Colman, George, the Elder

Colman, George, the Elder

▪ English dramatist
born April 1732, Florence
died Aug. 14, 1794, London

      a leading English comic dramatist of his day and an important theatre manager who sought to revive the vigour of Elizabethan drama with adaptations of plays by Beaumont and Fletcher and Ben Jonson.

      He was the son of Francis Colman, envoy to the Grand Duke of Tuscany. After his father's death in 1733, he became the ward of an uncle, William Pulteney (later 1st earl of Bath). Colman abandoned a legal career for literature and the theatre, and his first play, Polly Honeycombe (1760), satirized the current craze for romantic novels. It was presented as an afterpiece by the great actor-manager David Garrick (Garrick, David) at London's Drury Lane Theatre. His next play, The Jealous Wife (1761), an adaptation of Henry Fielding's novel Tom Jones, was one of the best comedies of the age and held its place in the stock theatrical repertoire for nearly a century. Colman collaborated with Garrick on The Clandestine Marriage (1766), a play blending sentiment with satire, which is still stageworthy. In 1767 Colman bought a quarter share in Covent Garden theatre, London, which he managed for seven years, during which time he appreciably raised the standard of acting and of drama. In 1776 he bought the Little Theatre in the Haymarket, London, a summer theatre that reached the peak of its fame under his management. In 1785 Colman suffered a stroke, from which he never fully recovered.

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  • Colman, George, the Elder — (1732 1794)    Dramatist, b. at Florence, where his f. was British Envoy, he was a friend of Garrick, and took to writing for the stage with success. He wrote more than 30 dramatic pieces, of which the best known are The Jealous Wife (1761), and… …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

  • George Colman the Elder — George Colman (April, 1732 14 August 1794) was an English dramatist and essayist, usually called the Elder , and sometimes George the First , to distinguish him from his son, George Colman the Younger.He was born in Florence, where his father was …   Wikipedia

  • George Colman the Younger — George Colman (October 21, 1762 ndash;October 17, 1836), known as the Younger, English dramatist and miscellaneous writer, was the son of George Colman the Elder . He passed from Westminster School to Christ Church, Oxford, and King s College,… …   Wikipedia

  • George Colman — may refer to: George Colman the Elder (1732–1794), English dramatist George Colman the Younger (1762–1836), English dramatist, son of the above See also George Coleman, American musician George Drumgoole Coleman, Singapore architect …   Wikipedia

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