Dabney Coleman

Dabney Wharton Coleman (born January 3, 1932) is an American actor.
Coleman's best known films include The Towering Inferno (1974), 9 to 5 (1980), On Golden Pond (1981), Tootsie (1982), WarGames (1983), Cloak & Dagger(1984), The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), You've Got Mail (1998), Inspector Gadget (1999), Stuart Little (1999), Recess: School's Out (2001), Moonlight Mile (2002), and Rules Don't Apply (2016).[1]
Coleman's television roles include the title character in Buffalo Bill (1983–1984), Burton Fallin in The Guardian (2001–2004), the voice of Principal Peter Prickly in Recess (1997–2001), and Louis "The Commodore" Kaestner in Boardwalk Empire (2010–2011). He has won one Primetime Emmy Award from six nominations and one Golden Globe Award from three nominations.
== Early life ==
Coleman was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Mary Wharton (née Johns) and Melvin Randolph Coleman.[2][3] He entered the Virginia Military Institute in 1949, then studied law at the University of Texas before turning to acting. He was drafted in 1953 to the United States Army and served in Europe.
== Career ==
Coleman is 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 Theater in New York City from 1958-60.[citation needed]Early roles in his career included a US Olympic skiing team coach in the 1969 Downhill Racer, 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).
He landed the main antagonist part of Franklin Hart, Jr., a sexist boss on whom three female office employees get their revenge in 1980's Nine to Five. It was this film that established Coleman in the character type he is most identified with and has frequently played since - a comic relief villain. Coleman followed Nine to Five with the role of the arrogant, sexist, soap opera director in Tootsie(1982), further enforcing audiences' identification of him as a smarmy, devious foil to a film's main character. He broke from this type somewhat, however, in his portrayal of military computer scientist John McKittrick in WarGames (1983). Since then, Coleman has consistently shifted between roles in serious drama and comedies.
Coleman received his first Emmy nomination for his lead role in the critically acclaimed, though short-lived, TV series Buffalo Bill. In 1987, he received an Emmy Award for his role in the TV movie Sworn to Silence.[4] He appeared in the feature film On Golden Pond (1981), playing the fiancé of Chelsea Thayer Wayne (Jane Fonda). Coleman played a Hugh Hefner-ish magazine mogul in the comedy Dragnet (1987), Bobcat Goldthwait's boss in the 1988 talking-horse comedy Hot to Trot, and befuddled banker Milburn Drysdale in the feature film The Beverly Hillbillies (1993). Coleman played Gerald Ellis in Clifford (1994).
From 1997 to 2001, Coleman provided the voice of Principal Prickly on the animated series Recess. He also played a philandering father in You've Got Mail(1998). More recently, Coleman appeared as a casino owner in 2005's Domino. He received acclaim as Burton Fallin in the TV series The Guardian (2001–04). For two seasons, from 2010 to 2011, Coleman was a series regular on HBO's Boardwalk Empire.
On November 6, 2014, Coleman received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.[5]
== Personal life ==
Coleman resides in Brentwood, California.[6] He has been divorced twice. He was married to Ann Courtney Harrell from 1957 to 1959 and Jean Hale from 1961 to 1984. He has four children with Hale: Meghan, Kelly, Randy, and singer Quincy.[7]
In 1998, Coleman worked with fellow actor Bronson Pinchot at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, North Carolina to help protect local forests and helped lead a campaign to educate others on how to care for and protect forests nationwide.
