Dabney Coleman
- Known for
- Acting
- Born
- January 3, 1932
- Died
- May 16, 2024 (aged 92)
- Birthplace
- Austin, Texas, USA
Biography
Dabney Wharton Coleman (January 3, 1932 – May 16, 2024) was 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 Muppets Take Manhattan (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). Coleman's television roles included the title characters of Buffalo Bill (1983–1984) and The Slap Maxwell Story (1987–1988), as well as Burton Fallin on The Guardian (2001–2004), the voice of Principal Peter Prickly on Recess (1997–2001), and Louis "The Commodore" Kaestner on Boardwalk Empire (2010–2011). He won one Primetime Emmy Award from six nominations and one Golden Globe Award from three nominations. Coleman was 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 in New York City from 1958 to 1960. Coleman made his Broadway debut in the short-lived A Call on Kuprin in 1961. In a 1964 episode of Kraft Suspense Theatre 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, he appeared in the sitcom wearing horn-rimmed glasses and with no facial hair. Other early roles in his career included a U.S. Olympic skiing team coach in Downhill Racer (1969), a high-ranking fire chief in The Towering Inferno (1974), 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).
Known For
Photos
Filmography
Dolly Parton: An American Original – Special Edition of 20/20
Movie · as Franklin M. Hart Jr (archive footage)
Still Working 9 to 5
Movie · as Self
Celebrating Laughter: The Life and Films of Colin Higgins
Movie · as Self
For the People
TV · as Donald · 1 ep
Yellowstone
TV · as John Dutton Sr. · 1 ep
Rules Don't Apply
Movie · as Raymond Holliday
Ray Donovan
TV · as Mr. Price · 1 ep
Char·ac·ter
Movie · as Self
Boardwalk Empire
TV · as Commodore Louis Kaestner · 24 eps
Pound Puppies
TV · as Mayor (voice) · 4 eps
Hard Four
Movie · as Spray Loomis
Heartland
TV · as Dr. Bart Jacobs · 6 eps
Courting Alex
TV · as Jack Atwell · 12 eps
Domino
Movie · as Drake Bishop
Where the Red Fern Grows
Movie · as Grandpa
Recess: All Growed Down
Movie · as Principal Prickley (voice)
Recess: Taking the Fifth Grade
Movie · as Principal Prickly (voice)
NCIS
TV · as John Sydney · 1 ep
Moonlight Mile
Movie · as Mike Mulcahey
The Climb
Movie · as Mack
Recess: School's Out
Movie · as Principal Peter Prickly (voice)
Kiss My Act
Movie · as Henry
Recess Christmas: Miracle On Third Street
Movie · as Principal Peter Prickly
The Making of Midway
Movie · as Self (archive footage)
The Guardian
TV · as Burton Fallin · 67 eps
The Zeta Project
TV · 1 ep
How to Marry a Billionaire: A Christmas Tale
Movie · as John Kennedy
Inspector Gadget
Movie · as Chief Quimby
Giving It Up
Movie · as Johnathan Gallant
Taken
Movie · as Ethan Grover
Stuart Little
Movie · as Dr. Beechwood
Must Be Santa
Movie
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
TV · as Frank Hager · 1 ep
Target Earth
Movie · as Senator Ben Arnold
My Date with the President's Daughter
Movie · as George Richmond
You've Got Mail
Movie · as Nelson Fox
Exiled
Movie · as Lieutenant Kevin Stolper
A Witch's Way of Love
Movie · as Joel
Recess
TV · as Principal Peter Prickly (voice) · 5 eps
Devil's Food
Movie · as Seymour Kecker
E! True Hollywood Story
TV · 1 ep
In the Line of Duty: Kidnapped
Movie · as Arthur Milo
Happily Ever After: Fairy Tales for Every Child
TV · as Monsieur Fox (voice) · 1 ep
