Nicolas Coster

• Name — Nicolas Coster • Birth Name — Nicolas Dwynn Coster • Born — 3 December 1933 • Birthplace — London, England, U.K. • Died — 26 June 2023 • Place of death — Hallandale Beach, Florida, U.S. • Alma Mater — Royal Academy of Dramatic Art • Occupation — * Actor • scuba instructor • Years Active — 1953–2023 • Children — 2

Coster was born in London on December 3, 1933, to an American mother and a New Zealand father who was a London theatre critic and marine commander. He was raised in the United States, primarily in California. Coster returned to England to study acting at the Royal Academy of the Dramatic Art. He also studied acting with Lee Strasberg in New York City. Coster was in Twigs with Sada Thompson, Seesaw with Michele Lee, Otherwise Engaged with Tom Courtenay, and The Little Foxes with Elizabeth Taylor, which was staged on Broadway and the Victoria Theatre in London. Coster appeared in the NBC soap opera Young Doctor Malone. He created the role of Professor Paul Britton on The Secret Storm, a role he played in 1964 and from 1967 to 1968. He played John Eldridge in the prime time serialized drama Our Private World and on As the World Turns. His first appearance on television was an episode of The U.S. Steel Hour in 1959. Coster appeared more than 80 times on 36 television shows, notably in the role of David Warner, the father of character Blair Warner, on the sitcom The Facts of Life. Coster created the role of Robert Delaney on Somerset in March 1970 and later moved to Another World playing the same character. He played gangster-turned-informant Anthony Makana on One Life to Live, but left that series to create the role of Lionel Lockridge on Santa Barbara. He played kidnapper Steve Andrews on the ABC soap opera All My Children and returned to Another World for its 25th anniversary in 1989. He returned to his role on Santa Barbara in 1990 until the show was canceled in January 1993. He had portrayed the character of Lionel Lockridge in a total of 599 episodes. He appeared on As the World Turns from 1993 to 1995.

Coster was a scuba diving instructor and maintained a foundation that organizes sailing trips and teaches scuba diving for people who are disabled, holding a captain's license. He married actress Candace Hilligoss (divorced 1981), with whom he had two children. Coster died at a hospital in Hallandale Beach, Florida on June 26, 2023, at the age of 89, according to his daughter.