James Oates

{{Short description|British stage actor}} {{About||the footballer|Jimmy Oates}} {{for |the field hockey international |James Oates (field hockey)}} {{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}

'''James Oates''' (died 1751) was a British stage actor.<ref>Brean p.173</ref>

Possibly of Irish birth, he was a long-standing member of the Drury Lane company from 1718, and also appeared at the summer fairs in London including Southwark and Bartholomew Fair. He specialised in supporting roles, often in comedies. He was with Drury Lane for twenty one seasons, and later also became a tavern-owner alongside his acting duties. Like several actors of the era he was a freemason.<ref>Peter</ref> His wife and daughter were both actresses.

==Selected roles== * Jeremy in ''The Play is the Plot'' by John Durant Breval (1718) * Thracion in ''The Spartan Dame'' by Thomas Southerne (1719) * Courtly in ''A Wife to be Lett'' by Eliza Haywood (1723) * Citizen in ''Double Falsehood'' by Lewis Theobald (1727) * File in ''The Village Opera'' by Charles Johnson (writer) (1729) * Mopsus in ''Love in a Riddle'' by Colley Cibber (1729) * Dash in ''The Humours of Oxford'' by James Miller (1730) * Bassoon in ''Bayes's Opera'' by Gabriel Odingsells (1730) * Doctor in ''The Devil to Pay'' by Charles Coffey (1731) * Keeper of Prison in ''Caelia'' by Charles Johnson (1732) * Decoy in ''The Miser'' by Henry Fielding (1733) * Poet in ''The Mother-in-Law'' by James Miller (1734)

==References== {{Reflist}}

==Bibliography== * Brean, Hammond (ed.) ''Double Falsehood''. AC & Black, 2010. * Highfill, Philip H, Burnim, Kalman A. & Langhans, Edward A. ''A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers, and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800''. Southern Illinois University Press, 1973. * Peter, Robert. ''British Freemasonry, 1717-1813 Volume 5: Representations''. Routledge, 2016.

Category:18th-century British male actors Category:1751 deaths