5.5
Nurse Edith Cavell
as Bungey
1939
6.4
Bad Lands
as Eaton
1939
3.7
The House of Fear
as Robert Morton
1939
6.5
Gunga Din
as Bertie Higginbotham
1939
6.5
Mr. Moto's Last Warning
as Rollo Venables
1939
5.5
The Girl Downstairs
as Karl
1938
4.1
Blond Cheat
as Gilbert Potts
1938
6.0
A Yank at Oxford
as Wavertree
1938
6.7
The Sheik Steps Out
as Lord Eustace Byington
1937
4.0
The Thirteenth Chair
as Stanby
1937
6.1
Rangle River
as Reggie Mannister, Flight-Lieutenant
1936
5.5
Loyalties
as Robert
1933
6.0
Sally in Our Alley
as Waiter At Party
1931
4.5
Best Of Enemies
N/A
8.3