Editing James Coco (section)

==Early life and career==
Born in the [[Little Italy, Manhattan|Little Italy]] section of [[Manhattan]],<ref name="NYT-McQuiston">{{cite news| last1=McQuiston| first1=John T.| title=James Coco, Movie, TV And Stage Actor, Dies| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/26/obituaries/james-coco-movie-tv-and-stage-actor-dies.html| access-date=March 5, 2019| newspaper=[[The New York Times]]| date=February 26, 1987}}</ref> Coco was the son of Felice Lescoco, a shoemaker, and Ida Detestes Lescoco (Coco being a shortened version of his birth name).

The family moved to the [[Pelham Bay (neighborhood), Bronx|Pelham Bay section of the Bronx]] when he was an infant, where he lived until his late teens.<ref name="NYT-McQuiston" />

James began acting straight out of high school.<ref name=NYT-Bennetts/> He received his acting training at [[HB Studio]]<ref>{{cite web| url=https://hbstudio.org/about-hb-studio/alumni/| website=HB Studio| title=Alumni| access-date=September 7, 2022}}</ref> in New York City. As an overweight and prematurely balding adult, he found himself relegated to character roles. He made his [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] debut in ''Hotel Paradiso'' in 1957, but his first major recognition was for [[Off-Broadway]]'s ''The Moon in Yellow River'' by [[Denis Johnston]], for which he won an [[Obie Award]].<ref name="iobdb">{{iobdb name|14390}}</ref>

Coco's first modern collaboration with playwright [[Terrence McNally]] was a 1968 [[Off-Broadway]] double-bill of the one-act plays ''[[Sweet Eros]]'' and ''[[Witness (play)|Witness]]'', followed by ''[[Here's Where I Belong]]'', a disastrous Broadway musical adaptation of ''[[East of Eden (novel)|East of Eden]]'' that closed on opening night. They had far greater success with their next project, ''[[Next (play)|Next]]'', a two-character play with [[Elaine Shore]], which ran for more than 700 performances and won Coco the [[Drama Desk Award]] for Outstanding Performance. Sixteen years later, the two reunited for the [[Manhattan Theatre Club]] production of ''[[It's Only a Play]]''.<ref name="iobdb"/>

Coco also achieved success with [[Neil Simon]], who wrote ''[[The Last of the Red Hot Lovers]]'' (1969) specifically for him. It earned him a [[Tony Award]] nomination as Best Actor in a Play. The two later joined forces for a Broadway revival of the musical ''[[Little Me (musical)|Little Me]]'' and the films ''[[Murder by Death]]'' (1976), ''[[The Cheap Detective]]'' (1978) and ''[[Only When I Laugh (film)|Only When I Laugh]]'' (1981), for which he was both [[Academy Awards|Oscar]]-nominated and [[Razzie]]-nominated.<ref name=LAT>{{cite news| title=Emmy Award-Winning Actor James Coco, 56, Dies of Heart Attack| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-02-26-mn-6080-story.html| agency=[[Associated Press]]| date=February 26, 1987| newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]| access-date=June 28, 2018}}</ref>

Coco, a veteran of many failed diets, was the author of the bestselling book ''The James Coco Diet'', released on February 1, 1983, which documented his successful experience of the Structure House Weight Loss Plan, developed by [[Gerard Musante]]. However, he only lived four years after the release of his book.<ref name="kirkusreviews/paone-coco">{{cite magazine| url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/james-marion-paone-coco/the-james-coco-diet/| title=The James Coco Diet| magazine=[[Kirkus Reviews]]| date=February 1, 1983| access-date=September 6, 2022}}</ref>