George Coe Dies; Actor, SAG Activist Was 86

Variety reports that he died in Santa Monica, California following a long illness.

Coe was also an original member of the Not Ready For Prime Time Players, the original cast of Saturday Night Live, in 1975.

Small screen legend George Coe has died at the age of 86.

Before his death, the New York City native racked up more than 100 acting credits over the course of his 50 years in the industry.

His television appearances also included Murder, She Wrote, Bones, Judging Amy, The King of Queens, Nip/Tuck, Grey’s Anatomy, Columbo, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Gilmore Girls, The Golden Girls, ‘Wilfred, and as Senator Howard Stackhouse in two episodes of The West Wing.

Coe portrayed Dustin Hoffman’s advertisement agency boss in Robert Benton’s Oscar best picture Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), and he was Claude Axhelm, one of the manipulating husbands, in The Stepford Wives (1975).

Television fans will primarily recognize Coe from his work on Archer, where, since the beginning of the series, he was voiced the character of Woodhouse – who is the valet and servant for the titular character that is repeatedly abused by the secret agent. 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 Hollywood Division of SAG awarded Coe with the Ralph Morgan Award for service to the guild in 2009.