Coleman is an avid tennis player, winning celebrity and charity tournaments. He played mainly at the Rivera Country Club as well as in local sanctioned tournaments.[8][9]
== Filmography ==
=== Film ===
Year	Title 	Role 	Notes
1965	The Slender Thread 	Charlie 	
1968	The Scalphunters 	Jed 	
1973	Cinderella Liberty 	the Exec 	
1974	The Towering Inferno 	SFFD deputy chief 1 	
1975	Bite the Bullet 	Parker 	
1976	Midway 	Captain Murray Arnold 	
1979	North Dallas Forty 	Emmett Hunter 	
1980	How to Beat the High Cost of Living	Jack 	
1980	9 to 5 	Franklin M. Hart Jr 	
1980	Melvin and Howard 	Judge Keith Hayes 	
1981	Modern Problems 	Mark Winslow 	
1981	On Golden Pond 	Bill Ray 	
1982	Tootsie 	Ron 	
1983	WarGames 	Dr. John McKittrick 	
1984	The Muppets Take Manhattan 	Martin Price / Murray Plotsky 	
1984	Cloak & Dagger 	Jack Flack / Hal Osborne 	
1985	The Man with One Red Shoe 	Burton Cooper 	
1987	Dragnet 	Jerry Caesar 	
1988	Hot to Trot 	Walter Sawyer 	
1990	Where the Heart Is 	Stewart McBain 	
1990	Short Time 	Burt Simpson 	
1991	Meet the Applegates 	Aunt Bea 	
1992	There Goes the Neighborhood 	Jeffrey Babitt 	
1993	Amos & Andrew 	Police Chief Cecil Tolliver 	
1993	The Beverly Hillbillies 	Milburn Drysdale 	
1994	Clifford 	Gerald Ellis 	
1998	You've Got Mail 	Nelson Fox 	
1999	Inspector Gadget 	Police Chief Quimby 	
1999	Stuart Little 	Dr. Beechwood 	
2001	Recess: School's Out 	Principal Peter Prickly (voice)	
2002	Moonlight Mile 	Mike Mulcahey 	
2005	Domino 	Drake Bishop 	
2016	Rules Don't Apply 	Raymond Holliday 	
=== Television ===
Year 	Title 	Role 	Notes
1994-1995	Madman of the People 	Jack "Madman" Buckner 	16 episodes
1997 	The Magic School Bus 	Horace Scope (voice) 	Episode: "Sees Stars"
1997-2001	Recess 	Principal Peter Prickly (voice)	Main cast
127 episodes
1997 	Jumanji 	Ashton Phillips (voice) 	Episodes: "The Palace of Clues" and "An Old Story"
1998 	My Date with the President's Daughter	President Richmond 	Television movie
2001-2004	The Guardian 	Burton Fallin 	67 Episodes
2006 	Courting Alex 	Bill Rose 	12 Episodes
2006 	Lilo & Stitch: The Series 	Principal Peter Prickly (voice)	Episode: "Lax"
2009 	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit 	Frank Hager 	Episode: "Snatched"
2010-2011	Pound Puppies 	Mayor Jerry (voice) 	4 episodes
Season 1 only
2016 	Ray Donovan 	Mr. Price 	Episode: "
* Naked City (TV) (1961) as Resident
* The Outer Limits (TV) ("The Mice"; 1963) as Dr. Williams
* The Outer Limits (TV) ("Wolf 359"; 1964) as James Custer
* Dear Uncle George (TV) (1964) as Tom Esterow
* The Donna Reed Show (TV) (1965) as Rallye Master
* I Dream of Jeannie (1965-1967) as Captain Dan Yardley and Lt. George Webb
* This Property Is Condemned (1966) as Salesman
* That Girl (TV) (1966–67) as Dr. Leon Bessemer
* The Fugitive (TV) (1967) as Steve / Officer George Graham / Floyd / Sergeant Keith
* The Invaders (TV) (1967) as John Carter / Capt. Mitchell Ross
* Dundee and the Culhane (TV) (1967) as Sheriff Wrenn
* Bonanza (TV) (1968) one episode as Ivar Peterson, (1969) one episode as Clyde
* The Mod Squad (TV) (1969) as John
* The Trouble with Girls (1969) as Harrison Wilby
* Downhill Racer (1969) as Mayo
* The Brotherhood of the Bell (1970) as Agent Shepard
* I Love My Wife (1970) as Frank Donnelly
* The President's Plane Is Missing (1973) as Sen. Bert Haines
* Cinderella Liberty (1973) as Executive Officer
* Columbo ("Double Shock"; 1973) as Detective Murray
* Black Fist (1974) as Heineken
* The Dove (1974) as Charles Huntley
* Bad Ronald (1974) as Mr. Wood
* McMillan & Wife (TV) ("Cross and Double Cross"; 1974)
* Kojak (TV) (1974) as Alex Linden
* The Towering Inferno (1974) as Deputy Chief #1
* Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (1975) as Paul Mathison
* Bite the Bullet (1975) as Jack Parker
* McMillan & Wife: Aftershock (TV) (1975) as Walter Jennings
* The Other Side of the Mountain (1975) as Dave McCoy
* The Mary Tyler Moore Show (TV) (1976) as Congressman Phil Whitman
* Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (TV) (1976–77) as Merle Jeeter
* Midway (1976) as Captain Murray Arnold
* Viva Knievel! (1977) as Ralph Thompson
* Rolling Thunder (1977) as Maxwell
* Quincy, M.E. (TV) (1977) as Officer Peter O'Neil / Dr. Burt Travers
* Apple Pie (TV) (1978) as "Fast Eddie" Murtaugh
* Maneaters Are Loose! (1978) as McCallum
* The Other Side of the Mountain Part 2 (1978) as Dave McCoy (uncredited)
* Go Tell the Spartans (1978) as Helicopter pilot (uncredited)
* North Dallas Forty (1979) as Emmett Hunter
* Nothing Personal (1980) as Dickerson
* How to Beat the High Cost of Living (1980) as Jack Heintzel
* Melvin and Howard (1980) as Judge Keith Hayes
* 9 to 5 (1980) as Franklin Hart, Jr.
