James Coco

James Emil Coco (March 21, 1930 – February 25, 1987) was an American actor whose career spanned stage, film, and television. Born in the Little Italy neighborhood of Manhattan to Felice Lescoco, a shoemaker, and Ida Detestes Lescoco, he spent his early childhood in the Pelham Bay section of the Bronx after his family relocated there when he was an infant. Coco trained at HB Studio in New York City and began pursuing acting immediately after high school. His physical appearance as an overweight and prematurely balding adult directed him toward character roles throughout his career. Over the course of his life he earned a Primetime Emmy Award, a Drama Desk Award, a Cable ACE Award, and three Obie Awards, along with nominations for a Tony Award, an Academy Award, and two Golden Globe Awards.

Coco made his Broadway debut in Hotel Paradiso in 1957, launching a stage career that extended through 1983. His earliest significant recognition came not on Broadway but Off-Broadway, where he won an Obie Award for his performance in The Moon in Yellow River by Denis Johnston. In 1964 he toured with The Irregular Verb to Love alongside Cyril Richard, including a stop at Denver's Elitch Theatre, the oldest summer stock theater in the country. That same year he appeared in the Broadway production Here's Where I Belong, a musical adaptation of East of Eden that closed on its opening night.

A productive collaboration with playwright Terrence McNally began in 1968 with an Off-Broadway double bill of the one-act plays Sweet Eros and Witness. The two then worked together on Next, a two-character play with Elaine Shore that ran for more than 700 performances and earned Coco the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance in 1969. Sixteen years later, Coco and McNally reunited for the Manhattan Theatre Club production of It's Only a Play. His Broadway credits also included You Can't Take It With You, Little Me, Cafe, A Passage to India, and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui, among other productions.

Neil Simon wrote The Last of the Red Hot Lovers in 1969 specifically for Coco, and the role brought him a Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Play. Coco and Simon subsequently collaborated on a Broadway revival of Little Me and on three films: Murder by Death (1976), The Cheap Detective (1978), and Only When I Laugh (1981). His performance in Only When I Laugh, in which he played Jimmy Perrino, earned him both an Academy Award nomination and a Razzie nomination. Coco is also remembered for his role as Sancho Panza in Man of La Mancha (1972) and as Milo Perrier in Murder by Death (1976).

On television, Coco starred in two series during the 1970s, Calucci's Department and The Dumplings, and made guest appearances on programs including Maude, The Carol Burnett Show, The Muppet Show, Murder She Wrote, and St. Elsewhere, for which he won a Primetime Emmy Award. Later in his career he held a recurring role as Nick Milano on the sitcom Who's the Boss. His final appearance on that series was broadcast one day before his death.

In 1983 Coco published The James Coco Diet, a bestselling book documenting his experience with the Structure House Weight Loss Plan developed by Gerard Musante. The book was released on February 1, 1983. Several of his film projects were released after his death, including Hunk (1987) and That's Adequate (1989). Coco died on February 25, 1987, at St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan following a heart attack at his Greenwich Village home. He was 56 years old and is buried at St. Gertrude's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Colonia, New Jersey.