Dabney Coleman

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Dabney Coleman
Coleman in 2001
Born
Dabney Wharton Coleman

(1932-01-03)January 3, 1932
DiedMay 16, 2024(2024-05-16) (aged 92)
OccupationActor
Years active1961–2019
Spouses
  • Ann Courtney Harrell
    (m. 1957; div. 1959)
  • (m. 1961; div. 1984)
Children4
Military career
AllegianceUnited States
Service/branchUnited States Army
Years of service1953–1955

Dabney Wharton Coleman (January 3, 1932 – May 16, 2024) was an American actor. Coleman's best known films include 9 to 5 (1980), On Golden Pond (1981), Tootsie (1982), WarGames (1983), Cloak & Dagger (1984), and You've Got Mail (1998).

Coleman's notable television roles included Merle Jeeter on Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976–1977), the title characters in Buffalo Bill (1983–1984) and The Slap Maxwell Story (1987–1988), and Burton Fallin on The Guardian (2001–2004). More recently, he portrayed Louis "The Commodore" Kaestner on Boardwalk Empire (2010–2011) and made a memorable appearance on Yellowstone (2019) which was his final role. As a voice actor, he is best known for providing the voice of Principal Peter Prickly on Recess (1997–2001) and in several movies based on the series.

He won one Primetime Emmy Award from six nominations and one Golden Globe Award from three nominations.

Career

Coleman in The Towering Inferno (1974)

Coleman was a character actor with roles in well over 60 films and television programs to his credit. He trained with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre[1] in New York City from 1958 to 1960.

Coleman made his Broadway debut in the short-lived A Call on Kuprin in 1961.[2] In a 1964 episode of Kraft Suspense Theatre titled "The Threatening Eye", Coleman played private investigator William Gunther. Two years later, he played Dr. Leon Bessemer with Bonnie Scott as his wife Judy, neighbors and friends of the protagonist in Season 1 of That Girl, episode 3, "Never Change a Diaper on Opening Night". Noted for his moustache which he grew in 1973,[3] he appeared in the sitcom wearing horn-rimmed glasses and with no facial hair.[4] Other early roles in his career included a U.S. Olympic skiing team coach in Downhill Racer (1969),[5] a high-ranking fire chief in The Towering Inferno (1974),[6] and a wealthy Westerner in Bite the Bullet (1975). He portrayed an FBI agent in Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (1975).[7]

Coleman landed the main antagonist part of Franklin Hart, Jr., a sexist boss on whom three female office employees get their revenge in the 1980 film 9 to 5.[8] It was this film that established Coleman in the character type with which he was most identified, and frequently played afterwards – a comic relief villain. Coleman followed 9 to 5 with the role of the arrogant, sexist, soap opera director in Tootsie (1982).[9] He broke from this type somewhat in other film roles. He appeared in the feature film On Golden Pond (1981),[10] playing the sympathetic fiancé of Chelsea Thayer Wayne (Jane Fonda). He also played a military computer scientist in WarGames (1983), and he played a dual role as a loving, but busy father, as well as his son's imaginary hero, in Cloak & Dagger (1984).[11] In 1986 Coleman co-starred opposite Carol Burnett, playing his comic villain persona to the hilt as nefarious raisin tycoon Tyler Cane in the cult 1986 satirical miniseries Fresno, which parodied prime-time soap operas like "Dallas" and "Dynasty". He played an aging cop who thinks he is terminally ill in the 1990 comedy Short Time.[12]

Over the years, Coleman shifted between roles in serious drama and comedies, the latter of which often cast him as a variation of his 9 to 5 character. Coleman received his first Emmy Award nomination for his lead role, as a skilled, but self-centered TV host, in the critically acclaimed, though short-lived, TV series Buffalo Bill. In 1987, he received an Emmy Award for his role in the television film Sworn to Silence.[13][14] Coleman played a con artist Broadway producer in The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984),[15] a lisping Hugh Hefner-ish magazine mogul in the comedy Dragnet (1987), Bobcat Goldthwait's boss in the 1988 talking-horse comedy Hot to Trot, and befuddled banker Milburn Drysdale in the feature film The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), the last of which reunited him with 9 to 5 co-stars Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton. Continuing his streak of comic foils, Coleman played Charles Grodin's sleazy boss, Gerald Ellis, in Clifford (1994), co-starring Martin Short.[16]

From 1997 to 2001, Coleman provided the voice of Principal Prickly on the animated series Recess.[17] He also played a philandering father in You've Got Mail (1998), and a police chief in Inspector Gadget (which reunited him with his WarGames co-star Matthew Broderick).[18]

Coleman appeared as a casino owner in 2005's Domino. He received acclaim as Burton Fallin in the TV series The Guardian (2001–2004). For two seasons, from 2010 to 2011, Coleman was a series regular on HBO's Boardwalk Empire.[16] His most recent roles were a small part in Warren Beatty's Howard Hughes comedy Rules Don't Apply in 2016,[19] and a guest role as Kevin Costner's dying father in Yellowstone, in 2019.[20]

On November 6, 2014, Coleman received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[21]

Personal life and death

Coleman was born in Austin, Texas, on January 3, 1932.[22] He attended Virginia Military Institute,[23][24] and the University of Texas at Austin.[25] He was drafted into the United States Army in 1953 and served in Germany in the Army's Special Services Division for two years.[26] He was married to Ann Courtney Harrell from 1957 to 1959 and Jean Hale from 1961 to 1984. He had four children, Meghan, Kelly, Randy, and Quincy.[27]

Coleman was an avid tennis player, winning celebrity and charity tournaments. He played mainly at the Riviera Country Club as well as in local tournaments.[28][29] His favorite sports team was the St. Louis Browns,[30] which are now the Baltimore Orioles.[31]

