Dabney Coleman was born in 1932 in Austin, Texas. His television career began in the early 1960s. In 1966 he played Dr. Leon Bessemer in That Girl. In movies he played a small part in The Towering Inferno (1974) and then starred in a string of hit movies. He played Murray Arnold in Midway (1976), Emmett Hunter in North Dallas Forty (1979), Judge Keith Hayes in Melvin and Howard (1980), Franklin M. Hart Jr. in Nine to Five (1980), Bill Ray in On Golden Pond (1981) and Ron Carlisle in Tootsie (1982). He then starred in television series Buffalo Bill as Bill Bittinger. Movie roles continued with Martin Price in The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984) and Cooper in The Man with One Red Shoe (1985). Then he concentrated on television. He won an Emmy for the role of Martin Costigan in Sworn to silence (1987). He played Otis Drexell in Drexell's Class in the early 1990s. In the early 2000s he played Burton Fallin in The Guardian and has had further TV roles in Courting Alex and Heartland. His movie career continued with Nelson Fox in You've got mail (1998), Chief Quimby in Inspector Gadget (1999) and Dr. Beechwood in Stuart Little (1999). Coleman appeared in the 1973 Columbo episode Double Shock, playing the small part of Detective Murray. Eighteen years later, with a string of hits behind him, he played the Columbo villain Hugh Creighton in Columbo and the murder of a rock star.