Who played the character of Coach in Cheers?

Nicholas Colasanto played Coach in Cheers. He portrayed Ernie “Coach” Pantusso, the kindly, absent-minded co-bartender and retired baseball coach at the center of the series’ original bar staff.

Colasanto was already an experienced actor and television director when Cheers premiered in 1982. His performance gave Coach a warm, gentle personality that contrasted with Sam Malone’s confidence and the sharper banter of characters such as Carla Tortelli and Norm Peterson. Coach was often forgetful, but he was also a trusted listener who regularly offered surprisingly perceptive advice.

Colasanto’s declining health limited his work during the show’s third season. He died of a heart attack on February 12, 1985, at age 61. Cheers did not recast Coach; instead, the character was written out as having died, and Woody Boyd, played by Woody Harrelson, became the bar’s new bartender. A common mix-up is confusing Colasanto with Ted Danson, who played Sam, or George Wendt, who played Norm.