Obituaries

Broadway Vet and Original SNL Cast Member George Coe Dies at 86

Coe performed in the original Broadway casts of ”Mame”, ”Company”, and ”On the Twentieth Century”.

Original Saturday Night Live cast member George Coe died on Saturday at the age of 86.
Original Saturday Night Live cast member George Coe died on Saturday at the age of 86.

Academy Award nominee and Broadway veteran George Coe died on Saturday, July 18 in Santa Monia, California after battling a long illness. He was 86 years old.

Born in Jamaica, Queens, New York in 1929, Coe made his Broadway debut in 1964 in What Makes Sammy Run? He went on to perform as M. Lindsey Woolsey opposite Angela Lansbury in the original cast of Jerry Herman’s Mame, as Owen O’Malley in the original production of On the Twentieth Century, and as David in the original production of Stephen Sondheim's Company.

Coe was an original member of "Not Ready for Prime Time Players," the original cast of Saturday Night Live. He appeared in several episodes, but was only credited as a cast member for the first show on October 11, 1975, alongside comedy legends including Chevy Chase, John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, and Gilda Radner.

His television credits also include Star Trek: The Next Generation; Max Headroom; Murder, She Wrote; Bones; Judging Amy; The King of Queens; Nip/Tuck; Grey’s Anatomy; Columbo; Curb Your Enthusiasm; Gilmore Girls; The Golden Girls; and The West Wing. Coe additionally voiced the character of Woodhouse in the FX animated series Archer and the Autobot Wheeljack in Michael Bay’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

In film, he played the head of an advertising agency in the Academy Award-winning Kramer vs. Kramer, and was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance in the 1968 film The Dove, a parody of Ingmar Bergman's films, which he also codirected.

Coe was well known for his longtime activism in the Screen Actors Guild, and in 2009, the Hollywood Division of SAG awarded Coe with the Ralph Morgan Award for his service.

Larry Kert, George Coe, and Teri Ralston in the 1970 Broadway premiere of Company.
Larry Kert, George Coe, and Teri Ralston in the 1970 Broadway premiere of Company.