Long-time actor and comedian George Coe passed away at his home in Santa Monica, Calif., on Saturday, Variety reported. The Oscar-nominated actor, "Saturday Night Live" alum and Screen Actors Guild (SAG) activist lost his battle with a long-term illness at 86 years old.
Born in Jamaica, Queens, Coe started his career in 1957 on Broadway. His first film credit in the 1968 short comedy film "The Dove" earned him an Academy Award nomination. His TV and film credits span 50 years and include the films "Blind Date" (1987), "The Mighty Ducks" (1992) and "Funny People" (2009), according to IMDB.
His TV credits include "Star Trek: The Next Generation," "Murder, She Wrote," "Bones," "Judging Amy," "The King of Queens," "Nip/Tuck," "Grey's Anatomy," "Curb Your Enthusiasm," "Gilmore Girls," " The Golden Girls," "The West Wing" and the animated series "Archer."
Cole played the veteran role in the inaugural cast of "SNL" in 1975, Rolling Stone reported. He was cast alongside comedic legends like Chevy Chase, John Belushi and Dan Aykroyd. He was hired by NBC to round out the young comics and was the oldest member to ever join the show until Leslie Jones joined the cast last year.
Canadian comedian Norm MacDonald tweeted a monologue during the "SNL 40" special. He tweeted about his spot in Rolling Stone's "141 SNL Cast Members Ranked," and mentioned Cole jokingly.
"I remembered the first year SNL hired an older man because they didn't think all kids could play characters of age," MacDonald tweeted, according to Mashable. "'As long as I beat George Coe', I said, making a fine joke. Again the truth was a finer joke. Coe had easily outranked me. And on it went."
