
![]() Quahog.org > Attractions > Grave of Nicholas Colasanto Grave of Nicholas ColasantoOn permanent hiatus. Saint Ann's Cemetery (Section 31, Lot 211), 73 Church Street, Cranston Nicholas Colasanto, who played Ernie "Coach" Pantusso on Cheers, died at his home in Los Angeles on February 12, 1985, of a heart attack. One of seven children, he grew up in Rhode Island and briefly attended Central High School in Providence before joining the Navy. Upon his discharge he returned to Rhode Island to finish his high school education, then went on to earn a degree from Bryant College. He worked his way through school doing construction work and upon graduation in 1949 he took a job as an accountant. Then he happened to see Henry Fonda perform on Broadway. The experience caused him to completely alter his career plans. Nicholas (or Nicky, as he was called on the set) went on to enjoy a long and distinguished career as an actor and director prior to landing his role on Cheers. Perhaps his most famous film role was as Mob boss Tommy Como in Raging Bull, but he also appeared in Alfred Hitchcock's Family Plot and directed over 100 episodes of television shows such as Columbo, Bonanza, and The Streets of San Francisco. Colasanto played the befuddled but likable ex-baseball coach-turned-bartender on Cheers for only the first three seasons. Asked once why he was called Coach, he replied that he never flew first class. The last Cheers episode in which he appeared was "Cheerio Cheers," which aired April 11, 1985. For the rest of the season after his death, scriptwriters sidestepped the issue of Coach's absence by having him "visiting relatives" or "getting his driver's license renewed." Colasanto continued to have a presence, of a sort, on the set, right up through the very last episode of the show, which aired May 20, 1993. According to The Show Must Go On by Douglas Snauffer: His Cheers family was determined to see that Colasanto would not be forgotten on the series. The actor had a little cubby hole in his dressing room where he'd displayed a photo of Geronimo, the famous black and white shot of the Apache leader down on one knee holding his rifle. When Colasanto died the cast went to his dressing room and removed the photo so it could become a permanent fixture on the Cheers bar set, hung on stage near the piano, "so it would always be there," says [Ted] Danson. "later, when we were shooting the very last episode, after Sam walks back and says we're closed, our director James Burrows blocked it so on my way back out of the bar I stop and straighten the photo, so that Nicky was represented right to the end." Incidentally, Cheers has at least one other Rhode Island connection: the character of Carla Maria Victoria Angelina Teresa Apollonia Lozupone Tortelli LeBec, played by Rhea Perlman, once admitted that she grew up in Providence's Federal Hill neighborhood.
Colasanto's InscriptionsGrave Inscription
JOSEPH COLASANTO Dedication plaque text
Sweatshirt photo plaque textNICK'S PLACE InformationCost: free Time required: allow five minutes Hours: Monday-Friday, 8am-4pm; Saturday and Sunday, 8am-5pm Remember, this is a cemetery. Please be respectful. Finding it: Colasanto's Grave: from Route 95 take exit 16 to Route 10 north; from Route 10 take the next exit to Reservoir Avenue; turn right onto Reservoir and drive south to Park Avenue; turn right on Park and drive west to the intersection with Cranston Street; turn right on Cranston Street and proceed to a spot where the road bends to the right; enter Saint Ann's Cemetery through the gate on your left; turn right at Section V and the sign for "Chapels"; turn left at Section 22; turn right at Section 19; park at Section 31; from the Section 31 sign, Nicholas is located in the 6th row up, to the right of the second column of vertical memorials. What’s nearbyDistances between points are actual distances, without regard to one-way streets or hungry beasts. Your travel distance will be longer. This article last edited August 21, 2015 © 1999–2019 Quahog.org (with the exception of elements provided by contributors, as noted). |
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