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Dabney Coleman, Emmy-Winning Actor and ‘9 to 5’ Star, Dies at 92

Dabney Coleman, remembered for Franklin Hart in 9 to 5 and an Emmy-winning role in Sworn to Silence, died at 92 after a career spanning film and television.
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Dabney Coleman died on May 16, 2024, at age 92, at his home in Santa Monica, the Associated Press reported, citing confirmation from his daughter, Quincy Coleman. The Television Academy also records May 16 as his date of passing. Coleman became widely recognized for playing self-important authority figures, most famously Franklin Hart, the sexist executive in 9 to 5, but his long career also included warmer roles, leading television parts and an Emmy-winning performance.

Who was Dabney Coleman?

Coleman was an American actor whose career spanned film and television, with a particular gift for playing pompous, officious men. The Associated Press describes a long period of supporting roles before he drew wider notice as Mayor Merle Jeeter in the satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman in 1976.

His signature screen image took shape in two early-1980s films. In 9 to 5 (1980), he played Franklin Hart, a sexist executive whose employees turn the tables on him. In Tootsie (1982), he played the director of a soap opera. Those roles made his self-important, often comic authority figures especially memorable.

What movies and TV shows was Dabney Coleman in?

Coleman’s credits range beyond the antagonistic bosses and directors for which he was best known.

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#1 Best Overall
  • Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976): Mayor Merle Jeeter, the role that brought him wider notice.
  • 9 to 5 (1980): Franklin Hart, the chauvinistic executive.
  • Tootsie (1982): a television soap-opera director.
  • On Golden Pond: a caring boyfriend to Jane Fonda’s character.
  • WarGames: a federal security official.
  • Buffalo Bill and The Slap Maxwell Story: title roles in television series.
  • Recess: Principal Peter Prickly.
  • The Guardian: Burton Fallin.
  • Boardwalk Empire: Louis “The Commodore” Kaestner.
  • Yellowstone (2019): John Dutton Sr., his final screen credit, according to Reuters.

The contrast matters: Coleman could make authority figures ridiculous or menacing, but he also played characters with warmth and restraint. His career moved between broad satire, drama, animation and later prestige television rather than remaining confined to one kind of role.

Did Dabney Coleman win an Emmy?

Yes. The Television Academy records one Primetime Emmy win from six nominations. Coleman won Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Special for the 1987 television film Sworn to Silence. The Academy also records one Golden Globe win from three nominations.

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How did Dabney Coleman’s colleagues and family remember him?

In a family statement reproduced by Entertainment Tonight, his daughter Quincy Coleman remembered him as having “a curious mind, a generous heart, and a soul on fire with passion, desire and humor that tickled the funny bone of humanity.”

Actor Ben Stiller, quoted by the Associated Press, called Coleman an actor who “literally created, or defined, really — in a uniquely singular way — an archetype as a character actor.” Stiller added that it was hard to imagine the preceding four decades of film and television without him.

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Coleman himself pushed back lightly against the idea that his screen villains revealed his real character. Reuters quoted him describing those parts as “me kidding around” and saying, “That’s just a guy that I’m playing, just to fool around, you know.”

When did Dabney Coleman die, and was a cause reported?

Coleman died on May 16, 2024, aged 92, at home in Santa Monica. Entertainment Tonight reported on May 17, 2024, that no cause had been revealed at that time. That contemporaneous report does not establish a cause of death.

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