[1] Coleman's notable films include 9 to 5 (1980), On Golden Pond (1981), Tootsie (1982), WarGames (1983), Cloak & Dagger (1984), and You've Got Mail (1998).

[2][4] In 1949, at the age of 17, he enrolled at Virginia Military Institute, where he studied for two years and competed on the school's tennis team.

[3][5][6] Coleman later recalled that he did not pass many courses and that he was "too busy playing Ping-Pong at the Phi Delta Theta house and calling girls".

A 45-minute visit from his wife's friend Zachary Scott inspired Coleman to drop out of law school and pursue acting as a career.

[4] For example, in a 1964 episode of the anthology series Kraft Suspense Theatre titled "The Threatening Eye", Coleman played private investigator William Gunther.

[17] Other early roles in his career included a U.S. Olympic skiing team coach in Downhill Racer (1969),[18] a high-ranking fire chief in The Towering Inferno (1974),[19] and a wealthy Westerner in Bite the Bullet (1975).

Coleman landed the role of primary antagonist Franklin Hart Jr. in the 1980 film 9 to 5, in which he portrayed a sexist boss on whom three female office employees get their revenge.

[17] It was this film that firmly established Coleman in the character type with which he was most identified, and frequently played afterwards—a comic relief villain.

Coleman followed 9 to 5 with the role of the arrogant, sexist, soap opera director in Tootsie (1982), also directed by Sydney Pollack.

[23] He also portrayed a con artist Broadway producer in The Muppets Take Manhattan (1984),[24] played the nefarious raisin tycoon Tyler Cane in the satirical miniseries Fresno (1986), and evoked Hugh Hefner as a lisping magazine mogul in the comedy Dragnet (1987).

He appeared in the feature film On Golden Pond (1981), playing the sympathetic fiancé of Chelsea Thayer Wayne (Jane Fonda).

He received his first Emmy Award nomination for his lead role as a skilled but self-centered TV host in Buffalo Bill.

Although the show was short-lived, Coleman won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Television Series Musical or Comedy for the role in 1988.

Continuing his streak of comic foils, Coleman played Charles Grodin's sleazy boss, Gerald Ellis, in Clifford (1994), co-starring Martin Short.

[32] He also played a philandering father in You've Got Mail (1998), and a police chief in Inspector Gadget (which reunited him with his WarGames co-star Matthew Broderick).

He's a Texas guy and was such a gifted, giving actor and I was really struck by how good he was, and how kind he was, to this kid who was guest starring on his deal.

In his later career, Coleman took on more consistently serious roles, notably portraying Burton Fallin in the TV series The Guardian (2001–2004).

In 2009, Coleman served as an interviewer and participant in Char·ac·ter, a documentary about the craft of acting with Peter Falk, Charles Grodin, Sydney Pollack, Mark Rydell, and Harry Dean Stanton.

[10] On November 6, 2014, Coleman received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was honored with the 2017 Mary Pickford Award for his contributions to the entertainment industry.

[10] When Coleman received his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, an after party was held at Dan Tana's to celebrate the occasion.

[8][10] Coleman died at his home in Santa Monica, California, on May 16, 2024, at age 92, of cardiac arrest due to dysphagia and heart failure.