George Coe, veteran actor and original cast member of Saturday Night Live, died Saturday at the age of 86.
By the time Coe joined SNL at the age of 46 — his casting a demand from NBC executives for a cast member that could appeal to older viewers — he already had a resume that included Broadway, an Oscar-nominated short (De Duva: The Dove), and several television appearances. Coe was only listed as a cast member for the premiere episode in 1975, and appeared sporadically for the remainder of that groundbreaking first season.
Coe was the oldest person ever to join the cast of SNL until Leslie Jones, 47, was added to the cast last season.
But Coe’s career was much more than a footnote in SNL history. He appeared on-screen in over 25 films, most recently in 2009 as Adam Sandler’s dad in Funny People, and guest-starred on numerous television shows over the course of six decades including recurring roles on Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, and The West Wing.
In more recent years, Coe worked as a voice-over actor. He could be heard on the FX series Archer as Woodhouse, the title character’s butler.
