Nicolas Coster

Nicolas Dwynn Coster (December 3, 1933 – June 26, 2023) was an American actor born in London, England, to an American mother and a New Zealand father who worked as both a London theatre critic and a marine commander. Raised primarily in California, Coster trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in England before returning to the United States to study further with Lee Strasberg in New York City. His stage, television, and film career spanned several decades, with Broadway appearances from 1961 to 1991.

Coster's Broadway work included productions such as Getting Married, in which he starred, as well as Happy Birthday, Wanda June, But, Seriously..., and Emily. His stage credits extended beyond Broadway to include Twigs alongside Sada Thompson, Seesaw with Michele Lee, Otherwise Engaged with Tom Courtenay, and The Little Foxes with Elizabeth Taylor, the latter staged both on Broadway and at the Victoria Theatre in London.

Television became a central part of Coster's career, with his first appearance on the medium coming in a 1959 episode of The U.S. Steel Hour. He went on to appear in more than 80 episodes across 36 television series. In daytime drama, he created the role of Professor Paul Britton on The Secret Storm, playing the character in 1964 and again from 1967 to 1968. He also appeared on the NBC soap opera Young Doctor Malone and played John Eldridge on both the prime-time serial Our Private World and As the World Turns, to which he later returned from 1993 to 1995. He created the role of Robert Delaney on Somerset in March 1970, subsequently continuing the character on Another World, and returned to that series for its 25th anniversary in 1989. On One Life to Live, he played gangster-turned-informant Anthony Makana before departing to originate the role of Lionel Lockridge on Santa Barbara, a character he portrayed in a total of 599 episodes across two stints, the second lasting until the series concluded in January 1993. He also played kidnapper Steve Andrews on All My Children and was recognized by audiences of the sitcom The Facts of Life for his recurring role as David Warner, father of the character Blair Warner.

Outside of daytime television, Coster appeared in nighttime series including Wonder Woman, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, T.J. Hooker, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. In 2021, he published a book titled Another Whole Afternoon through First Edition Design Publishing.

In his personal life, Coster held a captain's license and was a certified scuba diving instructor. He maintained a foundation that organized sailing trips and scuba diving instruction for people with disabilities. He was previously married to actress Candace Hilligoss, with whom he had two children; the marriage ended in divorce in 1981. Coster died on June 26, 2023, at a hospital in Hallandale Beach, Florida, at the age of 89.