His first appearances on the stage were in vocal characters, such as Frederick in No Song No Supper, Valentine in The Farmer, and Captain Macheath.
Having been introduced by W. Lovegrove, the comedian, to Samuel James Arnold, the proprietor of the Lyceum Theatre, Gattie made his first appearance in London on 14 July 1813, in a new comic opera entitled M.P., or the Blue Stocking, in which he took the character of La Fosse,[1] and afterwards played Sir Harry Sycamore and other men characters and footmen's parts.
At Drury Lane, where he was in the receipt of seven pounds a week, he was frequently the substitute for Joseph Shepherd Munden, William Dowton, Daniel Terry and Charles Mathews, to none of whom, however, was he equal in talent.
His acting in this piece was much commended by George IV, who had commanded its performance on the occasion of a royal bespeak soon after its first production.
After a career of twenty-six years as an actor he retired from the stage in 1833, and opened a cigar-shop at Oxford, which became the resort of many of the collegians, by whom his dry humour was much appreciated.