George Coulam, colorful founder of Texas Renaissance Festival, discovered dead

THE WOODLANDS, TX – It has been confirmed that George Coulam, the founder of the Texas Renaissance Festival and central figure referred to as ‘King George’ in the HBO series ‘Ren Faire,’ was found dead at his home in Grimes County.

According to a statement on the official Texas Renaissance Festival social media site:

To our Texas Renaissance family and friends,

We are deeply saddened by the loss of George Coulam, founder of the Texas Renaissance Festival. For more than 50 years, he built a community that has become a cherished tradition for generations of performers, staff, and guests.

At this time, we ask for respect and privacy for Mr. Coulam’s family and the extended Texas Renaissance Festival family as they grieve. As this is a deeply personal matter, we are not offering additional comments at this time.

— The Texas Renaissance Festival

Coulam founded the festival in 1974 and helped grow it into an international success. Recently, however, he found himself embroiled in legal issues and controversies, and was ordered by a court a few weeks ago to pay tens of millions of dollars to a bloc of investors after pulling out of a sale of the festival.