page_title: C. Hayden Coffin
section_title: Career
hierarchical_section_title: C. Hayden Coffin / Career
caption_attribution_description: Photo of Hayden Coffin as Harry Sherwood in Cellier's 'Dorothy'
context_page_description: Charles Hayden Coffin was an English actor and singer known for his performances in many famous Edwardian musical comedies, particularly those produced by George Edwardes.
  Hayden achieved fame as Harry Sherwood in Dorothy, which became the longest-running piece of musical theatre in history up to that time; other similar roles followed. In 1893, he joined the company of George Edwardes and starred in a series of extraordinarily successful musical comedies, including A Gaiety Girl, An Artist's Model, The Geisha, A Greek Slave, San Toy, A Country Girl, Veronique, The Girl Behind the Counter, Tom Jones and The Quaker Girl.
  In his later years, Coffin found success in Shakespearean roles such as Feste in Twelfth Night, and in musicals, a few films and other works, such as the classic comedy The School for Scandal.
context_section_description: In 1883, he performed as an amateur at St. George's Hall in London as Tom Gilroy in H. J. Byron's Partners for Life and as Vivid in Monsieur Jacques.
  Coffin made his professional stage debut as John Smith in Edward Solomon and Sydney Grundy's Pocahontas (1885). He then played in Lady of the Locket (1885), by William Fullerton Jr. and Henry Hamilton, which was the first production designed by his friend Percy Anderson, and Coriolon in Lily of Leoville by Ivan Caryll (1886). Coffin rose to fame as Harry Sherwood in Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson's 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.  Early in his career, he also had successes with the same team's Doris (1889), Solomon and Henry Pottinger Stephens' The Red Hussar (1889, as Sir Harry Leighton), 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. His roles in these included Charles Goldfield in A Gaiety Girl (1893), Rudolph Blair in An Artist's Model (1895), Reginald Fairfax in The Geisha (1896), Diomed in A Greek Slave (1898), Captain Bobby Preston in San Toy (1899), Geoffrey Challoner in A Country Girl (1903) and Harry Vereker in The Cingalee (1904). He also starred in Veronique (1904), as Charlie Chetwynd in The Girl Behind the Counter (1906) and in 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 another hit, 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.  He also made occasional appearances in musicals such as Young England (1916) and As You Were (1918).  He made several films until 1930, including It's Always the Woman (1916), and also continued touring through the 1920s. In 1929, he played Sir Harry Bumper in The School for Scandal at the Kingsway Theatre, repeating the role in the 1930 film adaptation.
caption: Coffin in Dorothy
exif: {"Image Orientation": "Horizontal (normal)", "Image XResolution": "300", "Image YResolution": "300", "Image ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Image Software": "Adobe Photoshop CS Windows", "Image DateTime": "2008:02:22 23:42:47", "Image ExifOffset": "164", "Thumbnail Compression": "JPEG (old-style)", "Thumbnail XResolution": "72", "Thumbnail YResolution": "72", "Thumbnail ResolutionUnit": "Pixels/Inch", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormat": "302", "Thumbnail JPEGInterchangeFormatLength": "5121", "EXIF ColorSpace": "Uncalibrated", "EXIF ExifImageWidth": "500", "EXIF ExifImageLength": "729"}