He played aristocrats or British military types in many films, and created the role of Colonel Hugh Pickering in the long-running original Broadway production of My Fair Lady.

He began his stage career at the age of 16, performing in Britain, South Africa, and Australia before arriving in Hollywood in the late 1930s.

He played a succession of pompous British types in supporting roles, including a brief but memorable turn as Sgt.

[1] His acting career was interrupted by his service as a squadron leader in the Royal Canadian Air Force during World War II.

In 1973, in his last feature film performance, Coote portrayed one of the critics dispatched by Vincent Price in Theatre of Blood.