* Pray TV (1980) as Marvin Fleece
* On Golden Pond (1981) as Dr. Bill Ray
* Modern Problems (1981) as Mark Winslow
* Young Doctors in Love (1982) as Dr. Joseph Prang
* Tootsie (1982) as Ron Carlisle
* WarGames (1983) as McKittrick
* Buffalo Bill (TV) (1983–84) as Bill Bittinger
* Cloak & Dagger (1984) as Jack Flack / Hal Osborne
* The Man with One Red Shoe (1985) as Cooper
* Fresno (TV miniseries; 1986) as Tyler Cane
* Murrow (TV Movie - 1986) as CBS President William S. Paley
* Dragnet (1987) as Jerry Caesar
* The Slap Maxwell Story (TV; 1987–88) as Slap Maxwell
* Hot to Trot (1988) as Walter Sawyer
* Meet the Applegates (1990) as Aunt Bea
* Never Forget (1991) as William Cox
* Drexell's Class (TV) (1991–92) as Otis Drexell
* Columbo ("Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star"; 1991) as Hugh Creighton
* Amos & Andrew (1993) as Chief of Police Cecil Tolliver
* The Beverly Hillbillies (1993) as Milburn Drysdale
* Clifford (1994) as Gerald Ellis
* Judicial Consent (1994) as Charles Mayron
* Witch Way Love (1997) as Joel
* Exiled: A Law & Order Movie (1998) as Lieutenant Kevin Stolper
* Taken (1999) as Ethan Grover
* The Guardian (2001–04) as Burton Fallin
* The Climb (2002) as Mack
* Moonlight Mile (2002) as Mike Mulcahey
* Where the Red Fern Grows (2003) as Grandpa
* Domino (2005) as Drake Bishop
* Heartland (2007) as Dr. Bart Jacobs
* Hard Four (2007) as Spray Loomis
* Boardwalk Empire (2010–11) as Commodore Louis Kaestner
* Ray Donovan (2016, Season 4, Episode 4) as Mr. Price
== Awards and nominations ==
Year	Association 	Category 	Nominated work 	Result
1983	Primetime Emmy Awards 	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series 	Buffalo Bill 	Nominated
1984	Golden Globe Awards 	Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy 	Buffalo Bill 	Nominated
1984	Primetime Emmy Awards 	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series 	Buffalo Bill 	Nominated
1987	CableACE Awards 	Actor in a Movie or Miniseries 	Murrow 	Nominated
1987	Primetime Emmy Awards 	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie 	Sworn to Silence 	Won
1988	Golden Globe Awards 	Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy 	The Slap Maxwell Story 	Won
1988	Golden Globe Awards 	Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film	Sworn to Silence 	Nominated
1988	Primetime Emmy Awards 	Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series 	The Slap Maxwell Story 	Nominated
1988	Primetime Emmy Awards 	Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie 	Baby M 	Nominated
1991	Primetime Emmy Awards 	Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series 	Columbo and the Murder of a Rock Star	Nominated
2011	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series 	Boardwalk Empire 	Won
2012	Screen Actors Guild Awards	Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series 	Boardwalk Empire 	Won
Category:American male film actors