George Colman the Younger
George Colman the Younger was an influential English playwright and theater manager born on October 21, 1782, into a theatrical family. He was the son of renowned playwright George Colman and actress Sara Ford, and his upbringing was steeped in the English theater culture. Despite his father's initial encouragement to pursue a legal career, Colman gravitated towards playwriting, making his debut with "The Female Dramatist" in 1782, although it received a lukewarm reception. His breakthrough came with "Turk and No Turk" in 1785, which established his reputation as a talented writer.
Over the years, Colman produced numerous plays, operas, and comedic works, with "The Heir at Law" (1797) being one of his most celebrated comedies. Following his father's death in 1789, he took over the management of the Haymarket Theater, but faced financial difficulties that led to a period of home incarceration due to debts. Despite these challenges, he continued to write and engage with the theater community. In 1824, he was appointed as a censor, a role he approached with unexpected strictness, leading to controversy and the loss of friendships. Colman’s career spanned over four decades, and he passed away quietly at home, leaving behind a complex legacy in the world of theater.
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Subject Terms
George Colman the Younger
Dramatist
- Born: October 21, 1762
- Birthplace: London, England
- Died: October 17, 1836
- Place of death: London, England
Biography
George Colman, the Younger, a Restoration eighteenth century dramatist writing comedic, melodramatic, and operatic plays was especially popular for his style of wit, satire, and farce. He was born on October 21, 1782, to George Colman, a famous playwright and theater manager in England, and Sara Ford, an actress of little renown. His early life was marked by inundation in the English theater, with literary luminaries frequenting the Colman household.
Although he surrounded his son with the influences of the theater and literature, the elder George Colman encouraged his son to practice law, enrolling Colman first at Christ Church College at Oxford in 1780 and in 1781 at King’s College at Old Aberdeen in Scotland; the latter move was designed to distract him from the theater, without success. Colman frequented the theaters, acting in the Haymarket Theater managed by his father. Soon after, his first play and farce, The Female Dramatist (1782), was staged to unremarkable reception.
In 1784, Colman’s father relented and gave his son the opportunity to try his hand as a playwright, bringing him back to England. Colman’s next play, Two to One (1784), was better received. The following piece, Turk and No Turk (1785), a musical comedy, established him as a literary talent. With this, his father was forced to acknowledge Colman’s talent and encourage a literary career.
Soon after his success, the younger Colman married in secret to the actress Catherine Morris. His second wife was an actress, Maria Gibbs, with whom he carried on an affair after his wife’s estrangement and death. The relationship was kept quiet, and in 1809 Colman and Gibbs were married.
Colman’s play career developed over the following years. His first opera, Inkle and Yarico, opened at the Haymarket in 1787, solidifying his formula for success at the farce. When his father’s health failed and Colman filled in at the Haymarket, the event marked his own entrance into theater management. Colman employed elements of melodrama in the play, The Mountaineers (1793), based on Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes. Much of Colman’s successful work would continue to be revisionist. Colman steadily wrote plays over the next several decades, his most popular being The Heir at Law (1797). The success of this comedy convinced him to leave drama behind.
When Colman’s father died in 1789, the full charge of the Haymarket playhouse fell to him. During this period he wrote bawdy, humorous poetry. He also was involved in legal actions with Thomas Harris over debts. Unable to fulfill his obligation to the debts of the playhouse and the litigation terms, he was consigned to a poor house, and later home incarceration, for about three years. He was still able to do business for the theater, receive visitors, and continue to write and have his plays staged while incarcerated. In 1817, he was released and wrote number of plays.
In 1824, he was appointed Licenser, a title with the responsibility of censor. He took his appointment very seriously, censoring references to even angels and heaven. This more than incongruous behavior for a man known for his coarse and crude humor baffled the literary world, lost him friends, and made him enemies. Colman died quietly at home, after more than a forty- year career in the theater.