James Coco was a pudgy & bald character actor whom I admired a great deal, for reasons you can easily grasp. He worked steadily for over 3 decades in commercials, TV, Films & on stage.
Coco's career climax came as a struggling gay actor & buddy to a boozy Broadway actress played by Marsha Mason in the film Only When I Laugh (1981). As the supportive friend who wants to be a "big, big star," Coco was winsome, waggish, winning, wise, & over the top gay. He received a well deserved Oscar nomination as Supporting Actor.
Coco was associated with the works of one of my favorite playwrights- Terrence McNally. He played in an off-Broadway double-bill of one-act plays- Sweet Eros/Witness (1968), followed by Here's Where I Belong, a disastrous Broadway musical adaptation of East of Eden that closed on opening night. They had far greater success with Next, which ran for more than 700 performances & won Coco the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance.
Coco also achieved success with Neil Simon, who wrote The Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1969) specifically for him & Doris Roberts. It won him a Tony Award nomination as Best Actor in a Play. More work in Simon projects included a Broadway revival of the musical Little Me & films: Murder By Death, The Cheap Detective, & Only When I Laugh.
Coco's other film credits: Ensign Pulver, Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon, Man of La Mancha, Such Good Friends, A New Leaf, The Wild Party, & The Muppets Take Manhattan.
Coco was known for his cooking capabilities, publishing several best-selling cookbooks & making frequent guest appearances on talk shows dressed in his chef's hat & apron. Coco died of a heart attack in NYC, in 1987 at the age of just 56.
Coco's career climax came as a struggling gay actor & buddy to a boozy Broadway actress played by Marsha Mason in the film Only When I Laugh (1981). As the supportive friend who wants to be a "big, big star," Coco was winsome, waggish, winning, wise, & over the top gay. He received a well deserved Oscar nomination as Supporting Actor.
Coco was associated with the works of one of my favorite playwrights- Terrence McNally. He played in an off-Broadway double-bill of one-act plays- Sweet Eros/Witness (1968), followed by Here's Where I Belong, a disastrous Broadway musical adaptation of East of Eden that closed on opening night. They had far greater success with Next, which ran for more than 700 performances & won Coco the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance.
Coco also achieved success with Neil Simon, who wrote The Last of the Red Hot Lovers (1969) specifically for him & Doris Roberts. It won him a Tony Award nomination as Best Actor in a Play. More work in Simon projects included a Broadway revival of the musical Little Me & films: Murder By Death, The Cheap Detective, & Only When I Laugh.
Coco's other film credits: Ensign Pulver, Tell Me That You Love Me, Junie Moon, Man of La Mancha, Such Good Friends, A New Leaf, The Wild Party, & The Muppets Take Manhattan.
Coco was known for his cooking capabilities, publishing several best-selling cookbooks & making frequent guest appearances on talk shows dressed in his chef's hat & apron. Coco died of a heart attack in NYC, in 1987 at the age of just 56.
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