Of all of the “Cheers” alumni, Woody Harrelson has had the most successful feature film career, having been nominated for three Oscars for “The People vs. Larry Flynt,” “The Messenger,” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.” He joined “Cheers” following the sudden death of Nicholas Colasanto, who played Coach, the original beloved, yet bumbling barkeep on the show. Colasanto died of a heart attack in 1985 at age 61 toward the end of production on Season 3 (via New York Times).
When the series returned for Season 4, Harrelson joined the cast as Woody Boyd, a country bumpkin from Indiana who comes to “Cheers” to meet Coach with whom he was pen pals. After learning Coach has died, Woody accepts the open bartending position, and like Coach, Woody is usually oblivious to the world around him. Harrelson received five Emmy Award nominations for his work, winning once in 1989.
Harrelson grew up in Midland, Texas. He had a tumultuous childhood, with his father leaving the family when Harrelson was seven years old. His father was sentenced to two life sentences for the murder of a U.S. District Judge and died in prison in 2007, per Entertainment Weekly. In May 2002, Harrelson opened a cannabis dispensary in West Hollywood, California called The Woods, according to Forbes. In November 2022, he presented his friend Michael J. Fox with the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award at the Motion Picture Academy’s Governors Awards ceremony.
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