Titanic tales and my famous cousin Steve
My famous cousin, Stephen Coats, is the star of James Cameron’s Titanic.
By “star,” I mean how we in the Coats and Howell families think of him.
Famous Steve’s name comes in the credits after Leonardo Dicaprio, Kate Winslet, Kathy Bates and about 135 other people. Truth to tell, Steve’s name is so deep in the credits he misses the cut for the Titanic cast list on the Internet Movie Database.
The list stops after the actor playing Man Being Combed for Lice.
I consider this omission both an injustice and an outrage, one that should be corrected now that Titanic is returning to theatres next week — in 3D, yet.
Were Famous Steve to get his due credit, his unforgettable character would have to be called Man Standing in Background Way Behind Bill Paxton. What a scene that was!
It comes at almost the exact halfway mark in the film, on the deepsea salvage vessel skippered by Paxton’s character, Brock Lovett. Gloria Stuart, as Titanic survivor Rose Dawson, explains to Lovett and his crew how it is that a naked sketch of her younger self was found in the sunken wreck of the mighty ship.
“It was the most erotic moment of my life,” Stuart says, and as she talks, the camera shows the astonished and delighted reactions of Lovett and his team. Famous Steve is in the back, to Lovett’s right and behind a guy who looks a bit like Steven Spielberg (but it’s not).
Steve’s silent performance is masterful. I’m not just saying this because I’m his devoted cousin and because he has three brothers who could beat me up.
Parts of Titanic were filmed in Halifax in 1996, where Famous Steve lives. It was his first major acting gig and first feature film. He’s done a lot more things, including boring stuff like becoming a teacher and a father of two. He’s even been in a Mcdonald’s commercial.
Isn’t it just like Steve, though, to make his debut in what was until recently the most successful movie in history? It was surpassed by Cameron’s more recent blockbuster, Avatar.
I could tell you that I’ve dined out on stories about Famous Steve since Titanic’s debut in 1997, and that being his cousin has opened many doors for me. I could tell you these things, except they would be lies.
I could regale you with tales about Steve’s hilarious adventures partying with Gloria Stuart, Bill Paxton and James Cameron, except he didn’t tell me any such tales.
I could tell you that I know Steve well enough to call him “Steve-o” and “The Steveinator.” But if I did this, he’d look at me funny because I’ve never called him these things.
I blame this on Steve. He lives in Halifax, I live in Toronto, and so I’ve been unable to properly cash in on his notoriety.
Our two families are so large — the Coats have seven kids, the Howells have eight — that when we get together for our rare family gatherings, it’s like more of a street riot.
I can never find Steve amongst the rioters, even if he is famous. It doesn’t help matters that I’ve always confused him with his twoyears-older brother Dave, whom I used to think was his twin, even though Dave’s hair was blond and Steve’s was black.
Then there’s the celebrity factor. I know from talking to many famous actors how much they hate journalists prying into their personal affairs. Who am I to go barging up to Famous Steve, asking him questions about Titanic? The man needs his space. When I heard that James Cameron was bringing Titanic back to the big screen (did I mention the 3D part?), I admit that I initially thought of exploiting my connections to Famous Steve.
I know that I could have obtained his email address from his mother, who is my Auntie Mary, and peppered him with all manner of nosy questions. I could even have telephoned him.
Instead, I continued to respect his need for artistic alone time. I emailed my mom, Winnie, and asked her to ask her sister Mary about her son.
What I really wanted to know is: Has success spoiled Stephen Coats? And what is Famous Steve doing now, post- Titanic?
Mary gave the questions to her
“The school encourages (Steve), because having a working actor as a drama teacher is deemed first class.” JIM COATS
husband, my Uncle Jim, a retired forestry expert who used to be the boss of Smokey the Bear.
Jim wrote back that Steve is as humble as any Canadian thespian could possibly be: “Like most actors, the thrill of stardom is always tempered by the knowledge that fame is fleeting and keeping the larder full requires full-time employment, which acting does not provide for all engaged in the activity.”
And what is Famous Steve doing now?
“He teaches drama at Citadel High School in Halifax and still does the odd movie, television and voice-over gig. The school encourages him, because having a working actor as a drama teacher is deemed first class. He finds parts harder to come by as he grows older but has had some good parts.
“He was foreman of the jury in the Trudeau series and the father of a young woman in a Tom Selleck series episode which saw him shot in the head in the first couple of minutes. You may recall him as the mad monk in the Black Fly series.
“He’s certainly interested in more exposure and maintains his (ACTRA) union membership. He has a daughter and a son but no car, and walks or cycles to work. His house survived the Halifax explosion of 1917 and is very close to his school.”
Famous Steve was also in a 2002 Canadian thriller, Phase IV, in which he plays a professor who gets thrown in front of a speeding vehicle. The movie went straight to video, but you can see the trailer for it on Imdb.com. Watch as Steve masterfully yells “Aaarrghh!!!”
Then Uncle Jim lay a bombshell on me. Turns out there is a Coats/ Howell family connection to the real Titanic, which sank exactly 100 years ago next month on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic.
Jim’s dad, Steve’s grandfather, was Douglas Richard Proctor Coats, a radio announcer in Montreal and Winnipeg from 1923 on, who was better known as simply Darby Coats. Darby went to school at the Marconi School of Telegraphy in England with — drum roll, please — the junior radio operator on the Titanic, a man named Harold Bride. “The class knew him as ‘Judy’ Bride but I don’t know why,’” Jim said. “The senior operator, Jack Phillips, was a graduate of the year before my Dad. Dad was in the class of 1911.” So the granddad of Famous Steve went to school with a guy called Judy who sat next to the guy who sent out the famous SOS signal from the Titanic! I don’t know if I can process being so close to this much fame. But when I see Titanic 3D next week, I’ll try not to brag when Famous Steve appears on the screen.
I’ll also try not to blink. Follow on Twitter: @peterhowellfilm