Nicholas Eduardo Alberto Cordero (September 17, 1978 – July 5, 2020) was a Canadian actor and singer. He was nominated for the

Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical This is a list of the winners and nominations of Tony Award for the Best Performance by a Featured Actor in a Musical. The award has been given since 1947, but the nominees who did not win have only been publicly announced since 1956. Winner and ...

for his role as Cheech in the 2014

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

musical ''

Bullets Over Broadway ''Bullets Over Broadway'' is a 1994 American black comedy crime film directed by Woody Allen, written by Allen and Douglas McGrath and starring an ensemble cast including John Cusack, Dianne Wiest, Chazz Palminteri and Jennifer Tilly. The film ...

'' and was twice nominated for

Drama Desk Awards The Drama Desk Award is an annual prize recognizing excellence in New York theatre. First bestowed in 1955 as the Vernon Rice Award, the prize initially honored Off-Broadway productions, as well as Off-off-Broadway, and those in the vicinity. Fo ...

. His career also included television and film roles. Cordero died at age 41 from

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

-related complications after more than three months in the hospital.

Early life

Cordero was born and raised in

Hamilton, Ontario Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Hamilton has a population of 569,353, and its census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington and Grimsby, has a population of 785,184. The city is approximately southwest of T ...

, to a Canadian mother and a father from

Costa Rica Costa Rica (, ; ; literally "Rich Coast"), officially the Republic of Costa Rica ( es, República de Costa Rica), is a country in the Central American region of North America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the no ...

. He graduated from

Westdale Secondary School Westdale Secondary School is a public high school founded in 1931 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. It is a school in the city of Hamilton and is located in Westdale Village, a suburb in the west-end of the city. It is administered by the Hamilton ...

in Hamilton and attended

Ryerson University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public university, public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Garden District, although i ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

for two years before dropping out to perform in the band Lovemethod.

Career

Cordero's acting debut was in the title role in the

off-Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

production of '' The Toxic Avenger''. He also played the role of Dennis in ''

Rock of Ages Rock of Ages may refer to: Films * ''Rock of Ages'' (1918 film), a British silent film by Bertram Phillips * ''Rock of Ages'' (2012 film), a film adaptation of the jukebox musical (see below) Music * ''Rock of Ages'' (musical), a 2006 rock ...

'' on Broadway in 2012 and on tour. Cordero appeared on

in 2014 in the musical ''

'' in the role of Cheech, for which he was nominated for the

and the

Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical The Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical is an annual award presented by Drama Desk in recognition of achievements in the theatre among Broadway, Off Broadway and Off-Off Broadway productions. The awards were established in ...

. He won the

Outer Critics Circle Award The Outer Critics Circle Awards are presented annually for theatrical achievements both on Broadway and Off-Broadway. They are presented by the Outer Critics Circle (OCC), the official organization of New York theater writers for out-of-town newspa ...

for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical and a

Theatre World Award The Theatre World Award is an American honor presented annually to actors and actresses in recognition of an outstanding New York City stage debut performance, either on Broadway theatre, Broadway or Off-Broadway. It was first awarded for the 1945� ...

for the role. In March 2016, Cordero joined the Broadway production of ''

Waitress Waiting staff (British English), waitstaff (North American English), waiters (male) / waitresses (female), or servers (North American English), are those who work at a restaurant, a diner, or a bar and sometimes in private homes, attending ...

'', playing the role of Earl. He left ''Waitress'' to join the Broadway premiere of the musical ''

A Bronx Tale ''A Bronx Tale'' is a 1993 American coming-of-age crime film directed by and starring Robert De Niro in his directorial debut and produced by Jane Rosenthal, adapted from Chazz Palminteri's 1989 play of the same name. It tells the coming of ...

'', playing Sonny at the

Longacre Theatre The Longacre Theatre is a Broadway theatre, Broadway theater at 220 West 48th Street (Manhattan), 48th Street in the Theater District, Manhattan, Theater District of Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States. Opened in 1913, it was desi ...

starting on November 3, 2016. For this role, Cordero was nominated for the

in 2017. Also in 2017, he portrayed Victor Lugo in " Out of the Blue" and " Heavy Is the Head", the fourth and tenth episodes of the eighth season of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

police procedural drama '' Blue Bloods''. He reprised the role in 2018 in " Your Six", the twentieth episode of the eighth season of the show. In March 2020 Cordero moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

to work in a production of ''

''.

