Contents

Dabney Coleman

Dabney Coleman
Coleman in 2001
Born	Dabney Wharton Coleman (1932-01-03)January 3, 1932 Austin, Texas, U.S.
Died	May 16, 2024(2024-05-16) (aged 92) Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1961–2019
Spouses	Ann Courtney Harrell ​ ​ (m. 1957; div. 1959)​ Jean Hale ​ ​ (m. 1961; div. 1984)​
Children	4
Military career
Allegiance	United States
Service/branch	United States Army
Years of service	1953–1955[1]

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), The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), You've Got Mail (1998), Inspector Gadget (1999), Recess: School's Out (2001), Moonlight Mile (2002), and Rules Don't Apply (2016).^[2]

Coleman's television roles included the title characters of Buffalo Bill (1983–1984) and The Slap Maxwell Story (1987–1988), as well as Burton Fallin on The Guardian (2001–2004), the voice of Principal Peter Prickly on Recess (1997–2001), and Louis "The Commodore" Kaestner on Boardwalk Empire (2010–2011). He won one Primetime Emmy Award from six nominations and one Golden Globe Award from three nominations.

Career

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^[3]inNew York City from 1958 to 1960.

Coleman made his Broadway debut in the short-lived A Call on Kuprin in 1961.^[4] 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,^[5] he appeared in the sitcom wearing horn-rimmed glasses and with no facial hair.^[6] Other early roles in his career included a U.S. Olympic skiing team coach in Downhill Racer (1969),^[7] a high-ranking fire chief in The Towering Inferno (1974),^[8] 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).^[9]

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.^[10] 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). He broke from this type somewhat in other film roles. He appeared in the feature film On Golden Pond (1981),^[11] playing the sympathetic fiancé of Chelsea Thayer Wayne (Jane Fonda). He also played a military computer scientist in WarGames (1983), and, in 1984, he played a dual role as a loving, but busy father, as well as his son's imaginary hero, in Cloak & Dagger.^[12] 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.^[13]

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 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.^[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), as well as a less-than-impressionable police commissioner in Inspector Gadget (which reunited him with his WarGames co-star Matthew Broderick).^{[citation needed]}

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,^[18] and a guest role as Kevin Costner's dying father in Yellowstone, in 2019.^[19]

On November 6, 2014, Coleman received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.^[20]

Personal life and death

Coleman was born in Austin, Texas on January 3, 1932.^[21] He attended Virginia Military Institute,^[22][23] and the University of Texas at Austin.^[24] He was drafted into the United States Army in 1953 and served in Europe.^[23] He was married and divorced twice. He was married to Ann Courtney Harrell from 1957 to 1959 and Jean Hale from 1961 to 1984. He had four children: daughter Kelly, son Randy, and daughter Quincy with Jean Hale, and daughter Meghan.^{[citation needed]}

In 1998, Coleman worked with fellow actor Bronson Pinchot at the Biltmore EstateinAsheville, North Carolina, to help protect local forests and helped lead a campaign to educate others on how to care for and protect forests nationwide.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[25][26] His favorite sports team was the St. Louis Browns,^[27] which are now the Baltimore Orioles.^[28]

Coleman died at his home in Santa Monica, California, on May 16, 2024, at the age of 92.^[29][30]

Filmography

This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this articlebyadding citations to reliable sources in this section. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Dabney Coleman" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (May 2024) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Film

Television

Music videos

Awards and nominations

References

External links

• Dabney ColemanatIMDb
• Dabney Coleman at the TCM Movie Database
• Dabney Coleman at the Internet Broadway Database
• Interview with Dabney Coleman on the set of Rolling ThunderatTexas Archive of the Moving Image