Dabney Coleman
Dabney Wharton Coleman (born January 3, 1932)[1] is 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 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]
Dabney Coleman | |
|---|---|
Coleman in 2001 | |
| Born | Dabney Wharton Coleman[1] January 3, 1932 Austin, Texas, U.S. |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1961–present |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4 |
Coleman's television roles include the title characters in Buffalo Bill (1983–1984) and The Slap Maxwell Story (1987-1988), as well as Burton Fallin in The Guardian (2001–2004), the voice of Principal Peter Prickly in Recess (1997–2001), and Louis "The Commodore" Kaestner in Boardwalk Empire (2010–2011). He has won one Primetime Emmy Award from six nominations and one Golden Globe Award from three nominations.
Career
This section of a biography of a living person needs additional citations for verification. (January 2022) |
Coleman is 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] in New York City from 1958 to 1960.
In a 1964 episode of "Kraft Suspense Theater" 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,[4] he appeared in the sitcom wearing horn-rimmed glasses and with no facial hair.[5] Other early roles in his career included a U.S. Olympic skiing team coach in the 1969 Downhill Racer,[6] a high-ranking fire chief in The Towering Inferno (1974),[7] 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).[8]
He 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.[9] It was this film that established Coleman in the character type with which he is most identified, and has frequently played since – 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),[10] 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.[11] He played an aging cop who thinks he is terminally ill in the 1990 comedy Short Time.[12]
Over the years, Coleman has 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.[13] Coleman played a con artist Broadway producer in The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984),[14] 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.[15]
From 1997 to 2001, Coleman provided the voice of Principal Prickly on the animated series Recess.[16] He also played a philandering father in You've Got Mail (1998). 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.[15] His most recent roles were a small part in Warren Beatty's Howard Hughes comedy Rules Don't Apply in 2016,[17] and a guest role as Kevin Costner's dying father in Yellowstone, in 2018.[18]
On November 6, 2014, Coleman received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[19]
Personal life
Coleman resides in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Brentwood.[20] He attended Virginia Military Institute,[21][22] and the University of Texas at Austin.[23] He was drafted in the United States Army in 1953 and served in Europe.[22] He has been married and divorced twice. He was married to Ann Courtney Harrell from 1957 to 1959 and Jean Hale from 1961 to 1984. He has four children, including three by Hale: Kelly, Randy and Quincy.[24]
In 1998, Coleman worked with fellow actor Bronson Pinchot at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, 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 is 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 is the St. Louis Browns, which are now the Baltimore Orioles.[27]
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1965 | The Slender Thread | Charlie | |
| 1966 | This Property Is Condemned | Salesman | |
| 1968 | The Scalphunters | Jed | |
| 1969 | The Trouble with Girls | Harrison Wilby | |
| 1969 | Downhill Racer | Mayo | |
| 1970 | I Love My Wife | Frank Donnelly | |
| 1973 | Cinderella Liberty | Executive Officer | |
| 1974 | The Dove | Charles Huntley | |
| 1974 | The Towering Inferno | SFFD deputy chief 1 | |
| 1974 | Black Fist | Heineken | |
| 1975 | Bite the Bullet | Jack Parker | |
| 1975 | The Other Side of the Mountain | Dave McCoy | |
| 1976 | Midway | Captain Murray Arnold | |
| 1977 | Viva Knievel! | Ralph Thompson | |
| 1977 | Rolling Thunder | Maxwell | |
| 1978 | The Other Side of the Mountain Part 2 | Dave McCoy | Uncredited |
| 1978 | Go Tell the Spartans | Helicopter pilot | Uncredited |
| 1979 | North Dallas Forty | Emmett Hunter | |
| 1980 | Nothing Personal | Dickerson | |
| 1980 | How to Beat the High Cost of Living | Jack Heintzel | |
| 1980 | Melvin and Howard | Judge Keith Hayes | |
| 1980 | 9 to 5 | Franklin M. Hart, Jr. | |
| 1980 | Pray TV | Marvin Fleece | |
| 1981 | On Golden Pond | Dr. Bill Ray | |
| 1981 | Modern Problems | Mark Winslow | |
| 1982 | Young Doctors in Love | Dr. Joseph Prang | |
| 1982 | Tootsie | Ron Carlisle | |
| 1983 | WarGames | Dr. John McKittrick | |
| 1984 | The Muppets Take Manhattan | Martin Price / Murray Plotsky | |
| 1984 | Cloak & Dagger | Jack Flack / Hal Osborne | |
| 1985 | The Man with One Red Shoe | Burton Cooper | |
| 1987 | Dragnet | Jerry Caesar | |
| 1988 | Hot to Trot | Walter Sawyer | |
| 1990 | Where the Heart Is | Stewart McBain | |
| 1990 | Short Time | Burt Simpson | |
| 1990 | Meet the Applegates | Aunt Bea | |
| 1992 | There Goes the Neighborhood | Jeffrey Babitt | |
| 1993 | Amos & Andrew | Police Chief Cecil Tolliver | |
