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Actor
Dabney Coleman
Dabney Wharton Coleman (January 3, 1932 – May 16, 2024) was an American actor.
Born January 3, 1932† May 16, 2024 Austin, Texas, USA1 movie on MoviHero
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THE PERSON BEHIND THE ROLES
About Dabney Coleman
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. …
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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).
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Portraits of Dabney Coleman.
MOVIHERO CREDITS
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- 2026Dolly Parton: An American Original – Special Edition of 20/20Franklin M. Hart Jr (archive footage)
- 2022Still Working 9 to 5Self
- 2022Celebrating Laughter: The Life and Films of Colin HigginsSelf
- 2016Rules Don't ApplyRaymond Holliday
- 2012Char·ac·terSelf
- 2007Hard FourSpray Loomis
- 2005DominoDrake Bishop
- 2003Recess: All Growed DownPrincipal Prickley (voice)
- 2003Recess: Taking the Fifth GradePrincipal Prickly (voice)
- 2003Where the Red Fern GrowsGrandpa
- 2002Moonlight MileMike Mulcahey
- 2002The ClimbMack
- 2001Recess Christmas: Miracle On Third StreetPrincipal Peter Prickly
- 2001The Making of MidwaySelf (archive footage)
- 2001Kiss My ActHenry
- 2001Recess: School's OutPrincipal Peter Prickly (voice)
- 2000How to Marry a Billionaire: A Christmas TaleJohn Kennedy
- 1999Stuart LittleDr. Beechwood
- 1999Must Be SantaActor
- 1999Inspector GadgetChief Quimby
- 1999Giving It UpJohnathan Gallant
- 1999TakenEthan Grover
- 1998ExiledLieutenant Kevin Stolper
- 1998My Date with the President's DaughterGeorge Richmond
- 1998Target EarthSenator Ben Arnold
- 1997A Witch's Way of LoveJoel
- 1996Devil's FoodSeymour Kecker
- 1995In the Line of Duty: KidnappedArthur Milo
- 1994Judicial ConsentCharles Mayron
- 1994CliffordGerald Ellis
- 1993The Beverly HillbilliesMilburn Drysdale
- 1993Amos & AndrewChief of Police Cecil Tolliver
- 1992LincolnStephen A. Douglas (voice)
- 1992There Goes the NeighborhoodJeffrey Babitt
- 1991Never ForgetWilliam Cox
- 1990The Muppets Celebrate Jim HensonSelf
- 1990Meet the ApplegatesAunt Bea
- 1990Short TimeBurt Simpson
- 1990Where the Heart IsStewart McBain
- 1988Maybe BabyHal
- 1988Hot to TrotWalter Sawyer
- 1987Plaza SuiteJesse Kiplinger
- 1987DragnetJerry Caesar
- 1987Happy 100th Birthday, HollywoodSelf
- 1987Sworn to SilenceMartin Costigan
- 1987Guilty of Innocence: The Lenell Geter StoryEd Sigel
- 1986The Return of Mickey Spillane's Mike HammerDabney Coleman
- 1986MurrowWilliam Paley
- 1985The Man with One Red ShoeCooper
- 1985Night of 100 Stars IISelf
- 1984The Muppets Take ManhattanMartin Price
- 1984Cloak & DaggerJack Flack / Hal Osborne
- 1983WarGamesMcKittrick
- 1982TootsieRon Carlisle
- 1982Young Doctors in LoveDr. Joseph Prang
- 1981Modern ProblemsMark Winslow
- 1981On Golden PondBill Ray
- 1981Callie & SonRandall Bordeaux
- 1980Dan August: The Jealousy FactorRick Bessett
- 1980Nine to FiveFranklin M. Hart Jr.
- 1980Melvin and HowardJudge Keith Hayes
- 1980How to Beat the High Cost of LivingJack Heintzel
- 1980Pray TVMarvin Fleece
- 1980Nothing PersonalDickerson
- 1979When She Was Bad...Jack Wilson
- 1979North Dallas FortyEmmett Hunter
- 1978More Than FriendsJoshua 'Josh' Harrington
- 1978Maneaters Are Loose!McCallum
- 1978The Case of the Baltimore GirlsGeorge Bates
- 1977Rolling ThunderMaxwell
- 1977Black FistHeineken
- 1977Viva Knievel!Ralph Thompson
- 1976MidwayCaptain Murray Arnold
- 1976Kiss Me... Kill MeCapt. Logan
- 1975The Other Side of the MountainDave McCoy
- 1975Bite the BulletJack Parker
- 1975Returning HomeAl Stephenson
- 1974The Towering InfernoDeputy Chief #1
- 1974Bad RonaldMr. Wood
- 1974The DoveCharles Huntley
- 1974House of EvilActor
- 1973Cinderella LibertyExecutive Officer
- 1973The President's Plane Is MissingSen. Bert Haines
- 1973Dying Room OnlyBob Mitchell
- 1973Moving TargetMorty Raskin
- 1973Savage!Ted Seligson
- 1970I Love My WifeFrank Donnelly
- 1970The Brotherhood of the BellAgent Shepard
- 1969Downhill RacerMayo
- 1969The Trouble with GirlsHarrison Wilby
- 1968The ScalphuntersJed
- 1966This Property Is CondemnedSalesman
- 1965The Slender ThreadCharlie
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