9 to 5 and Tootsie Film actor Dabney Coleman dies aged 92

[JohnS]

9 to 5 and Tootsie actor Dabney Coleman dies aged 92

Actor Dabney Coleman who made a career out of playing smarmy villains has died aged 92. (AP: Nick Ut/ File)

Actor Dabney Coleman, who specialised in smarmy villains such as the chauvinist boss in 9 to 5 and the nasty TV director in Tootsie has died aged 92. 

Coleman died Thursday local time at his home in Santa Monica, his daughter Quincy Coleman said in a statement to The Associated Press.

She said he "took his last earthly breath peacefully and exquisitely."

For two decades Coleman laboured in movies and TV shows as a talented but largely unnoticed performer.

Coleman may be best remembered for playing the sexist boss in 9 to 5 alongside Dolly Parton. (Getty Images: Apic)

That changed in 1976 when he was cast in the satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman as the corrupt mayor of the hamlet of Fernwood. 

Known for his ample black moustache, Coleman went on to make his mark in numerous popular films, including as a stressed out computer scientist in War Games, Tom Hanks's father in You've Got Mail and a fire fighting official in The Towering Inferno.

However, he may be best known for the 1980 hit 9 to 5, where he was the "sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot" boss who tormented his unappreciated female underlings — Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton — until they turned the tables on him.

Coleman received a Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2014, (Reuters: Phil McCarten)

Opposite Dustin Hoffman in Tootsie, he also played the obnoxious director of a daytime soap opera that Hoffman's character joins by pretending to be a woman.

Other hits included his role as Principal Prickly in the animated show Recces, Inspector Gadget, Stuart Little, and The Muppets Take Manhattan. 

Actor Ben Stiller took to social media platform X to remember the character actor.

"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," he wrote. 

Coleman won a Golden Globe for The Slap Maxwell Story and an Emmy Award for best supporting actor in the 1987 small screen legal drama Sworn to Silence.

Twice divorced, Coleman is survived by four children, Meghan, Kelly, Randy and Quincy. 

AP

Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-18/actor-dabney-coleman-dies-aged-92/103865068

[NSXCIGAR]

I just realized I've never heard of anyone else named Dabney. 

[JohnS]

Yes, and he kept that name professionally. His middle name was Wharton. Again, that's not a first or middle name one would hear of nowadays.

[Dozerhead]

He was great in so many roles. He was especially good at playing jerks or a-holes. Probably why I liked him some much...😁

[Habanoschris]

There is a bit of a coincidental or eerie timing with this one. I haven't thought about Dabney consciously in years and then on Wednesday afternoon - just earlier this week, a movie called Cloak and Dagger ran through my head. I searched like three online movie subscription apps for it but it wasn't available for watching to me here. This then led me on a deep dive online search of Dabney Coleman's filmography and such etc.

He is such a classic actor and part of my childhood (and subconscious apparently) ... he will be missed.  🫡

 

 

[Ford2112]

 

[Ford2112]

The movie, Short Time is an all time favorite. He's a cop who gets a false terminal illness diagnosis and he tries to die in order for his family to get the life insurance. Nothing can kill him and at the end he finds out he never had the illness, lol.

[Habanoschris]

Ha! wow ... now I totally remember seeing this on HBO around the early 90s 👍

Amazing! 

[RedLantern]

On 5/19/2024 at 8:19 AM, Ford2112 said:

The movie, Short Time is an all time favorite. He's a cop who gets a false terminal illness diagnosis and he tries to die in order for his family to get the life insurance. Nothing can kill him and at the end he finds out he never had the illness, lol.

Came here to say how much I liked Short Time as a kid (time for a rewatch!)