He passed from
Westminster School to
Christ Church, Oxford, and
King's College,
University of Aberdeen, and was finally entered as a student of
law at
Lincoln's Inn, London. While in Aberdeen, he published a poem satirizing
Charles James Fox, called
The Man of the People. In 1782 he produced his first play,
The Female Dramatist, at his father's playhouse in
the Haymarket. The failing health of the elder Colman obliged him to relinquish the management of the Haymarket theatre in 1789, when the younger George succeeded him, at a yearly salary of £600. On the death of the father the patent was continued to the son; however, difficulties arose, as he was involved in litigation with Thomas Harris and was unable to pay the expenses of the performances at the Haymarket. He was forced to take sanctuary within the Rules of the
King's Bench Prison. He resided for many years while he continued to direct the affairs of his theatre. Released through the kindness of
George IV, who had appointed him exon. of the
Yeomen of the Guard, a dignity Colman disposed to the highest bidder. In 1824, the
duke of Montrose—then
Lord Chamberlain—made him the
examiner of plays. He held this position until his death, to the disgust of all contemporary dramatists, to whose manuscripts he was illiberal and severe equally. Although his own productions were open to charges of indecency and profanity, he censored others’ work to the extent that he would not pass even such words as "heaven", "providence" or "angel". He had, as early as 1784, contracted a runaway marriage with an actress, Clara Morris, to whose brother David Morris, he disposed of his share in the Haymarket theatre eventually. He wrote many of the leading parts in his plays for
Maria Gibbs (née Logan) especially, whom he married at Clerkenwell in June 1836 after the death of his first wife that January. She was identified in her will as Mary Colman, widow. George Colman had two sons, George Francis Charles (b. 1785 or 86 - d. before 1856) and Edmund Craven (b. 1802). He died in
Brompton, London. He was buried alongside his father in
Kensington Church. ==Works==