As of July 2026, Dabney Coleman is best known for Boardwalk Empire and The Guardian. Find every show and movie Dabney Coleman has starred in — and where to watch them — below.
Dabney Coleman

Dabney Coleman

Actor Born 1932 Austin, Texas, USA 9 TV Shows 8 Movies

Dabney Wharton Coleman (January 3, 1932 – May 16, 2024) was an American actor. Coleman's best known films include 9 to 5 (1980), On Golden Pond (1981), Tootsie (1982), WarGames (1983), Cloak & Dagger (1984), The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984), The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), You've Got Mail (1998), Inspector Gadget (1999), Recess: School's Out (2001), Moonlight Mile (2002), and Rules Don't Apply (2016).

Coleman's television roles included the title characters of Buffalo Bill (1983–1984) and The Slap Maxwell Story (1987–1988), as well as Burton Fallin on The Guardian (2001–2004), the voice of Principal Peter Prickly on Recess (1997–2001), and Louis "The Commodore" Kaestner on Boardwalk Empire (2010–2011). He won one Primetime Emmy Award from six nominations and one Golden Globe Award from three nominations.

Coleman was a character actor with roles in well over 60 films and television programs to his credit. He trained with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre in New York City from 1958 to 1960.

Coleman made his Broadway debut in the short-lived A Call on Kuprin in 1961. In a 1964 episode of Kraft Suspense Theatre titled "The Threatening Eye", Coleman played private investigator William Gunther. Two years later, he played Dr. Leon Bessemer with Bonnie Scott as his wife Judy, neighbors and friends of the protagonist in Season 1 of That Girl, episode 3, "Never Change a Diaper on Opening Night". Noted for his moustache which he grew in 1973, he appeared in the sitcom wearing horn-rimmed glasses and with no facial hair. 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 Attack on Terror: The FBI vs. the Ku Klux Klan (1975).

Dabney Coleman has built a filmography of 17 credits over a career spanning from 1966 to 2010.

Dabney Coleman's most notable role to date came in Stuart Little (1999), where he played Dr. Beechwood. He also appeared in You've Got Mail (1998) as Nelson Fox. Most recently appeared in WarGames (1983) as McKittrick.

Fans wanting to catch up on Dabney Coleman's work can find exactly where his shows and movies are streaming below — and TV Butler Pro makes it effortless to keep track of them all. Just search the title, and Butler finds it instantly, tells you which service has it, and remembers what you've already watched.

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📺 Dabney Coleman's TV Shows

Boardwalk Empire
Commodore Louis Kaestner
2010
The Guardian
Burton Fallin
2001
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman
Merle Jeeter
1976
Recess
Principal Peter Prickly (voice)
1997
Barnaby Jones
Ted Sayers
1973
That Girl
1966
Pound Puppies
Mayor (voice)
2010
Police Story
1973
Diff'rent Strokes
1978

🎬 Dabney Coleman's Movies

Stuart Little
Dr. Beechwood
1999
WarGames
McKittrick
1983
You've Got Mail
Nelson Fox
1998
The Beverly Hillbillies
Milburn Drysdale
1993
The Towering Inferno
Deputy Chief #1
1974
Nine to Five
Franklin M. Hart Jr.
1980
Midway
Captain Murray Arnold
1976
Inspector Gadget
Chief Quimby
1999

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