Dabney Coleman dead at 92: Yellowstone and 9 to 5 acting legend passes away

Dabney Coleman has died at the age of 92, it has been confirmed.

The acting legend, who last starred in Yellowstone as the father of Kevin Costner’s character John Dutton, was best known for his roles in the classic films 9 to 5, Tootsie and On Golden Pond.

Other notable roles include The Towering Inferno, WarGames and the series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman as Merle Jeeter, and also as Commodore Louis Kaestner in Boardwalk Empire.

His daughter Quincy Coleman confirmed his death The Hollywood Reporter.

“My father spent his time here on earth with a curious mind, a generous heart and a soul on fire with passion, desire and humor that tickled the funny bone of humanity. While he was alive, he went through this last act of life with grace, excellence and mastery,” she told the outlet.

“Dabney Coleman, a teacher, a hero and a king, is a gift and blessing in life and death as his spirit will shine through his work, his loved ones and his legacy… forever.”

In 2012, it was revealed in an interview that Dabney had been diagnosed with throat cancer AVClub.com.

His role as Commodore in Boardwalk Empire was changed due to Dabney’s real-life illness.

The star said in the 2012 interview that the cancer had affected his ability to speak and also said he no longer had cancer.

He was married to Anne Courtney Harrell from 1957 to 1959 and to actress Jean Hale from 1961 to 1984.

Dabney and Jean had three children together: Kelly, Randy and Quincy.

Jean died on August 3, 2021 at the age of 82.

He also has a daughter named Meghan, but it is unclear with whom, with conflicting reports about ex-wife Anne.

Dabney was born on January 3, 1932 in Austin, Texas, to parents Melvin Randolph Coleman and Mary Wharton.

The actor studied for two years at the Virginia Military Institute and then served two more years in the Special Services Division of the US Army.

He then studied law in Austin at the University of Texas.

According to THR, his friend, actor Zachary Scott, who was also a family friend of Dabney’s first wife Ann, convinced him to pursue an acting career.

He left college a semester before graduating at age 26 and trained at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theater in New York City with Sanford Meisner from 1958 to 1960.

His first role came in 1961, in a play called A Call on Kuprin – which also marked his Broadway debut.

The Texas native made his TV debut in 1961, on the show Naked City, playing a local in one episode, for which he earned $90 per THR.

His next role was in The Alfred Hitchcock Hour – in one episode in 1963 and another in 1963.

The star followed it up with a role in The Outer Limits in 1964 in three episodes, and four episodes in The Fugitive from 1964 to 1966.

Dabney also had roles in a 1965 episode of I Dream of Jeannie, and on The Donna Reed Show the same year.

His film debut was also in 1965 in a film called The Slender Thread, in which he played Charlie.

He followed it up with small roles in This Property is Condemned in 1966 alongside Natalie Wood and Robert Redford, The Scalphunters in 1968, The Trouble with Girls and Downhill Racer in 1969, I Love My Wife in 1970, Cinderella Liberty in 1973 and The Dove in 1974.

Dabney starred in The Towering Inferno, a 1974 film about a new skyscraper in San Francisco that goes up in flames, with the San Francisco Fire Department being called to extinguish and rescue the citizens.

He played SFFD Deputy Chief 1, alongside Steve McQueen, Paul Newman, William Holden, Faye Dunaway and Fred Astaire.

He played Merle Jeeter for 148 episodes of the series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman – from 1976 to 1977.

He told Variety in 2014 that his role as Merle “would only last six shoes, but it was a hit.”

“The part was really well written and it was just gripping, it was just a great arc. [Merle] was a comedian, a con artist, so he deliberately changed his personality from time to time. And I ended up doing it for two years, and it made my career. Everything came from that part,” he said.

In 1980, Dabney starred in the hit film 9 to 5, about three women – Dolly Parton, Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda – who live out their fantasy of overthrowing their boss – played by Dabney.

Dabney called Jane, Dolly and Lily “fantastic” in his 2014 interview with Variety, and even reunited with them in 2008.

He played Dr. Bill Ray in the 1981 film On Golden Pond, Ron Carlisle in the 1982 Tootsie and Dr. John McKittrick in 1983’s War Games.

Other notable films he starred in include The Beverly Hillbillies in 1993, You’ve Got Mail in 1998, Taken in 1999 and Domino in 2005.

On the TV side, he recently starred in Ray Donovan in 2016, NCIS in 2019, For the People in 2019 and as John Dutton Dr in a 2019 episode of Yellowstone.

He appeared in the season two finale of Yellowstone as John Dutton Sr., in an episode titled Sins of the Father.

He portrayed the father of Kevin Costner’s character – John Dutton – in the final moments of his life.

The pair take one last horseback ride together and take in the sights before the elder Dutton dies.

That year, Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan said of the casting to Deadline, “I had written [the Yellowstone episode] but I think I was preparing a movie in New Mexico and I think [Dabney Coleman] reached out and said he would be really interested in doing something.

“I had worked with Dabney many, many years ago, almost twenty years ago, as one of the young pups. He’s from Texas and was such a gifted, giving actor, and it really struck me how good he was, and how kind he was, to this kid who had a guest role in his deal.

‘It is funny; I employed a lot of people who were good to me when I was a young actor. Buck Taylor was the first thing I ever did. I put him in Yellowstone.

“There’s something about that show that lends itself to hiring friends and family.”

Dabney received a Hollywood Walk of Fame star in 2014.