Robert Coates (1772–1848), 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 eccentrics 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 producers 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.
Famous quotes containing the word robert:
“That’s my problem, chaplain: I’m yellow. PFC Bernstein—plumb, fat coward. Hey, can you get a Section 8 for being yellow?”
—James Poe, U.S. screenwriter, and Based On Play. Robert Aldrich. Bernstein (Robert Strauss)