Turning to the tragic news of the month, soap opera star Nicolas Coster has passed away at the age of eighty-nine. The “real actor’s actor,” as his daughter called him, played roles in various soap operas during his illustrious career. His most famous role was as the wealthy, womanizing adventurer Lionel Lockridge on Santa Barbara, which was a popular soap opera that played on NBC throughout the 1980s and 1990s.
Coster passed away on Monday. Shortly after his death, his daughter, Dinneen, posted a touching tribute to her beloved father via Facebook, showering the deceased patriarch with lots of praise for all the work he did throughout his Hollywood career.
“There is great sadness in my heart this evening; my father, actor Nicolas Coster has passed on in Florida at 9:01 pm in the hospital,” she wrote. “Please be inspired by his artistic achievements and know he was a real actor’s actor! I will remember him as always doing his best and being a great father. Rest In Peace.”
Coster was actually born in London, England, back in 1933. However, the looming threat of World War II and Adolf Hitler caused his family to migrate across the Atlantic Ocean to the safety of the United States, where he lived most of his childhood.
“I arrived as a very little boy in Canada, escaping what was to become the Second World War,” he told a French fan site for Santa Barbara. “My American mother brought her three children then to the USA, where I stayed until sixteen.”
Coster had a career in acting ahead of him and knew as much when he got the desire to act following a speech contest at his Los Angeles high school. He became a favorite student of a public speaking teacher who wanted to help Coster hone his presentation skills so he could one day live his dream of being a celebrated actor.
In the wake of World War II, Coster returned to Great Britain to study acting at the Royal Academy Of Dramatic Art. He launched his acting career in his early twenties after securing a part in the anthology series, The United States Steel Hour.
During the next few decades of his acting career, Coster played roles in many famous programs, including Charlie’s Angels, Another World, One Day At A Time, and One Life To Live, according to a report published in Daily Mail after his death.
In addition to his acting in front of the camera, Coster also took on some roles on Broadway. He played a standby for the musical Seesaw, which starred Giancarlo Esposito and Michele Lee.
In 1984, he finally landed his pivotal role in Santa Barbar, acting in more than six hundred episodes of the daytime drama.
Years later, Coster said of his Santa Barbara role, “He was presented as a spoiled rich guy, who has fun, is naughty, but has his redeeming qualities.” Coster added that his character Lionel “loves his kids, loves his wife, who is also great fun, he has a shall we say, ‘adventurous’ marriage, which gets him into trouble.”
Nicolas Coster will be sorely missed.