 Coffin made his professional stage debut as John Smith in Edward Solomon and Sydney Grundy's "Pocahontas" (1885).He then played in "Lady of the Locket" (1885), by William Fullerton Jr. and Henry Hamilton, which was the first production designed by his friend Percy Anderson, and Coriolon in "Lily of Leoville" by Ivan Caryll (1886).Coffin rose to fame as Harry Sherwood in Alfred Cellier and B. C. Stephenson's record-setting hit "Dorothy" (1886), in which he introduced the popular song, "Queen of My Heart."