Coach Ernie Pantusso
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| Cheers character | |
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| Ernie Pantusso "Coach" |
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| Gender | Male |
| Hair color | Gray |
| Eye color | Brown |
| Role in Cheers | Assistant Bartender |
| Portrayed by | Nicholas Colasanto |
Ernie "Coach" Pantusso is a fictional character on the American television show Cheers, portrayed by Nicholas Colasanto for the first three seasons.
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[edit] Character overview
Coach was slow and forgetful, but always genial, warm, and caring, a marked contrast to the tough, plain-talking Carla Tortelli. He got his nickname from his tenure as a baseball coach; he had coached Sam Malone on the Boston Red Sox before Sam bought Cheers. However, he once said that he was called "Coach" because he preferred to fly in the coach section and never in first class. He claimed his other nickname was "Red", but not because he had red hair; he had read a book. Quotes like this were characteristic of Coach. As a minor league player, he was well-known for being hit by pitches. It is possible that too many pitches to the head led to his being slow and forgetful.
As a young man, Ernie dropped out of high school and joined the Navy. He then played both minor league and major league baseball; it is known that he played for the St. Louis Browns, a team that played its last major league season in 1953. He later ended up with Boston's farm team, the Pawtucket Red Sox as a coach. He moved back to the Majors as Boston's third base coach when Sam Malone was pitching, and Sam hired him as a bartender when he bought Cheers. He loved the job so much that he spent his days off working at the bar. Coach's wife Angela had died before the show took place, and his daughter Lisa appeared in one episode, played by Allyce Beasley (Moonlighting). He became engaged to a widow named Irene Blanchard, but she broke off the engagement after winning the lottery.
[edit] Death, on and offscreen
Colasanto died in 1985, shortly after filming the episode "Cheerio Cheers" in which Diane Chambers leaves to marry Frasier Crane. This episode was the 59th to be produced, but was moved following Colasanto's death and shown as the 67th episode. Production was halted for three weeks following this. After his death, episodes were moved around - in particular the cold openings - so as to make Coach's absence less obvious. For the episodes where Coach did not appear, excuses were often made for his absence. In one instance it was explained he was visiting his daughter, in another he re-took his driving test in Vermont. Sam is seen congratulating Coach on the telephone. When the bar regulars ask if Coach passed, Sam informs them that he was congratulating Coach for finding Vermont. In one episode the regulars receive a letter from Coach who is at his annual family reunion. The photograph attached shows Coach with a black family. Sam explains to Carla and Cliff Clavin that Coach got an invitation by mistake and went so as not to appear rude. He had proceeded to be invited back every year since and was considering hosting next year's gathering at his home. The family, Sam explained, knew him as "Uncle Whitey". Despite the comedic circumstances of this scene, Ted Danson, John Ratzenberger and Rhea Perlman can all be visibly seen choking back tears.
Coach's final appearance is in the cold opening to the final episode of season 3, "Rescue Me", which had been cropped from an earlier episode (this is clear as Carla is not pregnant in this clip). The scene involves Coach meeting an old baseball buddy whose nickname was "The Blind Man". Coach sings the man's praises to everyone at the bar, speaking of the enormous skill it took for a blind man to play professional baseball. His friend informs him that he is not blind at all but got his nicknames from selling venetian blinds door to door, but Coach is unswayed and proclaims "My God! How did he find the door?!". The man gives up and leaves, with Coach warning him to watch out for the steps. After he leaves, Carla suggests "I think he can see as well as anyone of us". In his final line in the series, Coach replies "In a way, Carla, I think he can see so much more". The audience laughter was edited from the end of this scene and the silent screen freezes on Coach for a moment before cutting to the episode's theme song.
Following Colasanto's death the show's cast and crew honored him by hanging a portrait of Geronimo on the show's set. The picture had previously hung in Colasanto's dressing room behind the scenes. The picture had special meaning to him, and has been used at cast reunions to represent the actor. Sam straightens this picture on the wall at the end of the final episode of Cheers, in homage to both Colasanto and Coach.
[edit] Posthumous references
In the first episode of the fourth season, Woody Boyd comes to Cheers in search of Coach, explaining that they were pen pals (exchanging pens rather than letters). Sam is forced to explain that Coach died some months ago. Boyd replaces Coach, who he had sponsored in a correspondence course in bartending. Coach was referenced frequently throughout the show's run. Diane, working in a nunnery, expresses grief that she only heard of Coach's death from afar. Sam consoled her by telling her what Coach said of the afterlife: "I hope there aren't too many stairs." Diane replied, "It's wise in its way."
[edit] Quotes
(Coach's first lines in the first episode of the series)
- Coach: *answering the phone* Cheers. Yeah, just a second. Is there an "Ernie Pantusso" here?
- Sam: That's you, Coach.
- Coach: Speaking!
- Brandee: (Sam's latest girl) Could you tell Sam that Brandee is here? That's Brandee, with two 'e's.
- Coach: *looking at a liquor bottle* Huh! They've been spelling it wrong all these years…
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