George Coe, an Oscar-nominated actor and longtime activist in the Screen Actors Guild, died in California on Saturday after a long-time illness. He was 86.
Coe’s acting legacy spans more than 50 years in television, film, commercials, and on stage. His commercial work includes on-camera and voiceover performances,
including six years with Toyota, according to Variety.
The 86-year-old also served over a dozen years on the SAG national board of directors, including fulfilling the position of vice president for two years. Coe also fostered the template for SAG’s first low budget production contract.
Coe was born in 1929 in Jamaica, New York City. His Broadway theater career first started in 1957, before which he played M. Lindsey Woolsey opposite Angela Lansbury in the first cast of Jerry Herman’s “Mame,” according to Variety.
The actor picked up an Academy Award nomination for 1968's "The Dove," a parody film he also co-directed.
He was also an original member of the “Not Ready For Prime Time Players,” the first cast of “Saturday Night Live,” and was cited as a cast associate for the first show in
October of 1975, according to The Australian.
Coe’s TV credits include appearances on “Star Trek: The Next Generation,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Max Headroom,” “Nip/Tuck,” “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Columbo,” “Bones,” “Judging Amy,” “The King of Queens,” “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” “Gilmore Girls,” “The West Wing,” and ” The Golden Girls.”
He also voiced the Autobot Wheeljack in “Transformers: Dark of the Moon” and the character Woodhouse on the FX cartoon “Archer.”
Coe was eventually awarded the Ralph Morgan Award by the Hollywood Division of SAG for his career with the guild in 2009.
After Coe’s death, many took Twitter to express their condolences.
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