Boardwalk Empire actor Dabney Coleman passed away (92)

Dabney Coleman, the Emmy-winning actor whose six-decade career included a host of films, has died, his daughter Quincy said. He was 92. Coleman's best-known successes come from the eighties, such as 9 to 5, On Golden Pond, WarGames and Tootsie. His television work has ranged from The Love Boat, The Guardian and Ray Donovan to Boardwalk Empire.

In the latter series he played for two seasons the role of Commodore Louis Kaestner, the mentor of main character Nucky Thompson, played by Steve Buscemi.



“My father, Dabney Wharton Coleman, took his last earthly breath at the peaceful and wonderful age of 92 years at his home in Santa Monica on Thursday, May 16, 2024 at 1:50 p.m.,” Quincy Coleman wrote in a statement on behalf of the family.

“My father crafted his time here on earth with a curious mind, a generous heart, and a soul on fire with passion, desire and humor that tickled the funny bone of humanity,” Quincy Coleman wrote in a statement on behalf of the family. “As he lived, he moved through this final act of his life with elegance, excellence and mastery. A teacher, a hero, and a king, Dabney Coleman is a gift and blessing in life and in death as his spirit will shine through his work, his loved ones and his legacy…eternally.

Coleman's long and prolific career began with appearances in early 1960s television series such as The Outer Limits, The Fugitive (1963) and I Dream of Jeannie. Throughout the decade and into the 1970s, he continued to be cast in episodes of some of television's most popular series, such as Columbo and Kojak.

He garnered six Primetime Emmy nominations, including two for Lead Actor in the critically acclaimed but short-lived NBC series Buffalo Bill. He won for his supporting role in the 1987 television film Sworn to Silence. In his final television role, Coleman played the father of Kevin Costner's John Dutton in a flashback of Yellowstone (2018) during season two in 2019.

In the early 1980s, Coleman broke through with a series of film roles, starting with a small role in Jonathan Demme's Melvin & Howard.

The actor then appeared in a series of cultural highlights. In 1980, he played the selfish, woman-hating boss Frank Hart in 9 to 5, who made life miserable for his female employees. Amid the women's movement, a recession and changing mores, the film struck a chord and not only made Coleman a star, but also boosted the careers of Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton. The latter had a chart-topping single with the title song.

Coleman appeared opposite Fonda and her father Henry the following year in another popular film, On Golden Pond. The film won Oscars for the elder Fonda and Katharine Hepburn, along with Ernest Thompson, who won Best Writing (as it was then called).

In 1982, Coleman reentered the zeitgeist in what seemed like a less awful version of his 9 to 5 character in Sydney Pollack's Tootsie. His Ron Carlisle was the sexist director of a popular soap opera that gave Dustin Hoffman's unemployed actor a much-needed role - disguised as a woman.