Dabney Coleman, Actor from '9 to 5' and 'Tootsie,' who specialized in curmudgeons, has died at 92

[Sylvia]

Dabney Coleman, Actor from '9 to 5' and 'Tootsie,' Dead at 92

Dabney Coleman, the Emmy-winning character actor who appeared in more than 60 projects in his six-decade career, died at age 92. He was best known for playing villain roles, and movies like '9 to 5' and 'Tootsie.'

people.com

Dabney Coleman has died at the age of 92, PEOPLE confirms.
The actor died Thursday, May 16, at his home in Santa Monica, Calif., his daughter Quincy Coleman told PEOPLE in a statement.
"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 said. “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 worked in Hollywood for over six decades, with roles in films including 9 to 5, Tootsie and You've Got Mail. On TV, he starred in shows including Buffalo Bill and Boardwalk Empire. He appeared in more than 60 film and TV projects and was best known for playing bad guys.
Coleman was born in Austin in 1932. He was one of four children, raised by a single mother after his father died of pneumonia. In a 1984 interview, he linked his affinity for playing louts to his childhood.
“Since I was a kid I played that role. I was very small until I got out of college,” he told The Washington Post. “Until then I was a mini-person, and I think that I was a little extra aggressive to compensate. To be the brat — maybe even that was to attract attention, some kind of identity."

The Hollywood Reporter:

Dabney Coleman, ‘9 to 5’ Star Who Made a Career Out of Playing Jerks, Dies at 92

The Texas native got laughs for his boorish behavior in 'Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman,' 'Tootsie,' 'Buffalo Bill' and much more.

www.hollywoodreporter.com

More recently, the good-natured Coleman brought along his signature mustache to play Burton Fallin, the owner of a law firm and father of Simon Baker’s character, on the CBS drama The Guardian; was Atlantic City power broker Commodore Louis Kaestner on HBO’s Boardwalk Empire; and played John Dutton Sr. (the father of Kevin Costner’s character) on Yellowstone.

In Tootsie (1982), directed by his longtime friend and mentor Sydney Pollack, Coleman played the sexist TV director who’s dating an actress (Jessica Lange) on his soap opera, Southwest General.
Years earlier, Pollack had been his teacher at the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York, and Coleman’s first three movies were Pollack’s first as a director as well.

Dabney Coleman, actor of ‘9 to 5’ and ‘On Golden Pond’ fame, has died: https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/17/entertainment/dabney-coleman-death/index.html

His Hollywood career spans decades, beginning in the early 1960s up until his final credit in 2019, when he appeared on an episode of “Yellowstone.”
A gifted comedic actor who moved between movies and television, Coleman was often cast as a bad guy or at best, a lovable jerk. That included roles in the Oscar-winning “On Golden Pond,” the sci-fi drama “WarGames” and perhaps most famously as the firmly pre-#MeToo, highly lecherous boss in the movie “9 to 5,” in which he starred alongside Dolly Parton, Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin.

 

[Sylvia]

Re-posting here from the "In Memoriam" thread:

I remember him most from "You've Got Mail"---Tom Hank's father who wasn't very good at marriage. RIP

Associated Press:

Dabney Coleman, actor who specialized in curmudgeons, dies at 92

Dabney Coleman, the mustachioed character actor who specialized in smarmy villains like the chauvinist boss in “9 to 5” and the nasty TV director in “Tootsie,” has died.

apnews.com

ETA that I think "curmudgeon" is a very apt descriptive noun for many of Dabney Coleman's roles so I have added it into my thread title. RIP, one of my favorite character actors.

 

[Spikefan]

Now I want to re-watch all of these movies. Rest in peace, you left some good ones.