Clifford
Movie · as Gerald Ellis
Judicial Consent
Movie · as Charles Mayron
Madman of the People
TV · as Jack 'Madman' Buckner · 16 eps
The Magic School Bus
TV · as Horace Scope (voice) · 1 ep
Amos & Andrew
Movie · as Chief of Police Cecil Tolliver
The Beverly Hillbillies
Movie · as Milburn Drysdale
There Goes the Neighborhood
Movie · as Jeffrey Babitt
Lincoln
Movie · as Stephen A. Douglas (voice)
Never Forget
Movie · as William Cox
Drexell's Class
TV · 18 eps
Short Time
Movie · as Burt Simpson
Where the Heart Is
Movie · as Stewart McBain
Meet the Applegates
Movie · as Aunt Bea
The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson
Movie · as Self
Hot to Trot
Movie · as Walter Sawyer
Maybe Baby
Movie · as Hal
Baby M
TV · as Gary Skoloff · 2 eps
Guilty of Innocence: The Lenell Geter Story
Movie · as Ed Sigel
Dragnet
Movie · as Jerry Caesar
Sworn to Silence
Movie · as Martin Costigan
Plaza Suite
Movie · as Jesse Kiplinger
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
Movie · as Self
The Slap Maxwell Story
TV · as 'Slap' Maxwell · 22 eps
The Return of Mickey Spillane's Mike Hammer
Movie · as Dabney Coleman
Murrow
Movie · as William Paley
Fresno
TV · as Tyler Cane · 5 eps
The Man with One Red Shoe
Movie · as Cooper
Night of 100 Stars II
Movie · as Self
The Muppets Take Manhattan
Movie · as Martin Price
Cloak & Dagger
Movie · as Jack Flack / Hal Osborne
WarGames
Movie · as McKittrick
Buffalo Bill
TV · as Bill Bittinger · 26 eps
Tootsie
Movie · as Ron Carlisle
Young Doctors in Love
Movie · as Dr. Joseph Prang
On Golden Pond
Movie · as Bill Ray
Modern Problems
Movie · as Mark Winslow
Callie & Son
Movie · as Randall Bordeaux
Dan August: The Jealousy Factor
Movie · as Rick Bessett
Melvin and Howard
Movie · as Judge Keith Hayes
Pray TV
Movie · as Marvin Fleece
Nine to Five
Movie · as Franklin M. Hart Jr.
Nothing Personal
Movie · as Dickerson
How to Beat the High Cost of Living
Movie · as Jack Heintzel
North Dallas Forty
Movie · as Emmett Hunter
When She Was Bad...
Movie · as Jack Wilson
Maneaters Are Loose!
Movie · as McCallum
The Case of the Baltimore Girls
Movie · as George Bates
More Than Friends
Movie · as Joshua 'Josh' Harrington
Diff'rent Strokes
TV · 2 eps
Apple Pie
TV · as Fast Eddie Murtaugh · 2 eps
Rolling Thunder
Movie · as Maxwell
Viva Knievel!
Movie · as Ralph Thompson
Black Fist
Movie · as Heineken
Forever Fernwood
TV · 30 eps
The Love Boat
TV · as Van Milner · 1 ep
Fernwood 2 Night
TV · as Mayor Merle Jeeter · 2 eps
Kiss Me... Kill Me
Movie · as Capt. Logan
Midway
Movie · as Captain Murray Arnold
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
TV · as Merle Jeeter · 212 eps
Quincy, M.E.
TV · as Dr. Burt Travers, Officer Peter O'Neil · 1 ep
Bite the Bullet
Movie · as Jack Parker
The Other Side of the Mountain
Movie · as Dave McCoy
Returning Home
Movie · as Al Stephenson
Switch
TV · as C.C. Owens · 1 ep
Saturday Night Live
TV · as Self - Host · 1 ep
Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan
TV · as Paul Mathison · 2 eps
Medical Story
TV · as Blair · 1 ep
Bad Ronald
Movie · as Mr. Wood
The Dove
Movie · as Charles Huntley
The Towering Inferno
Movie · as Deputy Chief #1
House of Evil
Movie
Sons and Daughters
TV · 1 ep
The Manhunter
TV · 1 ep
Petrocelli
TV · as Willy Morgan · 1 ep
Cinderella Liberty
Movie · as Executive Officer
Dying Room Only
Movie · as Bob Mitchell
Savage!
