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

Dabney Coleman has passed away at age 92, it has been confirmed. 

The acting legend who most recently starred in Yellowstone as the father of Kevin Costner’s character John Dutton, was best known for his roles in classic movies 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, as well as starring as Commodore Louis Kaestner on Boardwalk Empire.

His daughter Quincy Coleman confirmed his passing to The Hollywood Reporter. 

‘My father crafted 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. As he lived, he moved through this final act of life with elegance, excellence and mastery,’ she told the outlet. 

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

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

The star said in the interview the cancer had affected his ability to speak and also said he did not have cancer anymore.

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

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

Jean died on August 3, 2021 at age 82. 

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

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

The actor attended Virginia Military Institute, followed by studying law in Texas.

He trained at Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City with Sanford Meisner, from 1958 until 1960.

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

The Texas native made his TV debut in 1961, in the show naked City, playing a resident in one episode, followed by a role in The Alfred Hitchcock Hour – in an 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 until 1966. 

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

His film debut was also in 1965 in a movie called The Slender Thread, where 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 about new skyscraper in San Francisco that goes up in flames, with the San Francisco Fire Department called to extinguish and save the civilians.

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 until 1977. 

He told Variety in 2014 that his role as Merle ‘was only supposed to last six shoes, but it kind of caught on.’

‘The part was very well written and it was just catchy, it was just a great arc. [Merle] was a comedian, a con man, so he deliberately changed his personality from time to time. And I ended up doing it for two years, and it did make my career. From that part spawned everything,’ he said. 

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

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

He played Dr. Bill Ray in the 1981 film On Golden Pond, Ron Carlisle in 1982’s 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.

TV wise, he had 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 go on one last horseback ride together and take in the sights before the older Dutton dies.

That year Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan said of the casting in to Deadline: ‘I’d written [the Yellowstone episode] but I believe I was prepping 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 20 years ago, as one of the young pups. He’s a Texas guy and was such a gifted, giving actor and I was really struck by how good he was, and how kind he was, to this kid who was guest starring on his deal.

‘Its funny; I’ve employed a lot of people who were good to me when I was a young actor. Buck Taylor was in 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.