Tony-Nominated Broadway Actor Nick Cordero Dies at 41

BroadwayWorld is very sad to report that Tony-nominated actor Nick Cordero died this morning at 41 years of age at Cedar-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles after 91 days in the hospital. He is survived by his wife, fellow Broadway alum Amanda Kloots and their one-year-old son Elvis. The news was first confirmed by People.com on Sunday evening.

Shortly after the People.com story posted, Kloots confirmed the sad news on Instagram, writing in part, "God has another angel in heaven now. My darling husband passed away this morning. He was surrounded in love by his family, singing and praying as he gently left this earth."

In late March 2020, Cordero was admitted to Cedar-Sinai and after a number of false-negatives, was diagnosed with COVID-19. Due to his advanced condition, doctors placed him in a medically induced coma in order to begin an aggressive treatment, including putting him on a ventilator.

Despite eventually being declared coronavirus-free, he continued to battle infections, unstable blood pressure, and other complications. During his treatment, Kloots shared the ups and downs of Cordero's battle against the coronavirus on social media.

After doctors were unable to reverse Cordero's low blood-pressure as it began causing complications in his leg and foot, on April 18, his right leg was amputated, in hopes of focusing his blood flow to critical organs.

A month later, after being slowly being weaned off of the medication keeping him in the coma, on May 13, Cordero regained consciousness, but only with enough energy to communicate with doctors using his eyes. Last week, Kloots shared an update noting that her husband was able to interact "with his eyes, answering questions by looking up for yes and down for no. When he is alert he can also move his jaw."

She also told CBS's Gayle King that her ultimate hope is that Cordero would receive a double-lung transplant. "We think that that is most likely the possibility," she said, "[there is] a 99% chance that he would be needing that in order to live the kind of life I know my husband would want to live."

A GoFundMe drive for Cordero's family has now raised over $601,000. If you can donate, please do so here. Since March, Kloots has been encouraging friends, family, and fans to sing and dance to her husband's songs and to post them on social media. Even when protocol would not allow her to visit in person, she would stand outside the hospital and play the music in hopes of encouraging her husband to fight to wake up.

Cordero originated the role of Earl in the Broadway smash hit "Waitress" and starred in "A Bronx Tale." Cordero broke onto the Broadway scene when he played Cheech in Woody Allen & Susan Stroman's "Bullets Over Broadway," for which he earned 2014 Tony & Drama Desk nominations, and Outer Critics Circle and Theater World Awards.

Cordero also appeared on Broadway as Dennis in "Rock Of Ages," as well as the 1st National Tour. Other New York theater credits include "Nice Girl" (LAByrinth), "Brooklynite" (Vineyard), and "The Toxic Avenger" (New World Stages).

In TV and film, he appeared in "Queer As Folk" (Showtime), "Lilyhammer" (Netflix), "Law & Order: SVU" (NBC/Universal), A Stand Up Guy (2B Films), and Going In Style (Warner Bros.).