- published: 19 Mar 2015
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Dabney Wharton Coleman (born January 3, 1932) is an American actor. He is best known for his roles in 9 to 5, WarGames, You've Got Mail, Sworn to Silence, The Beverly Hillbillies and as the voice of Principal Peter Prickly in Recess and Recess: School's Out.
Coleman was born in Austin, Texas, the son of Mary Wharton (née Johns) and Melvin Randolph Coleman. He entered the Virginia Military Institute in 1949, then studied law at the University of Texas before turning to acting. He was drafted in 1953 to the US Army and served in Europe.
Coleman is a character actor who has a wide range, with over 60 films to his credit. He is often typecast as a comic relief villain, the smarmy, devious foil to the main character. An early example of such features was his portrayal of an ethically absent Harrison Wilby in the Elvis Presley film The Trouble with Girls as well as a role in a 1962 AMC Rambler commercial.
Coleman's fate in these types of roles was cemented with roles such as that of Franklin Hart, Jr. in 1980's 9 to 5, a sexist boss whose murder is fantasized about by his office employees (Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton and Lily Tomlin). That role reunited him with actress Marian Mercer, with whom he also worked on the TV series Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman; he played Fernwood's mayor, Merle Jeeter and Marian played his second wife, Wanda Rittenhouse Jeeter. He broke from this type somewhat in his portrayal of military computer scientist John McKittrick in WarGames (1983).