C. Hayden Coffin

.

Life and career

Coffin was born in Manchester. His parents were from Maine, and his father was a dentist. Coffin passed the preliminary examinations to enter the College of Surgeons, but decided instead to become an actor. In 1883, he performed at St. George's Hall in London as Tom Gilroy in H. J. Byron's "Partners for Life" ["The Era", 13 January 1883] and as Vivid in "Monsieur Jacques" ["The Era", 23 June 1883]

Coffin made his professional debut as John Smith in Edward Solomon and Sydney Grundy's "Pocahontas" (1885). He rose to fame as Harry Sherwood in Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson's the record-setting hit "Dorothy" (1886), in which he introduced the popular song, "Queen of My Heart." Coffin's good looks and powerful voice made him one of the most popular stage baritones of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. [ [http://www.musicals101.com/who19.htm Profile at the Musicals101 website] ] Early in his career, he also had successes with the same team's "Doris" (1889), Solomon and Henry Pottinger Stephens' "The Red Hussar" (1889), F. C. Burnand's adaptation of Edmond Audran's "La Cigale" (1890), and "Captain Therese" (1890), among others. He spent the 1892–93 season in New York City co-starring in several productions with soprano Lillian Russell. He also starred in a number of pantomimes.

Coffin returned to London in 1893 to star in a series of hit Edwardian musical comedies produced by George Edwardes and composed by Sidney Jones and then Lionel Monckton, including "A Gaiety Girl" (1893), "An Artist's Model", (1895), "The Geisha" (1896), "A Greek Slave" (1898), "San Toy" (1899), "A Country Girl" (1903) and "The Cingalee" (1904). He also starred in "Veronique" (1904) and "The Girl Behind the Counter" (1906) and played the title role in "Tom Jones" (1907). Coffin had a brief London run and tour in "Two Merry Monarchs" (1910) as Prince Charmis and then played Captain Charteris in "The Quaker Girl" (1910).

In his later years, Coffin turned to serious drama, including Shakespearean roles, such as Feste in "Twelfth Night" at the Savoy Theatre in 1912. [Coffin, p. 274] He also made occasional appearances in musicals such as "Young England" (1916) and "As You Were" (1918). [ [http://library.kent.ac.uk/library/special/icons/playbills/playdat2.htm Listing in Play Pictorial database] He made several films until 1930 and also continued touring through the 1920s.

Coffin was first engaged to actress Hope Temple but married actress Adeline de Leuw, whose first husband was the composer Alberto Randegger. He died in London at the age of 73.

References

Coffin wrote an autobiography, "Hayden Coffin's Book: Packed with Acts and Facts" (London: Alston Rivers, 1930).

Recordings

Coffin made a small number of records for the Gramophone Company, as follows: [Bennett, J. R. "Voices of the Past: Vol. I A Catalogue of vocal recordings from the English Catalogue of The Gramophone Company", etc. (Oakwood Press, 1955).]
*4-2834 When travelling days are over "Young England" (Bath) c. 1916, 10", coupled on E35. (speed 81)
*2-4385 Young Fresh England "Young England" (Bath) in ensemble, 10", coupled on E 35.
*02714 Who sings of England? "Young England" (Clutsam), 1916-17, 12", coupled on D200.

Notes

External links

* [http://www.musicals101.com/who19.htm Profile of Coffin]
*imdb name|0168922|Hayden Coffin
* [http://72.14.209.104/search?q=cache:ohdYT4Ut0e0J:www.farahardupre.co.uk/cgi-bin/cc_search/booksearch.cgi/Search%3Fsearch%3D%2BSubject:music%2520dance%26first%3D130+%22Hayden+Coffin%22+1935+1862&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=10 Information about Coffin]
* [http://www.marxists.org/archive/eleanor-marx/1890/theatre.htm Review of Coffin]
* [http://www.npg.org.uk/live/search/person.asp?LinkID=mp50901 Photos of Coffin]
* [http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?parent_id=505748&word= More photos of Coffin]
* [http://library.kent.ac.uk/library/special/icons/playbills/playdat2.htm Information about some of Coffin's roles during World War I]