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Dabney Coleman

Dabney ColemanAKA Dabney Wharton Coleman

Born: 3-Jan-1932
Birthplace: Austin, TX

Gender: Male
Religion: Anglican/Episcopalian
Race or Ethnicity: White
Sexual orientation: Straight
Occupation: Actor
Party Affiliation: Republican

Nationality: United States
Executive summary: Moustache from 9 To 5

Military service: US Army (Special Service Division)

Dabney Coleman has shifty eyes and looks like a lying weasel, if only because he has played so many lying weasels in film and on TV. He was born in Austin, Texas, raised in Corpus Christi, and dropped out at both the Virginia Military Institute and the University of Texas law school before deciding to become an actor. He made his film debut in the 1965 suicide hotline melodrama The Slender Thread with Sidney Poitier and Anne Bancroft. He had small roles in many films, gradually earning "familiar faced" character actor status on the sitcom Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, where he played the notorious father of a child preacher who eventually became mayor, and as the stuffed shirt boss in the big screen comedy 9 to 5, with Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin, and Dolly Parton. In films, he played the easily-fooled director in Tootsie with Dustin Hoffman, and the computer expert outsmarted by Matthew Broderick in War Games.

On his best remembered TV show, he played Buffalo Bill, an obnoxious and insensitive local talk show host who bristled at his co-workers Max Wright and Geena Davis. Critically acclaimed but low-rated, the show lasted barely two seasons. Coleman has a long list of other TV credits, dating back to That Girl with Marlo Thomas (he played her married neighbor). On The Guardian, he played the title character's wise but grumpy father. His other series include another soap opera spoof, Fresno with Carol Burnett, and sitcoms The Slap Maxwell Story with Susan Anspach, and Madman Of The People.

Father: Melvin Randolph Coleman
Mistress: Mary Johns
Wife: Ann Courtney Harrell (m. 21-Dec-1957, div. 1959, two daughters, one son)
Daughter: Kelly Johns
Son: Randolph
Daughter: Mary
Wife: Jean Hale (actress, m. 11-Dec-1961, div. 1983, three children)
Daughter: Quincy (musician, b. 1972)
Girlfriend: Sharlyn Brooner (dated 1996 according to NY Daily News, 12 February 1997)

    University: Virginia Military Institute (dropped out)
    University: University of Texas at Austin (dropped out)

    Friends of George Allen
    Phi Delta Theta Fraternity

    TELEVISION
    Boardwalk Empire Commodore Louis Kaestner (2010-11)
    Heartland Dr. Bart Jacobs (2007)
    Recess Principal Peter Prickly (voice, 1997-2001)
    Drexell's Class Otis Drexell (1991-92)
    The Slap Maxwell Story Slap Maxwell (1987-88)
    Buffalo Bill Bill Bittinger (1983-84)
    Forever Fernwood Merle Jeeter (1977-78)
    Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman Merle Jeeter (1976-78)
    Bright Promise Dr. Tracy Graham (1971-72)
    That Girl Dr. Leon Bessemer (1966-67)

    FILMOGRAPHY AS ACTOR
    Domino (25-Sep-2005) · Drake Bishop
    Where the Red Fern Grows (3-May-2003) · Grandpa
    Moonlight Mile (9-Sep-2002) · Mike Mulcahey
    The Climb (22-Feb-2002)
    Kiss My Act (23-Apr-2001)
    Recess: School's Out (10-Feb-2001) [VOICE]
    How to Marry a Billionaire: A Christmas Tale (20-Dec-2000)
    Stuart Little (5-Dec-1999) · Dr. Beechwood
    Inspector Gadget (18-Jul-1999)
    Giving It Up (17-Jan-1999)
    Taken (1999)
    You've Got Mail (18-Dec-1998)
    Exiled (8-Nov-1998)
    My Date with the President's Daughter (19-Apr-1998)
    Target Earth (5-Feb-1998)
    Un Amour de Sorcière (19-Mar-1997)
    Clifford (1-Apr-1994) · Gerald Ellis
    Judicial Consent (1994)
    The Beverly Hillbillies (15-Oct-1993) · Mr. Drysdale
    Amos & Andrew (5-Mar-1993)
    There Goes the Neighborhood (30-Oct-1992)
    Meet the Applegates (1-Feb-1991)
    Short Time (4-May-1990)
    Where the Heart Is (23-Feb-1990)
    Hot to Trot (26-Aug-1988)
    Dragnet (26-Jun-1987) · Jerry Caesar
    Sworn to Silence (6-Apr-1987)
    Guilty of Innocence: The Lenell Geter Story (3-Feb-1987)
    Fresno (16-Nov-1986)
    The Man with One Red Shoe (19-Jul-1985) · Cooper
    Cloak & Dagger (10-Aug-1984) · Jack Flack
    The Muppets Take Manhattan (13-Jul-1984) · Cameo Guest Star
    WarGames (3-Jun-1983) · McKittrick
    Tootsie (17-Dec-1982) · Ron
    Young Doctors in Love (16-Jul-1982)
    Modern Problems (25-Dec-1981) · Mark Winslow
    On Golden Pond (4-Dec-1981) · Bill Ray
    Callie & Son (13-Oct-1981) · Randall Bordeaux
    How to Beat the High Co$t of Living (21-Aug-1981)
    Nine to Five (19-Dec-1980) · Franklin Hart, Jr.
    Melvin and Howard (19-Sep-1980)
    Nothing Personal (28-Mar-1980)
    North Dallas Forty (3-Aug-1979) · Emmett
    Rolling Thunder (14-Oct-1977)
    Viva Knievel! (15-Jul-1977)
    Midway (18-Jun-1976) · Capt. Murray Arnold
    The Other Side of the Mountain (14-Nov-1975) · Dave McCoy
    Bite the Bullet (20-Jun-1975) · Jack Parker
    Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (20-Feb-1975)
    The Towering Inferno (10-Dec-1974) · Deputy Chief #1
    Bad Ronald (23-Oct-1974)
    Cinderella Liberty (7-Apr-1974)
    Black Fist (1974)
    The Dove (1974)
    Savage (31-Mar-1973)
    I Love My Wife (21-Dec-1970)
    The Brotherhood of the Bell (17-Sep-1970)
    Downhill Racer (6-Nov-1969)
    The Trouble with Girls (3-Sep-1969) · Harrison Wilby
    The Scalphunters (2-Apr-1968) · Jed
    This Property Is Condemned (3-Aug-1966)
    The Slender Thread (23-Dec-1965)


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