For two decades Coleman labored in movies and TV shows as a talented but largely unnoticed performer. That changed abruptly in 1976 when he was cast as the incorrigibly corrupt mayor of the hamlet of Fernwood in
Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, a satirical soap opera that was so over the top no network would touch it, forcing producer Norman Lear to syndicate it. Coleman won a an an Emmy Award for best supporting actor in Peter Levin's 1987 small screen legal drama
Sworn to Silence. Some of his recent credits include
Ray Donovan and a recurring role on
Boardwalk Empire, for which he won two Screen Actors Guild Awards. Coleman was 92.