Nicolas Coster

Real world article
(written from a Production point of view)

Nicolas Coster
Birth name:	Nicolas Dwynn Coster
Date of birth:	3 December 1933
Place of birth:	Hampstead, London, England, UK
Date of death:	26 June 2023
Place of death:	Hallandale Beach, Florida, USA
Roles:	Actor
Character(s):	Haftel

Nicolas Coster (3 December 1933 – 26 June 2023; age 89) [1] was the actor who played Vice Admiral Haftel in the Star Trek: The Next Generation third season episode "The Offspring".

Career

Coster was born as Nicolas Dwynn Coster in Hampstead, London, England, UK and attended the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London.

Coster is most well known for his roles on various daytime soap operas, most notably his Daytime Emmy-nominated role as Lionel Lockridge on NBC's Santa Barbara from 1984 through 1988 and again between 1990 and 1993. Among his co-stars on this series were fellow Star Trek alumni Judith Anderson, Ian Abercrombie, Henry Darrow, Samantha Eggar, Rosemary Forsyth, Ellen Geer, Gregory Itzin, Lenore Kasdorf, Janet MacLachlan, William Schallert, Louise Sorel, and Ray Walston. Coster was also a regular on other soaps such as As the World Turns, Another World (and its spin-off, Somerset), and One Life to Live.

Coster is also known for the recurring role of David Warner, the millionaire father of Blair Warner, on the sitcom The Facts of Life. Coincidentally, he appeared with the actor of the same name in the 1979 film The Concorde: Airport '79 (along with Ed Begley, Jr. and Robin Gammell). Other Star Trek alumni who appeared in The Facts of Life included William Windom, Roger Perry, Paul Comi, Robert DoQui, Nehemiah Persoff, Clive Revill, Eve Smith, Robert Hooks, Clyde Kusatsu, and Ian Wolfe. Kenneth Tigar also appeared in the series, playing a tax agent auditing David Warner, while lead Star Trek: Deep Space Nine actor Armin Shimerman made a brief appearance in the show's seventh season premiere episode.

He began his Hollywood career with small, uncredited roles in the 1953 films Titanic (with Hamilton Camp), The Robe (starring Jean Simmons, Jay Robinson, and Michael Ansara), and 1776 (1972, with William Daniels). He later appeared in such films as All the President's Men (1976, with Stephen Collins, F. Murray Abraham, Gene Dynarski, Paul Lambert and Richard Herd), Joseph Sargent's MacArthur (1977, with Allan Miller, Kenneth Tobey, and Garry Walberg), The Big Fix (1978, with F. Murray Abraham and Fritz Weaver), The Electric Horseman (1979, with James B. Sikking), The Concorde: Airport '79 (1979, with George Kennedy and Robert Wagner), Stir Crazy (1980, with Joel Brooks and Jonathan Banks), Reds (1981, with Paul Sorvino, William Daniels, Jerry Hardin, and Ian Wolfe), Big Business (1988, with John Vickery and Roy Brocksmith), How I Got into College (1989, with Charles Rocket), and Betsy's Wedding (1990). In the latter film, he and the late Bibi Besch played husband and wife (with Camille Saviola co-starring). He also made appearances on such TV shows as Charlie's Angels, Little House on the Prairie, The Rockford Files, Dallas, The Incredible Hulk, Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, Quincy, M.E., Magnum, P.I., Knight Rider, L.A. Law, Murder, She Wrote, MacGyver, Law & Order, Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, 3rd Rock from the Sun, and Judging Amy.

Coster co-starred with at least three Star Trek captains outside of Star Trek. In 1978, he and Kate Mulgrew had roles in the epic mini-series The Word, along with Diana Muldaur, Nehemiah Persoff, Allan Miller, Christopher Lloyd, and Jonathan Banks. The following year, he appeared on an episode of Mulgrew's Mrs. Columbo. In 1983, he made a guest-appearance on William Shatner's T. J. Hooker, a series which also starred James Darren and Richard Herd. He then went on to appear with Star Trek: Enterprise's Scott Bakula on an episode of Mr. & Mrs. Smith in 1996.

Coster also appeared in The Hunter (1980, with LeVar Burton and Tracey Walter) and Beverly Hills Madam (1980, with Terry Farrell, Seymour Cassel and William Marshall).

External links

• Nicolas Coster at Wikipedia
• Nicolas Coster at the Internet Movie Database