Coleman died at his home in Santa Monica, California, on May 16, 2024, at the age of 92.[32][33]

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1965 The Slender Thread Charlie movie debut[34][16]
1966 This Property Is Condemned Salesman [16]
1968 The Scalphunters Jed [16]
1969 The Trouble with Girls Harrison Wilby [16]
1969 Downhill Racer Mayo [5]
1970 I Love My Wife Frank Donnelly [35]
1973 Cinderella Liberty Executive Officer [36]
1974 The Dove Charles Huntley [37]
1974 The Towering Inferno SFFD Deputy Chief 1 [6]
1974 Black Fist Heineken [16]
1975 Bite the Bullet Jack Parker [38]
1975 The Other Side of the Mountain Dave McCoy [39]
1976 Midway Captain Murray Arnold [40]
1977 Viva Knievel! Ralph Thompson [41]
1977 Rolling Thunder Maxwell [42]
1979 North Dallas Forty Emmett Hunter [16]
1980 Nothing Personal Dickerson [16]
1980 How to Beat the High Cost of Living Jack Heintzel [43]
1980 Melvin and Howard Judge Keith Hayes [44]
1980 9 to 5 Franklin M. Hart, Jr. [16][9]
1980 Pray TV Marvin Fleece [45]
1981 On Golden Pond Dr. Bill Ray [16]
1981 Modern Problems Mark Winslow [16]
1982 Young Doctors in Love Dr. Joseph Prang [46]
1982 Tootsie Ron Carlisle [9]
1983 WarGames Dr. John McKittrick [16]
1984 The Muppets Take Manhattan Martin Price / Murray Plotsky [15]
1984 Cloak & Dagger Jack Flack / Hal Osborne [11][16]
1985 The Man with One Red Shoe Burton Cooper [47]
1987 Dragnet Jerry Caesar [16]
1990 Where the Heart Is Stewart McBain [48]
1990 Short Time Burt Simpson [12]
1990 Meet the Applegates Aunt Bea [49]
1992 There Goes the Neighborhood Jeffrey Babitt [50]
1993 The Beverly Hillbillies Milburn Drysdale [16]
1994 Clifford Gerald Ellis [16]
1997 Witch Way Love Joel Andrews [51]
1998 You've Got Mail Nelson Fox [52]
1999 Inspector Gadget Police Chief Quimby [18]
1999 Stuart Little Dr. Beechwood [53]
2001 Recess: School's Out Principal Peter Prickly Voice[54]
2001 Recess Christmas: Miracle on Third Street Principal Peter Prickly Voice[54]
2002 The Climb Mack Leonard [55]
2002 Moonlight Mile Mike Mulcahey [56]
2003 Where the Red Fern Grows Grandpa [57]
2003 Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade Principal Peter Prickly Voice[54]
2003 Recess: All Growed Down Principal Peter Prickly Voice[54]
2005 Domino Drake Bishop [16]
2016 Rules Don't Apply [19]

Television

Year Title Role Notes
1966–1967 That Girl Dr. Leon Bessemer 8 episodes[4]
1975 Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan Paul Mathison Television film[7]
1976–1977 Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman Merle Jeeter 148 episodes[28][58]
1977 Fernwood 2 Night Merle Jeeter Premiere episode[28][58]
1978 Apple Pie "Fast Eddie" Murtaugh 8 episodes[58]
1983–1984 Buffalo Bill Bill Bittinger 26 episodes[28]
1986 Fresno Tyler Cane 5 episodes[59]
1986 Murrow CBS President William S. Paley Television film[27]
1987 Sworn to Silence Martin Costigan Television film[13]
1987–1988 The Slap Maxwell Story Slap Maxwell 22 episodes[27]
1988 Baby M Gary Skoloff Two-part movie[60]
1991–1992 Drexell's Class Otis Drexell 18 episodes[61]
1994–1995 Madman of the People Jack "Madman" Buckner 16 episodes[62]
1997 The Magic School Bus Horace Scope Voice, episode: "Sees Stars"[54]
1997–2001 Recess Principal Peter Prickly Voice, main role[54]
1998 My Date with the President's Daughter President Richmond Television film[63]
2001–2004 The Guardian Burton Fallin 67 episodes[27]
2002 The Zeta Project Thomas Boyle Voice, episode: "Hunt in the Hub"[54]
2006 Courting Alex Bill Rose 12 episodes[64]
2010–2011 Pound Puppies Mayor Jerry Voice, 4 episodes[54]
2010–2011 Boardwalk Empire Commodore Louis Kaestner 24 episodes[16]
2019 Yellowstone John Dutton Jr. Episode: "Sins of the Father" (Final role)[20]

Music videos

Year Title Artist Role Notes
2019 "Star Maps" Aly & AJ Himself [65]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Work Result Ref.
1987 CableACE Awards Actor in a Movie or Miniseries Murrow Nominated [66]
1983 Golden Globe Awards Best Actor in a Television Series – Musical or Comedy Buffalo Bill Nominated [67]
1987 The Slap Maxwell Story Won
Best Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television Sworn to Silence Nominated
1983 Primetime Emmy Awards Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series Buffalo Bill Nominated [68]
1984 Nominated
1987 Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special Sworn to Silence Won
1988 Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series The Slap Maxwell Story Nominated
Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special Baby M Nominated
1991 Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series Columbo (Episode: "Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star") Nominated
2017 Satellite Awards Mary Pickford Award Won [69]
2010 Screen Actors Guild Awards Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series Boardwalk Empire Won [70]
2011 Won [71]

Other honors

Year Honor Category Result Ref.
2014 Hollywood Walk of Fame Television Inducted [72]

References

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External links