Nicholas Colasanto

 Nicholas Colasanto (January 19, 1924 – February 12, 1985)

He was an actor and television director who is best-known for his role as "Coach" Ernie Pantusso in the sitcom Cheers. He served in the United States Navy during World War II and later attended the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in the 1950s. He directed episodes of many television series, including Hawaii Five-O, Starsky & Hutch, Bonanza, Columbo, and CHiPs. Colasanto also appeared in feature films, including The Counterfeit Killer (1968), Fat City (1972), and Alfred Hitchcock's Family Plot (1976), as well as Raging Bull (1980). Colasanto was in-demand as an actor and director; in the mid-1970s he was diagnosed with heart disease, which was exacerbated by his alcoholism.After twenty years of alcoholism, he became an active member of Alcoholics Anonymous from March 31, 1976, and became sober in the same year. By the third season of Cheers, Colasanto was suffering from heart disease and declining health. Shortly after the Christmas holiday in 1984, he was admitted to a local hospital due to water in his lungs. Co-star Ted Danson later said Colasanto had difficulty remembering his lines during production of the season. Colasanto died of a heart attack at his home on February 12, 1985, at the age of 61. The cast and crew held from Cheers a memorial for Colasanto on the set in Los Angeles. Colasanto is buried at Saint Ann's Cemetery in Cranston, Rhode Island.