Nicholas Colasanto

Nicholas Colasanto (January 19, 1924 – February 12, 1985) was an American actor and television director who is best known for his role as "Coach" Ernie Pantusso in the American television sitcom Cheers. He served in the United States Navy during World War II. Early life Born January 19, 1924, in Providence, Rhode Island, Colasanto attended Bryant University (now located in Smithfield, Rhode Island) and was a decorated veteran of World War II, during which he served as a coxswain in the United States Navy. By 1951, he was a bookkeeper. Around 1954, he intended to work as an accountant for a company in Saudi Arabia. Inspired by Henry Fonda's performance in Broadway play Mister Roberts, Colasanto applied for American Academy of Dramatic Arts but was rejected, so he joined a small theater company instead in Phoenix, Arizona. He was of Italian descent. Career Colasanto is best known for his role as Coach Ernie Pantusso, a character in the television sitcom Cheers; his early acting career included a theatrical play A Hatful of Rain (1956), starring Ben Gazzarra, and another role that earned him an Obie Award nomination in 1962. He also directed episodes of many television series, including Hawaii Five-O, Starsky & Hutch, Bonanza, Columbo, and CHiPs. He also appeared in feature films, including The Counterfeit Killer (1968), Fat City (1972), and Alfred Hitchcock's Family Plot (1976). Colasanto was in demand as an actor and director but in the mid-1970s he was diagnosed 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. In the late 1970s, he began having difficulty securing directing jobs as his health was declining. His last major film role was as mob boss Tommy Como in Raging Bull (1980).