Dabney Coleman

LOS ANGELES – JUL 25: Coleman, Dick van Dyke at the Peter Falk Posthumous Walk of Fame Star ceremony at the Hollywood Walk of Fame on July 25, 2013 in Los Angeles, CA, kathclick/Bigstock.com

Birth Name: Dabney Wharton Coleman

Date of Birth: January 3, 1932

Place of Birth: Austin, Travis, Texas, U.S.

Date of Death: May 16, 2024

Place of Death: Santa Monica, California, U.S.

Ethnicity: English, along with Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Irish, Scottish, German, Swiss-German, and French Huguenot

Dabney Coleman was an American actor. His roles include the films Downhill Racer, The Towering Inferno, The Other Side of the Mountain, Midway (1976), North Dallas Forty, 9 to 5, On Golden Pond, Tootsie, WarGames, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Cloak & Dagger (1984), The Man with One Red Shoe, Dragnet (1987), Meet the Applegates, Amos & Andrew, The Beverly Hillbillies (1993), Clifford (1994), You’ve Got Mail, Inspector Gadget (1999), Stuart Little, Recess: School’s Out, Moonlight Mile, Where the Red Fern Grows (2003), and Rules Don’t Apply, and television’s Buffalo Bill (1983), The Slap Maxwell Story, Recess, in voice role; The Guardian (2001), and Boardwalk Empire.

He was the son of Mary and Melvin Coleman. He had one child with his former wife Ann Courtney Harrell; and three children, including songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist Quincy Coleman, with his former wife, actress Jean Hale.

Dabney’s paternal grandfather was James Thomas Coleman (the son of Thomas Daniel Coleman and Amanda Caroline McKee). James was born in Kentucky, to parents from Tennessee. Thomas was the son of Stephen Harrison Coleman and Nancy P. Harrison. Amanda was the daughter of Robert McKee and Elizabeth Turner.

Dabney’s paternal grandmother was Pocahontas Randolph (the daughter of William Samuel Randolph and Margaret A. Jenkins). Pocahontas was born in Kentucky. William was born in Kentucky, the son of Alexander Randolph and Malinda Watkins.

Dabney’s maternal grandfather was Claude Douglas Johns (the son of Alfred Johns and Mary Morris Wharton). Claude was born in Mississippi. Alfred was born in Virginia, the son of Glover Johns and Martha Jones. Alfred’s great-grandmother, Judith Benning, was the daughter of French Huguenot parents, Antoine Benin/Benning and Elizabeth Jouanny/Jones. Dabney’s great-grandmother Mary was born in Alabama, the daughter of Dabney Miller Wharton and Ann Taylor Swann.

Dabney’s maternal grandmother was Elizabeth Steiner (the daughter of Josephus Murray Steiner and Laura June Fisher). Elizabeth was born in Texas. Josephus was born in Maryland, the son of Henry Steiner, who was of German and Swiss-German descent, and of Rachel Murray, who was of English, Scottish, and Irish ancestry. Laura was born in Ohio.

Sources: Birth record of Dabney Coleman – https://www.familysearch.org

Dabney’s father on the 1900 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

Marriage record of Dabney’s paternal grandparents, James Coleman and Pocahontas Randolph – https://www.familysearch.org

Marriage record of Dabney’s paternal great-grandparents, Thomas Coleman and Amanda McKee – https://www.familysearch.org

Dabney’s mother on the 1910 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org

Death record of Dabney’s uncle (mother’s brother) – https://www.familysearch.org