Dabney Coleman

 ( 1932 Births ) 

Once in New York City, Coleman started applying to acting schools. He enrolled in the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre, training with Sanford Meisner, and studied there from 1958 to 1960. Meisner told him: "You're ideal for us. You've lived some." Another one of his instructors was the future director Sydney Pollack, with whom Coleman would soon become friends.

Soon after finishing his training under Meisner, Coleman made his Broadway theatre debut in the short-lived A Call on Kuprin in 1961. He followed that with summer stock performances on the east coast.

His first television role was on an episode of Naked City in 1961, which was filmed on location in New York City and he earned $90 for the role. In 1962, he and his second wife, actress Jean Hale, moved to Los Angeles. He soon signed a contract with Universal and started work in television, appearing as a guest on various shows starting in the early 1960s. For example, in a 1964 episode of the anthology series Kraft Suspense Theatre titled "The Threatening Eye", Coleman played private investigator William Gunther.

In 1965, he landed his first movie role in The Slender Thread, which was also Pollack's directorial debut.

In his first recurring role on television, he played Dr. Leon Bessemer, a neighbor and friend of the protagonist, in the first season of That Girl (1966). Other early roles in his career included a U.S. Olympic skiing team coach in Downhill Racer (1969), 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 (1975).

In the satirical soap opera Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman (1976–1977), Coleman was initially cast for six episodes as Merle Jeeter, the duplicitous father of a child preacher, but his performance secured him a regular role on the show. The part was also the first time he played an unsavory character for comedic effect, which would become a frequent theme in his career.

In his earliest roles such as in That Girl, he did not have facial hair. He first grew the moustache that would be associated with many of his roles in 1973. He later said, "Without the mustache, I looked too much like Richard Nixon." He also reflected, "There's no question that when I grew that mustache, all of a sudden, everything changed."

Despite these accolades, many of Coleman's television shows, including award-winning shows like Buffalo Bill and The Slap Maxwell Story, were noted for struggles with low ratings and brief runs. Other series he appeared in, like Drexell's Class (1991–1992) and Madman of the People (1994–1995), faced similar challenges.