Nick Cordero, the Broadway actor whose struggle with the coronavirus has been widely publicized over the last several months, has passed away at the age of 41. Cordero leaves behind his wife, Amanda Kloots, and their 1-year-old son, Elvis Cordero.
The actor gained acclaim for his roles in Broadway productions like A Bronx Tale, Waitress, and Bullets Over Broadway, for which he earned a Tony Award nomination for “Best Featured Actor in a Musical” in 2014. In 2017 and 2018, he appeared in a guest role on three episodes of Blue Bloods.
Cordero’s death was confirmed via Instagram by his wife, Amanda Kloots, who has documented Cordero’s battle with the virus on social media since his hospitalization in late March. As Kloots documented in her posts, Cordero initially fell ill in late March. Originally diagnosed with pneumonia, his illness was later linked to coronavirus and he was hospitalized by the end of the month.
Cordero was kept alive with a variety of procedures over the ensuing months including a ventilator, dialysis, and a specialized heart-lung bypass machine, but his condition continued to worsen. As Kloots documented on her Instagram, his heart briefly stopped and he suffered sepsis and endured multiple minor heart attacks. In April, doctors were forced to amputate his leg due to a blood clot.
While Cordero remained unresponsive, Kloots began using her husband’s original song “Live Your Life” as a rallying cry on her regular posts. Various members of the music community quickly joined in, encouraging his recovery with performance videos of the song and well wishes shared with the hashtag #WakeUpNick.
Nick Cordero – “Live Your Life”
Renegade Theatre for Nick Cordero ft. Constantine Maroulis, Steve Van Zandt, Vincent Pastore, More – “Live Your Life” (Nick Cordero)
[Video: Little Steven]
As Kloots noted in her post announcing Cordero’s passing, “I cannot begin to thank everyone enough for the outpour of love , support and help we’ve received these last 95 days. You have no idea how much you lifted my spirits at 3pm everyday as the world sang Nicks song, Live Your Life. We sang it to him today, holding his hands. As I sang the last line to him, ‘they’ll give you hell but don’t you light them kill your light not without a fight. Live your life,’ I smiled because he definitely put up a fight. I will love you forever and always my sweet man.” You can read the full post below:
In the wake of Nick Cordero’s passing, people from across the entertainment industry have come forward to offer remembrances of the performer. As actor and longtime friend Zach Braff noted in an Instagram post, “I have honestly never known a kinder person. But Covid doesn’t care about the purity of your soul, or the goodness in your heart. The last thing he ever texted me was to look out for his wife and one year old son, Elvis. I promise the world they will never want for anything. I feel so incredibly grateful I got to have Nick Cordero enter my life.”
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He played the tough guy, but he was the kindest teddy bear you’d ever have met.
A fundraiser in support of Cordero’s wife and young child have been launched and is making the rounds on social media.
Support Amanda Kloots Nick Cordero & Elvis https://t.co/faAwFpI1Ev
— Lin-Manuel Miranda (@Lin_Manuel) July 6, 2020
The loss of Cordero is the latest blow to be dealt to the theater community by the ongoing pandemic. In late June, Thomas Schumacher, the chairman of the board of The Broadway League, confirmed that the ongoing shutdown of Broadway shows will now extend at least through the end of 2021.
The post Nick Cordero, Tony-Nominated Broadway Actor & Singer, Dies At 41 After Months-Long Battle With COVID-19 appeared first on L4LM.
