R. Scott Fishe

Who was R. Scott Fishe?

Robert Scott Fishe was an English operatic baritone and actor best remembered for creating roles in the 1890s with the D’Oyly Carte Opera Company.

As a boy, Fishe was a chorister with the Chapel Royal. After beginning his professional stage career, he was hired in 1891 by Richard D'Oyly Carte for the chorus of Arthur Sullivan's grand opera Ivanhoe. He soon toured in South America with other D'Oyly Carte artistes, performing in comic operas and surviving a shipwreck off the coast of Chile.

In 1892, Fishe played leading roles with the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company and in other West End companies, but from spring 1893, he performed exclusively with D'Oyly Carte. Although he had begun to suffer from tuberculosis, he created several roles, most notably in Gilbert and Sullivan's last two operas: Mr. Goldbury in Utopia, Limited and the Prince of Monte Carlo in The Grand Duke. He played the title role in several revivals of The Mikado. In 1896, he travelled to South Africa for a D'Oyly Carte tour. There, he fell ill again, but he was able to return to the stage briefly at the end of 1897, after which run his health deteriorated.

After several attempts to recuperate, Fishe gave up all hope of recovery, and he committed suicide at the age of 27.