Dabney Coleman

Dabney Wharton Coleman (January 3, 1932 – May 16, 2024) was an American actor. Widely known for his portrayal of egomaniacal and unlikeable characters in comedic roles, he appeared in over 175 films and television programs and was recognized for both comedic and dramatic performances.

Coleman's most widely 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) in 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.

Early life
Dabney Coleman was born the youngest of four children in Austin, Texas, on January 3, 1932, to Randolph and Mary Johns Coleman. His father passed away from pneumonia when Dabney was four years old. He and his siblings were then raised by his mother in Corpus Christi, Texas. He attended Corpus Christi High School where he excelled at tennis, becoming a nationally ranked junior tennis player. He spent two years at Virginia Military Institute followed by another two years at the University of Texas at Austin. He was drafted into the United States Army in 1953 and served in West Germany in the Army's Special Services Division for two years, playing tennis across Europe for the Army and the local town.

Early career
After flunking out of law school and inspired by an encounter with actor Zachary Scott, Coleman abruptly decided to pursue acting as a career. The next day, he flew to New York and started applying to acting schools. He enrolled in the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City, training with Sanford Meisner, and studied there from 1958 to 1960. Meisner told him: "You're ideal for us. You've lived some." Another one of his instructors was the future director Sydney Pollack, with whom Coleman would soon become friends.

Soon after finishing his training under Meisner, Coleman made his Broadway debut in the short-lived A Call on Kuprin in 1961. He followed that with summer stock performances on the east coast.

His first television role was on an episode of Naked City in 1961, which was filmed on location in New York City and he earned $90 for the role. In 1962, he and his second wife, actress Jean Hale, moved to Los Angeles. He soon signed a contract with Universal and started work in television, appearing as a guest on various shows starting in the early 1960s. For example, in a 1964 episode of the anthology series Kraft Suspense Theatre titled "The Threatening Eye", Coleman played private investigator William Gunther.

In 1965, he landed his first movie role in The Slender Thread which was also Pollack's directorial debut.

A year 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, he appeared in the sitcom wearing horn-rimmed glasses and with no facial hair. Other early roles in his career included a U.S. Olympic skiing team coach in Downhill Racer (1969), a high-ranking fire chief in The Towering Inferno (1974), 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).

In the satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976–1977), Coleman was initially cast for six episodes as Merle Jeeter, the duplicitous father of a child preacher, but his performance secured him a regular role on the show. The part was also the first time he played an unsavory character for comedic effect, which would become a frequent theme in his career.

9 to 5 and leading roles
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. It was this film that firmly 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), also directed by Sydney Pollack. He also portrayed a con artist Broadway producer in The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), played the nefarious raisin tycoon Tyler Cane in the satirical miniseries Fresno (1986), and evoked Hugh Hefner as a lisping magazine mogul in the comedy Dragnet (1987).

He broke from type somewhat in other film roles. He appeared in the feature film On Golden Pond (1981), 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). He played an aging cop who thinks he is terminally ill in the 1990 comedy Short Time.

While Coleman frequently transitioned between roles in film and television, it was his television performances that earned him the most formal recognition and awards. He received his first Emmy Award nomination for his lead role, as a skilled, but self-centered TV host in Buffalo Bill. In 1987, he received an Emmy Award for his role in the television film Sworn to Silence. Later that year, Coleman starred in The Slap Maxwell Story (1987–1988), playing a cantankerous sportswriter. Although the show was short-lived, Coleman won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy for the role in 1988.

Despite these accolades, many of Coleman's television shows featuring him playing to type as acerbic characters, including award-winning shows like Buffalo Bill and The Slap Maxwell Story, were noted for struggles with low ratings and brief runs. Other series like Drexell's Class (1991–1992) and Madman of the People (1994–1995) faced similar challenges.

Other roles
In other comedic film roles, he played 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), 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.

From 1997 to 2001, Coleman provided the voice of Principal Prickly on the animated series Recess. 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).

Later career
In his later career, Coleman took on more consistently serious roles, notably portraying Burton Fallin in the TV series The Guardian (2001–2004). In an interview with the Associated Press, Coleman described his dream job as a "serious show about a serious subject, good writing, good actors" and said that his role on The Guardian was "kind of that dream come true". . He also appeared as a casino owner in 2005's Domino. For two seasons, from 2010 to 2011, Coleman was a series regular on HBO's Boardwalk Empire, sharing two Screen Actors Guild Awards for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series.

His most recent roles were a small part in Warren Beatty's Howard Hughes comedy Rules Don't Apply in 2016, and a guest role as Kevin Costner's dying father in Yellowstone, in 2019.

On November 6, 2014, Coleman received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was honored with the 2017 Mary Pickford Award for his contributions to the entertainment industry.

Personal life
Coleman 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.

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. He was also known for being a regular at Dan Tana's restaurant in West Hollywood, where a large New York Steak is named after him. When Coleman received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, an after party was held at Dan Tana's to celebrate the occasion. His favorite sports team was the St. Louis Browns, which are now the Baltimore Orioles.

In the 1980s and 1990s, it was noted by several journalists that Coleman chain-smoked cigarettes during his interviews. In one of those same articles, he was described as a "lean and impossibly fit-looking 62 years old" by The New York Times in 1994.

In 2011, Coleman started treatment for throat cancer, which sometimes affected his ability to speak. The diagnosis led to a rapid rewrite and early filming of his scenes for the second season of Boardwalk Empire. In a 2012 interview, he discussed his experience filming the series while dealing with cancer, lighting up a cigarette at one point during the interview, and mentioned that he no longer had cancer.

Death
Coleman died at his home in Santa Monica, California, on May 16, 2024, at age 92, of cardiac arrest due to dysphagia and heart failure.