Movie · as Ted Seligson
Moving Target
Movie · as Morty Raskin
The President's Plane Is Missing
Movie · as Sen. Bert Haines
Kojak
TV · as Alex Linden · 1 ep
Police Story
TV · 2 eps
Barnaby Jones
TV · as George Clark, Ted Sayers, Brad Adamson, Paul Cleveland · 1 ep
Search
TV · 1 ep
Banyon
TV · as Ralph Hubbard · 1 ep
The Streets of San Francisco
TV · as George Todd, Andrew Horvath, Sr. · 1 ep
Columbo
TV · as Hugh Creighton, Detective Murray · 1 ep
Cannon
TV · 1 ep
McMillan & Wife
TV · as Hansen, Walter Jennings · 1 ep
Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law
TV · as Frank Wellmam · 1 ep
I Love My Wife
Movie · as Frank Donnelly
The Brotherhood of the Bell
Movie · as Agent Shepard
Nanny and the Professor
TV · as Detective Robinson · 1 ep
Dan August
TV · as Rick Bessett · 1 ep
The Mary Tyler Moore Show
TV · as Congressman Phil Whitman · 1 ep
Downhill Racer
Movie · as Mayo
The Trouble with Girls
Movie · as Harrison Wilby
Room 222
TV · 1 ep
Medical Center
TV · 1 ep
The Bold Ones: The New Doctors
TV · as Dr. Goldstone · 1 ep
Then Came Bronson
TV · as Dr. Ron Carlisle · 1 ep
The Scalphunters
Movie · as Jed
The Mod Squad
TV · as John · 1 ep
Mannix
TV · as Ralph Stoner, Howard Graham · 1 ep
Ironside
TV · as Daniel Leary · 1 ep
Judd, for the Defense
TV · 1 ep
The Invaders
TV · as Capt. Mitchell Ross, John Carter · 1 ep
The Flying Nun
TV · as Sub. Captain · 1 ep
This Property Is Condemned
Movie · as Salesman
That Girl
TV · as Dr. Leon Bessemer · 7 eps
The Slender Thread
Movie · as Charlie
The F.B.I.
TV · as Ira Barker, Allen Clarke, Stanley Leonard, Sam Langlin, Ty Williams, Mr. Jamison, Barnes · 1 ep
I Dream of Jeannie
TV · as George Webb, Captain Yardley · 1 ep
Run for Your Life
TV · as Fred Palmer · 1 ep
Please Don't Eat the Daisies
TV · as Clark · 1 ep
12 O'Clock High
TV · as Captain Wilson, Captain Robbins · 1 ep
Kraft Suspense Theatre
TV · as William Gunther, Alvin Piper · 1 ep
The Fugitive
TV · as Floyd, Sergeant Keith, Officer George Graham, Steve · 1 ep
The Outer Limits
TV · as Dr. Williams, James Custer, Lt. Rupert Lawrence Howard (uncredited) · 1 ep
Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre
TV · as Sergeant Harry King, Stanley Rivkin · 1 ep
Arrest and Trial
TV · as Wayne Holton · 1 ep
The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
TV · as Self · 10 eps
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
TV · as Tom Esterow, Sgt. Lou Snyder · 1 ep
Ben Casey
TV · 1 ep
Dr. Kildare
TV · as Dr. David Kirkson · 1 ep
Kraft Mystery Theatre
TV · 1 ep
Hazel
TV · as Les Swanton · 1 ep
Bonanza
TV · as Clyde, Ivar Peterson · 1 ep
The Donna Reed Show
TV · as Rallye Master · 1 ep
Naked City
TV · as Resident · 1 ep
Golden Globe Awards
TV · as Self - Nominee · 2 eps