James Coco

James Coco was an American character actor born in Manhattan's Little Italy in 1930, known for Only When I Laugh (1981), which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor, Man of La Mancha (1972), and Murder by Death (1976), alongside an extensive New York stage career recognized with a Primetime Emmy, a Drama Desk Award, and three Obie Awards. He was gay in an era when disclosure was professionally and socially impossible; his identity was known among theater colleagues but was not publicly discussed during his lifetime, and it was only revealed publicly nine years after his death. Coco died of a heart attack at his Greenwich Village home in 1987. He is remembered as one of the warmly beloved character actors of 1970s Hollywood, and his story reflects the era's constraints on LGBTQ+ performers.