| 1993 | The Beverly Hillbillies | Milburn Drysdale | |
| 1994 | Clifford | Gerald Ellis | |
| 1994 | Judicial Consent | Charles Mayron | |
| 1997 | Witch Way Love | Joel Andrews | |
| 1998 | You've Got Mail | Nelson Fox | |
| 1999 | Giving It Up | Jonathan Gallant | |
| 1999 | Inspector Gadget | Police Chief Quimby | |
| 1999 | Stuart Little | Dr. Beechwood | |
| 1999 | Taken | Ethan Grover | |
| 2001 | Recess: School's Out | Principal Peter Prickly | Voice |
| 2002 | The Climb | Mack | |
| 2002 | Moonlight Mile | Mike Mulcahey | |
| 2003 | Where the Red Fern Grows | Grandpa | |
| 2005 | Domino | Drake Bishop | |
| 2007 | Hard Four | Spray Loomis | |
| 2016 | Rules Don't Apply | Raymond Holliday | |
| 2019 | Aly & Aj: Star Maps | Video short | |
| TBA | Someday Sometime | Ivan Fogel | Pre-production |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | Naked City | Resident | Episode: "Landscape with Dead Figures" |
| 1964 | The Outer Limits | Dr. Williams / Lt. Howard / James Custer | 3 episodes |
| 1964 | The Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Tom Esterow | Episode: "Dear Uncle George" |
| 1964–1966 | The Fugitive | Steve / Officer George Graham / Floyd / Sergeant Keith | 4 episodes |
| 1965 | I Dream of Jeannie | Lt. George Webb | Episode: "Anybody Here Seen Jeannie?" |
| 1965 | The Donna Reed Show | Rallye Master | Episode: "A-Haunting We Will Go" |
| 1966–1967 | That Girl | Dr. Leon Bessemer | 8 episodes |
| 1967 | The Invaders | John Carter / Capt. Mitchell Ross | 2 episodes |
| 1967 | Dundee and the Culhane | Sheriff Wrenn | Episode: "The Jubilee Raid Brief" |
| 1967 | The Flying Nun | Submarine Captain | Premiere episode |
| 1968–1969 | Bonanza | Ivar Peterson / Clyde | 2 episodes |
| 1969 | The Mod Squad | John | Episode: "The Guru" |
| 1970 | The F.B.I | Ty | Episode: "Incident in the Desert" |
| 1970 | The Brotherhood of the Bell | Agent Shepard | Television film |
| 1973 | Dying Room Only | Robert Mitchell | Television film |
| 1973 | The President's Plane Is Missing | Sen. Bert Haines | Television film |
| 1973–1991 | Columbo | Hugh Creighton / Detective Murray | 2 episodes |
| 1974 | The F.B.I | SAC Barnes | Episode: "Survival" |
| 1974 | Bad Ronald | Mr. Wood | Television film |
| 1974 | Kojak | Alex Linden | Episode: "Therapy in Dynamite" |
| 1974–1975 | McMillan & Wife | Walter Jennings / Hansen | 2 episodes |
| 1975 | Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan | Paul Mathison | Television film |
| 1975 | Barnaby Jones | George Clark | Episode: "A Taste for Murder" |
| 1975 | Mannix | Howard Graham | Episode: "A Ransom for Yesterday" |
| 1976 | The Mary Tyler Moore Show | Congressman Phil Whitman | Episode: "The Seminar" |
| 1976–1977 | Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman | Merle Jeeter | 148 episodes |
| 1977 | Fernwood 2 Night | Merle Jeeter | Premiere episode |
| 1977 | Quincy, M.E. | Officer Peter O'Neil / Dr. Burt Travers | 2 episodes |
| 1978 | Apple Pie | "Fast Eddie" Murtaugh | 8 episodes |
| 1978 | Maneaters Are Loose! | McCallum | Television film |
| 1978 | The Love Boat | Van Milner | Episode "The Last Hundred Bucks" |
| 1979 | Barnaby Jones | Brad Adamson | Episode "Indoctrination In Evil" |
| 1979 | Diff'rent Strokes | Fred Tanner | Episode: "Arnold's Girlfriend" |
| 1983–1984 | Buffalo Bill | Bill Bittinger | 26 episodes |
| 1986 | Fresno | Tyler Cane | 5 episodes |
| 1986 | Murrow | CBS President William S. Paley | Television film |
| 1987 | Sworn To Silence | Martin Costigan | Television film |
| 1987–1988 | The Slap Maxwell Story | Slap Maxwell | 22 episodes |
| 1991 | Never Forget | William Cox | Television film |
| 1991–1992 | Drexell's Class | Otis Drexell | 18 episodes |
| 1994–1995 | Madman of the People | Jack "Madman" Buckner | 16 episodes |
| 1995–1997 | The Pinocchio Shop | Nolan Howell | Series regular, 78 episodes |
| 1997 | The Magic School Bus | Horace Scope | Voice, episode: "Sees Stars" |
| 1997–2001 | Recess | Principal Peter Prickly | Voice, main role |
| 1997 | Jumanji | Ashton Phillips | Voice, 2 episodes |
| 1998 | My Date with the President's Daughter | President Richmond | Episode: "My Date with the President's Daughter" |
| 1998 | Exiled: A Law & Order Movie | Lieutenant Kevin Stolper | Television film |
| 2001–2004 | The Guardian | Burton Fallin | 67 episodes |
| 2002 | The Zeta Project | Thomas Boyle | Voice, episode: "Hunt in the Hub" |
| 2006 | Courting Alex | Bill Rose | 12 episodes |
| 2007 | Heartland | Dr. Bart Jacobs | 6 episodes |
| 2009 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Frank Hager | Episode: "Snatched" |
| 2010–2011 | Pound Puppies | Mayor Jerry | Voice, 4 episodes |
| 2010–2011 | Boardwalk Empire | Commodore Louis Kaestner | 24 episodes |
| 2016 | Ray Donovan | Mr. Price | Episode: "Federal Boobie Inspector" |
| 2019 | NCIS | Cpl. John Sidney | Episode: "The Last Link" |
| 2019 | For the People | Donald Newman | Episode: "One Big Happy Family" |
| 2019 | Yellowstone | John Dutton Jr. | Episode: "Sins of the Father" |
Awards and nominations
References
- ^ a b "Dabney Coleman". Encyclopedia.com. Cengage. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ^ . Movies & TV Dept. Baseline & All Movie Guide. 2008. Archived from the original on 2008-09-18.