Personal life

On September 3, 2017, Cordero married dancer

Amanda Kloots Amanda Kloots (born March 19, 1982) is an American television personality, dancer, actress and fitness instructor. Since 2021, she has been a co-host of the daytime talk show '' The Talk''. Early life Kloots is the second youngest of five childr ...

in a formal ceremony. Their son was born in 2019.

Illness and death

Cordero was initially diagnosed with

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

while staying with his wife and son at the guest house of former ''

'' co-star

Zach Braff Zachary Israel Braff'Scrubs' Star Zach Braff Wows ...

. He was admitted to a hospital on March 30, 2020, where he was later diagnosed with

during the pandemic in Los Angeles. Cordero was listed in critical condition, was placed on a

ventilator A ventilator is a piece of medical technology that provides mechanical ventilation by moving breathable air into and out of the lungs, to deliver breaths to a patient who is physically unable to breathe, or breathing insufficiently. Ventilators ...

, and was being treated with dialysis and

extracorporeal membrane oxygenation Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO), also known as extracorporeal life support (ECLS), is an extracorporeal technique of providing prolonged cardiac and respiratory support to persons whose heart and lungs are unable to provide an adequat ...

(ECMO). On April 18, 2020, his right leg was

amputated Amputation is the removal of a limb by trauma, medical illness, or surgery. As a surgical measure, it is used to control pain or a disease process in the affected limb, such as malignancy or gangrene. In some cases, it is carried out on indivi ...

due to a

blood clot A thrombus (plural thrombi), colloquially called a blood clot, is the final product of the blood coagulation step in hemostasis. There are two components to a thrombus: aggregated platelets and red blood cells that form a plug, and a mesh of c ...

as a result of complications from his illness. By May 1, 2020, he had major lung damage including "holes in his lungs" and lung scarring. A

tracheostomy Tracheotomy (, ), or tracheostomy, is a surgical airway management procedure which consists of making an incision (cut) on the anterior aspect (front) of the neck and opening a direct airway through an incision in the Vertebrate trachea, trache ...

tube was inserted to help him breathe. On July 5, 2020, after 95 days in the hospital, Cordero died at

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Cedars-Sinai Medical Center is a nonprofit, tertiary, 886-bed teaching hospital and multi-specialty academic health science center located in Los Angeles, California. Part of the Cedars-Sinai Health System, the hospital employs a staff of over 2 ...

, at age 41. His body was cremated.

Memory

On July 7, 2020, an effort was launched to rename the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

after Cordero. On September 2, 2021, the Broadway production of ''Waitress'' paid tribute to Cordero, with Kloots and the show's cast performing his single "Live Your Life". Additionally, the "Live Your Life Pie" has become a permanent part of the show's set and script. A film of a rooftop performance of a song from

is dedicated to his memory, commemorating his portrayal of Cheech.

Filmography

Film

Television

Theatre

Awards and nominations

References

External links

*
Nick Cordero
at the

Internet Broadway Database The Internet Broadway Database (IBDB) is an online database of Broadway theatre productions and their personnel. It was conceived and created by Karen Hauser in 1996 and is operated by the Research Department of The Broadway League, a trade assoc ...

Nick Cordero
at the

Internet Off-Broadway Database The Internet Off-Broadway Database (IOBDB), also formerly known as the Lortel Archives, is an online database that catalogues theatre productions shown off-Broadway. The IOBDB was funded and developed by the non-profit Lucille Lortel Foundation ...

Nick Cordero Interview
at

Playbill.com ''Playbill'' is an American monthly magazine for theatergoers. Although there is a subscription issue available for home delivery, most copies of ''Playbill'' are printed for particular productions and distributed at the door as the show's p ...

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cordero, Nick 1978 births 2020 deaths 21st-century Canadian male actors Canadian emigrants to the United States Canadian male musical theatre actors Male actors from Hamilton, Ontario Theatre World Award winners Canadian people of Costa Rican descent Deaths from pulmonary fibrosis Deaths from the COVID-19 pandemic in California