Nicholas Colasanto

Nicholas Colasanto
Colasanto on the set of Cheers
Born	(1924-01-19)January 19, 1924 Providence, Rhode Island, United States
Died	February 12, 1985(1985-02-12) (aged 61) Studio City, California, United States
Cause of death	Heart attack
Occupation	Actor, director

Nicholas Colasanto (January 19, 1924 – February 12, 1985) was an American actor and television director, known for his role as "Coach" Ernie Pantusso in the American sitcom Cheers. He served in the United States Navy during World War II. He attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in the 1950s. He was diagnosed with heart disease in the mid-1970s. By 1984 his worsening symptoms forced him to stop working on Cheers, and he filmed his last full episode in November 1984. He died of a heart attack at his home on February 12, 1985, at age 61.

Colasanto attended Bryant University (now located in Smithfield, Rhode Island) and was a decorated veteran of World War II, when he served as a coxswain in the United States Navy. Around 1954 he was supposed to be an accountant for a company in Saudi Arabia, but he instead attended American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Although Colasanto was best known for his role as Coach Ernie Pantusso on the sitcom Cheers, he also directed episodes of many television series, notably Run for Your Life (1960s),Hawaii Five-O,Starsky & Hutch,Bonanza,Columbo, and CHiPs. Colasanto appeared in feature films, including The Counterfeit Killer (1968),Fat City (1972), and Alfred Hitchcock's Family Plot (1976).

An in-demand actor and director, he had been diagnosed in the mid-1970s with heart disease, which was exacerbated by his alcoholism. After twenty years of alcoholism, he became an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous from March 31, 1976, and became sober in the same year. He began having trouble securing directing jobs by the end of the 1970s due to his declining health. His last major film role was a mob boss, Tommy Como in Raging Bull (1980).