Nicholas Colasanto makes working men and underworld figures credible without making them grand. We value him most in Cheers, where Coach’s forgetfulness and loyalty give the comedy someone worth caring about between the arguments.
Fi1m perspective
In Cheers (1982), a forgetful former baseball coach works behind a bar full of bruised egos. Nicholas Colasanto’s Ernie ‘Coach’ Pantusso is loyal rather than worldly wise, which gives him a different place in the comedy from the people busy defending their dignity. We were touched by Coach because his absent-mindedness never cancels the sense that he cares about those around him. The arguments are funny, but he gives us another reason to stay.
Before Coach, there were working men and underworld figures, with television directing running alongside the acting through the 1960s and 1970s. Columbo (1971) was among his directing credits, but the film roles make the change to Cheers clearest. In John Huston’s Fat City (1972), he plays Ruben, a small-time boxing manager and trainer. His weary, practical presence belongs among its struggling fighters and handlers. Huston sometimes lets patience become drift, but Colasanto suits a film that refuses to pretend suffering is useful.
Martin Scorsese’s Raging Bull (1980) gives him a more imposing sort of authority as Tommy Como, a local mob boss. Colasanto makes that standing convincing without needing to compete with Robert De Niro’s frightening Jake LaMotta for our attention. The repeated confrontations outside the ring can weary us, but the film never makes its violence an easy pleasure. It is the stronger of the two boxing films, though neither asks Colasanto to carry it.
The turn to Cheers matters because Coach cannot depend on that sort of standing: he is a bartender whose forgetfulness is part of the joke. Colasanto makes him worth caring about without turning him into a source of unlikely wisdom. We prefer this warmth to the authority of the film parts, even if the programme’s repeated quarrels sometimes give the writing too little to do. Start with Coach, then try Fat City for the less comforting company.
Biography
Nicholas Colasanto (1924–1985) was an American actor and television director. He trained at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts and began his career in theatre before moving into film and television in the 1960s.
He appeared in supporting roles in films including Fat City (1972) as Ruben, Family Plot (1976) as Victor Constantine, and Raging Bull (1980) as Tommy Como. Colasanto also directed episodes of series such as Bonanza, Columbo, Starsky & Hutch and Hawaii Five-O.
He is best known for playing Ernie 'Coach' Pantusso in the sitcom Cheers (1982–1985). He received three Primetime Emmy Award nominations for the role.
