Colman, George the younger

Colman, George the younger (1762–1836), English dramatist and theatre manager, son of the above. His early works were produced at the Haymarket Theatre by his father, the most successful being the comic opera Inkle and Yarico (1787). In 1794 he succeeded him as manager, but was not a success, being reckless and extravagant and constantly involved in lawsuits; he was also hampered by a secret marriage he had contracted in 1784 with a young actress. But he was a good dramatist, excelling in the creation of comic characters, among them Dr Pangloss in The Heir at Law (1797) and Dennis Brulgruddery in John Bull; or, The Englishman's Fire-side (1803). The best of the others were probably The Iron Chest (1796), which later supplied Kean and other tragedians with a fine part in Sir Edward Mortimer, and Blue-Beard; or, Female Curiosity (1798), based on a French original. These two were first produced at Drury Lane. Colman was imprisoned for debt in 1817, and in the same year wrote for the elder Mathews The Actor of All Work; or, First and Second Floor, in which two rooms were shown on the stage simultaneously, an innovation. From 1824 until his death he was Examiner of Plays, in which capacity he showed an unexpected prudery.