Nicolas Coster, who had a varied career in a series of soap operas, passed away on Monday evening at the age of 89.
He was best known for playing wealthy adventurer and womanizer Lionel Lockridge on Santa Barbara, the NBC daytime soap opera of the 1980s and 1990s.
His heartbroken daughter Dinneen broke the news of his death on Facebook and paid tribute to her late father.
“There is great sadness in my heart tonight, my father, actor Nicolas Coster, passed away in hospital in Florida at 9:01 pm,” she wrote.
‘Please be inspired by his artistic achievements and know that he was a real actor! I will remember that he always tried his best and was a great father. Rest in peace.’
Dear Deceased: Nicolas Coster, who had a varied career on a series of soap operas, passed away Monday night at age 89; pictured 2018
Throwback: He was best known for playing wealthy adventurer and womanizer Lionel Lockridge in Santa Barbara on which he is pictured with Judith McConnell
Born in London in 1933, Nicolas was taken to the safety of North America as a child, away from the shadow of war gathering over Europe.
“I arrived in Canada as a very young boy, fleeing what would become World War II,” he told a Frenchman. fan site for Santa Barbara. ‘My American mother then brought her three children to the US, where I stayed until I was 16.’
Nicolas got the stage bug at his Los Angeles high school after entering a speech contest at the behest of the public speaking teacher.
The teacher took an interest in him after hearing him in the principal’s office demanding the expulsion of a “fascist” student who beat up a Mexican classmate, he said in a YouTube interview with Real deal from Hollywood.
After returning to post-war Britain, he enrolled at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, intending from an early age to pursue a career in acting.
By his early twenties, he had scored a role in an anthology series called The United States Steel Hour, which launched him into a long and consistent career in the medium.
Over the next several decades, he worked on such time-defining soap operas as Charlie’s Angels, Another World, One Day At A Time, and One Life To Live.
He also made repeated appearances on Broadway, including a stint as a standby for the 1973 musical Seesaw starring Michele Lee and Giancarlo Esposito.
Remember when: Over the next few decades, he worked on such time-defining soap operas as Charlie’s Angels (pictured), Another World, One Day At A Time, and One Life To Live
Unmistakable uniform: During his run as Lionel, he also found time to appear in such memorable series as Murder, She Wrote, and Star Trek: The Next Generation (pictured)
In the early 1980s, he found himself performing alongside Elizabeth Taylor in a revival of Lillian Hellman’s classic The Little Foxes.
However, it was in 1984 that he landed the role that earned him his most devoted fanbase, with nearly 600 Santa Barbara episodes.
Looking back on his character years later, Nicolas remarked, “He was presented as a spoiled rich man, who has fun, is mischievous, but has his redeeming qualities.”
According to Nicolas, Lionel “loves his children, his wife, who is also very nice, he has a, shall we say, ‘adventurous’ marriage, which gets him into trouble.”
The show brought him an international fanbase who fell in love with his turn as the wealthy, dissolute Lionel Lockridge from 1984 to 1993.
“When I went to Croatia last year,” he said in 2009, “a woman came up to me on the streets of Dubrovnik with tears in her eyes and said, “We watched you on Santa Barbara during the bombing. We found comfort as we huddled in the cold in the basement.” I was very touched that she remembered.’
During his run as Lionel, he also found time to appear in such memorable series as Murder, She Wrote, The Facts Of Life, and Star Trek: The Next Generation.
After wrapping up Santa Barbara, he continued to work in soap opera, with programs like All My Children and As The World Turns.
Remember when: Nicolas also had a recurring role on The Facts Of Life (pictured)
Nicolas continued to act throughout his 1980s, even playing White House President Lloyd Cutler in Impeachment: American Crime Story, the 2021 anthology series about the Clinton scandals starring Beanie Feldstein as Monica Lewinsky.
Earlier this year, he had a guest appearance on the drama series The Rookie: Feds, starring Niecy Nash and Jessica Betts.
While he was nominated for four Daytime Emmys during his years in Santa Barbara, it wasn’t until 2017 that he won for the Peacock show The Bay.
On a personal level, Nicolas had two daughters named Candace and Dinneen by his ex-wife Candace Hilligoss, herself an actress.