An actor whose moustache was almost as famous as he was, Dabney Coleman specialised in pompous authority figures. A character actor with deadpan comic timing, Texas-born Coleman spent two decades playing bit-part roles until 1976, when he landed a six episode contract on satirical soap opera
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman. His incorrigibly corrupt mayor was a hit with viewers and he became a core character on the show. It lasted only two seasons, but Coleman was now a man in demand. In 1980 he landed a lead role in the film
9 to 5, playing the sexist, egotistical, lying, hypocritical bigot who tormented his unappreciated female underlings, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton. Other memorable roles included playing opposite Dustin Hoffman in
Tootsie, Tom Hanks in
You’ve Got Mail and Jane Fonda again in
On Golden Pond. Major TV credits included
The Slap Maxwell Story (for which he won a Golden Globe),
Ray Donovan,
Boardwalk Empire, and his final credit,
Yellowstone. Dabney Coleman died on May 16 aged 92. — Agencies
