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IMDbPro

Robert Coote(1909-1982)

  • Actor
  • Soundtrack
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
Robert Coote in Stairway to Heaven (1946)
Trailer for this historical drama
Play trailer3:32
Scaramouche (1952)
5 Videos
35 Photos
Robert Coote (1909-1982) was an English actor who had a thriving career for 50 years. He is best remembered for originating the role of Colonel Pickering in My Fair Lady (1964), Alan Jay Lerner & Frederick Loewe's musical adaptation of George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion (1938), for which he was nominated for a Tony Award as Best Featured Actor in a Musical in 1957. He also originated the role of King Pellinore in Lerner & Loewe's 1960 Broadway musical Camelot (1967).

Coote played Colonel Pickering on Broadway and London, but Wilfrid Hyde-White was cast in the Oscar-winning 1964 movie despite Coote's extensive movie career. In fact, Coote had specialized in playing aristocrats and military men in countless films, most notably as Sergeant Bertie Higginbotham in George Stevens's 1939 classic Gunga Din (1939). (In real life, Coote served with the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War Two, becoming a squadron leader.)

He possibly was overlooked for the movie (as was Julie Andrews, more notably) due to a strained relationship with star Rex Harrison, who stole business originated by Coote during the original Broadway production. Harrison resented Coote after unsuccessfully demanding to take over a famous piece of business created by Coote, Colonel Pickering's telephone call. Coote recreated the role in the 1976 Broadway revival.
BornFebruary 4, 1909
DiedNovember 26, 1982(73)
BornFebruary 4, 1909
DiedNovember 26, 1982(73)
IMDbProStarmeter
See rank
  • Nominated for 1 Primetime Emmy

Photos35

Cary Grant and Robert Coote in Gunga Din (1939)
George Sanders, Robert Coote, and Alan Napier in Lured (1947)
Robert Coote in Lured (1947)
Lucille Ball, Charles Coburn, Robert Coote, and Alan Napier in Lured (1947)
Charles Coburn, Robert Coote, and Alan Napier in Lured (1947)
Robert Coote and Alan Napier in Lured (1947)
Kathleen Byron, Robert Coote, Roger Livesey, and Joan Maude in Stairway to Heaven (1946)
Kathleen Byron and Robert Coote in Stairway to Heaven (1946)
David Niven, Kim Hunter, Robert Coote, Marius Goring, and Roger Livesey in Stairway to Heaven (1946)
Robert Coote in Stairway to Heaven (1946)
Kathleen Byron and Robert Coote in Stairway to Heaven (1946)
Andy Clyde, Robert Coote, Francis Ford, and Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams in Bad Lands (1939)

Known for

Gene Tierney, Rex Harrison, and George Sanders in The Ghost and Mrs. Muir (1947)
The Ghost and Mrs. Muir
7.8
  • Mr. Coombe
  • 1947
Stairway to Heaven (1946)
Stairway to Heaven
8.0
  • Bob Trubshaw
  • 1946
Stewart Granger, Janet Leigh, Mel Ferrer, and Eleanor Parker in Scaramouche (1952)
Scaramouche
7.5
  • Gaston Binet
  • 1952
Deborah Kerr, James Mason, Stewart Granger, and Jane Greer in The Prisoner of Zenda (1952)
The Prisoner of Zenda
6.9
  • Fritz von Tarlenheim
  • 1952

Credits

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IMDbPro

Actor

  • William Conrad in Nero Wolfe (1981)
    Nero Wolfe
  • Sweepstakes (1979)
    Sweepstakes
  • George Hamilton, Lauren Hutton, and Ray Walston in Institute for Revenge (1979)
    Institute for Revenge
  • Target Risk (1975)
    Target Risk
  • The Lives of Benjamin Franklin (1974)
    The Lives of Benjamin Franklin
  • BBC Play of the Month (1965)
    BBC Play of the Month
  • Vincent Price and Diana Rigg in Theater of Blood (1973)
    Theater of Blood
  • Up the Front (1972)
    Up the Front
  • From a Bird's Eye View (1970)
    From a Bird's Eye View
  • Tim Barrett and Robert Coote in Best of Enemies (1968)
    Best of Enemies
  • Kenner (1968)
    Kenner
  • Deborah Kerr, David Niven, Judy Geeson, and Joyce Redman in Prudence and the Pill (1968)
    Prudence and the Pill
  • The Cool Ones (1967)
    The Cool Ones
  • Stiff Upper Lip
  • The Whitehall Worrier

Soundtrack

  • The Cool Ones (1967)
    The Cool Ones
  • Judi Rolin in Alice Through the Looking Glass (1966)
    Alice Through the Looking Glass
    • ("There Are two Sides to Everything" (Hay dos lados para todo)., "Opening & Closing Theme" (Tema de apertura y cierre).)
  • Merry Andrew (1958)
    Merry Andrew
    • (uncredited)

Videos5

Trailer
Trailer 1:35
Trailer
Trailer
Trailer 1:23
Trailer
The Ghost And Mrs. Muir
Trailer 2:39
The Ghost And Mrs. Muir
Gunga Din
Trailer 2:12
Gunga Din
Scaramouche
Trailer 3:32
Scaramouche

Personal details

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    • February 4, 1909
    • London, England, UK
    • November 26, 1982
    • New York City, New York, USA(heart attack in his sleep)
    • Bert Coote
  • Other works
    Created the role of Colonel Pickering in the stage production of "My Fair Lady" with Rex Harrison and Julie Andrews. He played it both on Broadway and in London.
  • Publicity listings
    • 5 Articles
    • 1 Pictorial

Did you know

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  • Trivia
    Served In The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) during the Second World War.

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