Dabney Coleman, a prolific character actor beloved for playing hilarious blowhard authority figures across decades of TV and film, has died. Coleman passed away on Thursday at his Santa Monica home, according to a statement from his daughter, Quincy Coleman, to CBS News. He was 92.
“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 said in a statement. “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.”
Actor and director Ben Stiller paid tribute to Coleman on social media. “The great Dabney Coleman literally created, or defined, really – in a uniquely singular way – an archetype as a character actor. He was so good at what he did it’s hard to imagine movies and television of the last 40 years without him,” Stiller wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
The Mustachioed Character Actor Appeared in Several Iconic Films
Of course, Coleman is perhaps best known for the iconic 1980 hit 9 to 5. He portrayed the “sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot” boss who tormented his undervalued female employees—Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton. Of course, this leads to the trio of girl bosses serving up some humble pie to Coleman’s character.
In 1981, he rejoined Jane Fonda, portraying her well-meaning boyfriend who seeks permission from her father (played by her real-life father, Henry Fonda) to share a bed with her while visiting her parent’s vacation home in On Golden Pond.
In Tootsie, he played the obnoxious director of a daytime soap opera that Dustin Hoffman’s character joins by pretending to be a woman. He later reunited with Hoffman as a land developer in 2002’s Moonlight Mile, alongside Jake Gyllenhaal.
Coleman Won a Golden Globe and SAG Awards For His Performances
He won a Golden Globe for his lead role in 1987’s The Slap Maxwell Story. He also shared consecutive SAG Awards with the Boardwalk Empire ensemble in the early 2010s. In 2014, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. In his final screen role, Coleman portrayed the father of Kevin Costner’s John Dutton in a flashback during Season 2 of Yellowstone in 2019.
Coleman’s extensive and prolific career began with appearances on early-60s TV staples such as Ben Casey and The Outer Limits. Throughout the decade and into the 70s, he continued to feature in episodes of some of television’s most popular shows. He secured longer arcs on The Fugitive, That Girl, and Columbo.
Dabney Coleman Stacked Up Over 175 Acting Credits
However, Coleman’s appearances in classic 80s films are exhaustive. He co-starred with Matthew Broderick in WarGames (1983) and with Tom Hanks in The Man with One Red Shoe (1985). In 1987, he appeared with Hanks and Dan Aykroyd in Dragnet.
The character actor accumulated over 175 film and TV credits over 58 years.
Meanwhile, Coleman’s other film credits include Midway (1975), The Muppets Take Manhattan (1979), Modern Problems (1981), Clifford (1994), You’ve Got Mail (1998, a third outing with Hanks), Stuart Little (1999), Where the Red Fern Grows (2003), and many others.
Coleman is survived by his sister, Beverly Coleman McCall, his four children—Meghan, Kelly, Randy, and Quincy—and five grandchildren.