- ^ Frankel, Glenn (2021). Shooting Midnight Cowboy. Farrar, Straus and Giroux. ISBN 9780374719210.
- ^ it's displayed in an episode of Columbo, season 2 ('73), episode 8 (Double Shock), portraying police sergeant Murray.Sellers, John. "Boardwalk Empire's Dabney Coleman on His Career of Playing Hall of Fame Assholes," Vulture (New York), Friday, November 19, 2010. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
- ^ ABC Photo Archives image of Dabney Coleman with Bonnie Scott, Marlo Thomas and Ted Bessell from "Paper Hats and Everything," the 22nd episode of Season 1 of That Girl which originally aired on Thursday, February 9, 1967. Retrieved November 2, 2022.
- ^ Encyclopedia of Sports Films. Scarecrow Press. 2011. p. 135. ISBN 9780810876538.
- ^ Higgins, Bill (12 July 2018). "Hollywood Flashback: The Biggest Stars Battled a 'Towering Inferno' in 1974". The Hollywood Reporter.
- ^ Film Actors. IFilm. 2003. p. 550. ISBN 9781580650465.
- ^ "Dabney Coleman Biography". Turner Classic Movies. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
- ^ Canby, Vincent (4 December 1981). "Fonda at His Peak in 'On Golden Pond'". The New York Times. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
- ^ "Cloak & Dagger May Be the Most Messed-Up Kids Movie of the '80s". 24 August 2016.
- ^ "Short Time movie review & film summary". rogerebert.com.
- ^ The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present. Ballantine Books. 2003. p. 1437. ISBN 0-345-45542-8.
- ^ Wiegand, Chris (25 May 2021). "The Muppets Take Manhattan: an irresistible tribute to Broadway dreamers". The Guardian.
- ^ a b Harris, Will (23 October 2012). "Dabney Coleman on Boardwalk Empire and why WarGames doesn't make sense". The A.V. Club.
- ^ Harris, Will (August 2021). "A Handful of Excised Moments from A Few A.V. Club Interviews". Retrieved 1 June 2022.
- ^ "Rules Don't Apply Review". IGN. 16 November 2016. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
- ^ "'Yellowstone': Dabney Coleman To Guest Star As Kevin Costner's Father In Season 2 Finale". Deadline Hollywood. 22 August 2019. Retrieved June 1, 2022.
- ^ Saval, Malina (6 November 2014). "Dabney Coleman Receives a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame". Variety. Retrieved 6 November 2014.
- ^ , The Movieland Directory, 2010, archived from the original on 2013-10-12
- ^ "Dabney Coleman". February 2000.
- ^ a b Meisler, Andy (September 5, 1994). ""What? Mean Spirited? Dabney Coleman defends his persona"". The New York Times.
- ^ "Dabney Coleman '53". txphidelt.com. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ "Jean Hale". glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com. Retrieved June 25, 2022.
- ^ Wallace, David (July 11, 1983). "As TV's Macho Buffalo Bill, Dabney Coleman Finds That Sexism Breeds Success". People. Vol. 20, no. 2.
- ^ Scott, Vernon (January 17, 1982). "Dabney Coleman Gradually Working His Way to Top". UPI. Retrieved June 25, 2022 – via TimesDaily.
- ^ McCallum, Jack. "Slap Crackles and Pops," Sports Illustrated, November 16, 1987. Retrieved August 11, 2021
External links
- Dabney Coleman at IMDb
- at the TCM Movie Database
- Dabney Coleman at the Internet Broadway Database
- Interview with Dabney Coleman on the set of Rolling Thunder at Texas Archive of the Moving Image