Believe it or not, this is one of the
first representations ever seen of Koko
--colorized, of course, as William S. Gilbert
drew him in black ink. As a matter
of fact, he was reputed to be the first
"Mikado" character to be "born" in 1885.
It seems that Gilbert bought a samurai sword,
and hung it on a wall, only to have it fall
to the floor and thus catch his attention.
He was immediately inspired to write a story
about Japan, and made the sword a central prop.
on stage. This picture also depicts Koko's
dubious little friend,the Tomtit,made famous
in the song, "Titwillow".

This was one of the first theater
posters ever used for "The Mikado".
As you can see, it features Koko,
trying to introduce stuffy old Pooh-Bah
to his fiancee Yum-Yum and her two airhead
sisters. It is not a match made in Heaven.

This is WALTER PASSMORE, a popular
comedian of his day who came after
George Grossmith to play the part.
He was also the first Koko to have
had his songs recorded

And this is another actor named
CHARLES WORKMAN, who not only
played koko, but took over the
management of the D'Oyly Carte
Opera Company after the death of
Richard and Helen D'Oyly Carte.

Probably the most famous Koko of all time
was the very elegant MARTYN GREEN who
made numerous wonderful recordings of "The Mikado"
and other G&S plays. He also stared in a movie version.
His lovely 1936 recording of the song "Titwillow"
was highly successful, and sold a great many copies.
This picture was taken late in his career. Surprisingly,
he was never knighted for his work.

In 1938, a high-budget movie
of "The Mikado" was filmed,
starring Martyn Green and others.
The movie was fun, but it was
flawed. Some major songs were
cut from the film without mercy;
the sets and costumes were often
grotesquely un-Japanese. Green
himself was ill during much of
the filming, and some of the
characters were ruined by too
much editing. Yet it remains a
popular introduction to the
"real thing". The film is
available on VHD and DVD.

GRAHAM CLIFFORD played Koko with the
D'Oyly Carte during World War II
while Green served in the RAF
Most people don't remember him,
but he's here, all the same.

PETER PRATT replaced
Martyn Green in the
1950's, and is actually
most famous for his
appearances on TV,
including his very
famous--and oddball--
portrayal of "the Master",
the evil Time Lord of
"Doctor Who".