Dabney Coleman

Dabney Coleman, an award-winning television and movie actor best known for his over-the-top portrayals of garrulous, egomaniacal characters, died on Thursday May 16 2024 at his home in Santa Monica, Calif. He was 92. He received his greatest acclaim for his comic work — notably in the 1980 movie “9 to 5,” in which he played a thoroughly despicable boss, and the 1983-84 NBC sitcom “Buffalo Bill,” in which he starred as the unscrupulous host of a television talk show in Buffalo. Coleman revisited the formula in 1987 with the ABC sitcom “The ‘Slap’ Maxwell Story,” in which he played a similar character, this time an outspoken sportswriter for a struggling newspaper. Low ratings, combined with friction between Mr. Coleman and the producer Jay Tarses (who, with Tom Patchett, had created “Buffalo Bill”), led to its demise after just one season. Dabney Wharton Coleman was born on Jan. 3, 1932, in Austin, Texas, to Melvin and Mary Coleman. He was raised in Corpus Christi by his mother after his father died of pneumonia when Dabney was 4 years old. He attended the Virginia Military Institute from 1949 until 1951 and then transferred to the University of Texas, Austin, where he was a business major. He was drafted into the Army in 1953 and served two years in Germany in the Special Services Division. By 1958 he had decided to pursue a career as an actor. He went to New York to study at Sanford Meisner’s Neighborhood Playhouse. Coleman’s first marriage, to Ann Harrell, ended in divorce in 1959, after two years. In 1961, he married the actress Carol Jean Hale; they divorced in 1983. In addition to his daughter Quincy, he is survived by his children Meghan, Kelly and Randy; a sister, Beverly Coleman; and five grandchildren.