Nick Cordero, the charming actor named by Tony known for his work in Bullets Over Broadway, Waitress and A Bronx Tale the Musical , died Sunday after a grueling battle with the coronavirus, his wife announced . He was 41 years old.
Since being diagnosed with pneumonia in late March, the Canadian actor has spent weeks in intensive care at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, has had his right leg amputated, has lost more than 60 pounds and was hoping to receive a double lung transplant .
Cordero had come to Los Angeles to play the role of Bourbon Room owner Dennis Dupree in an immersive adaptation of Broadway’s success, Rock of Ages, in a new space on Hollywood Boulevard. He had played the role years ago on a national tour and on Broadway, and the new version of the musical opened in January.
Survivors includes his wife, fitness instructor and former Broadway dancer Amanda Kloots, who shared her health concerns on social media, and their son, Elvis, born in June 2019. A GoFundMe page has been created to help the family .
“God has another angel in heaven now,” wrote Kloots on Instagram. “My darling husband passed away this morning. He was surrounded by his loving family, singing and praying as he slowly left this earth.
“I am incredulous and I suffer everywhere. My heart is broken because I cannot imagine our lives without him. Nick was such a bright light. He was everyone’s friend, loved to listen, to help and above all to speak. C “was an amazing actor and musician. He loved his family and loved being father and husband. Elvis and I will miss each other in everything we do, everyday.”
In 2014, Cordero received a Tony nomination and a World Theater award for his tap dance as a con artist in ghost writing Cheech in the musical adaptation of Woody Allen’s Bullets Over Broadway. (Chazz Palminteri had won an Oscar name for his performance as Cheech in the 1994 film.)
In his review, David Rooney of THR gave Cordero high marks, noting “a laid-back confidence in the vein of Bobby Cannavale who is refreshing in the midst of so much effort. Assault, and he leads his gangster buddies in an issue fun tap to ‘Tain’t Nobody’s Biz-Ness If I Do.’ It also helps Cheech to be the most distinctive character – an unrepentant assassin who turns out to be the most natural artist of all. “
In 2016, Cordero played Earl Hunterson, Jenna’s dead husband of Jessie Mueller, in the hit Waitress, then left after a few months to play Sonny – another gangster character made famous by Palminteri – in A Bronx Tale the Musical, co – produced by Robert De Niro. Rooney wrote that Cordero “steals the show” and “perfectly balances charm and threatens in his convincing performance.”
Born September 17, 1978 in Hamilton, Ontario, Cordero attended Ryerson University in Toronto for two years before stopping singing in a rock group called Lovemethod. “My parents were trying to get two other kids into college, so they were like, ‘Great!'”, He joked in an interview in 2014.He played Tony in a Tor on the production of Tony n ‘Tina’s Wedding and in 2009 attracted attention when he starred in the title rock musical The Toxic Avenger, an off-Broadway version of the film from 1984.Cordero landed Dennis on a national tour of Rock of Ages, then bowed on Broadway in the 80s musical when he joined the cast at the Helen Hayes Theater in 2012.In 2018, he starred as the sadistic dentist Orin Scrivello in Little Shop of Horrors at the Kennedy Center in Washington. On television, Cordero played Victor Lugo, who led a gang of car thieves, in three episodes of the drama CBS Blue Bloods, and his film summary included Going in Style (2017), directed by co-star Bullets Over Broadway, Zach Braff.Cordero, his wife, and son stayed at Braff’s guest house in Los Angeles while they were shopping when he fell ill. “He is a much loved man, one of the nicest people you will meet,” said Braff.
