Nick Cordero was a regular on the Broadway stage. He’d had lead roles in A Bronx Tale, Waitress, and Bullets Over Broadway, the latter of which earned him a Tony nomination for “best-featured actor in a musical.” Sadly, Cordero passed away on Sunday after suffering complications from the coronavirus. He was 41.
In April, Cordero’s wife Amanda Kloots asked fans for their prayers. He was sick with what they thought was pneumonia, she explained. She wrote that they believed he had been misdiagnosed and said they were waiting to hear if he had COVID-19. Cordero was sent to the ICU, where he was put into a medically-induced coma to get oxygen. Kloots posted for weeks after, noting in June that Cordero had been sick for about 85 days and that he was “profoundly weak.”
After sharing that Cordero had passed, she thanked his doctors and fans who sent an outpouring of love and support.
“Nick was such a bright light. He was everyone’s friend, loved to listen, help and especially talk. He was an incredible actor and musician. He loved his family and loved being a father and husband. Elvis and I will miss him in everything we do, everyday,” she wrote.
Cordero, who was 6 feet 5 inches, is remembered as a jack of all trades who learned to tap dance for his memorable role as Cheech in Bullets Over Broadway. He said in a 2014 New York Times interview that he’d always been a dancer and grew up learning styles of Latin dances.
“It was definitely intimidating. But I’ve always danced,” he shared. “My father’s Latino, so when I was a kid, we’d all get in the caravan and go to these Latin dances, and I’d dance with these older girls. I thought I was super cool.”