Broadway actor Nick Cordero dead at 41 of coronavirus

Broadway and TV actor Nick Cordero, who spent months in intensive care being treated for the coronavirus died Sunday, he was 41 years old.

Nick Cordero was supported by a multitude of new worldwide fans who rallied behind him as he struggled with the coronavirus.

“My darling husband passed away this morning. He was surrounded in love by his family, singing and praying as he gently left this earth,” Amanda Kloots wrote on Instagram. “I am in disbelief and hurting everywhere. My heart is broken as I cannot imagine our lives without him.”

Cordero was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in late March for what was initially thought to be pneumonia. A first coronavirus test came up negative, though a subsequent test was positive for COVID-19. 

Over the course of 13 weeks, Cordero faced a multitude of serious complications, including a leg amputation, infections in his lungs, and the insertion of a temporary pacemaker.

Kloots regularly shared updates to her followers via social media on the ups and downs of her husband’s recovery. Fans and well-wishers gathered daily to dance to Cordero’s song “Live Your Life,” in hopes of buoying the actor as he lay in a coma, often with the hashtags #WakeUpNick, #OffTheVent or #CodeRocky.

Cordero had shown signs of improvement, but his numerous COVID-19 complications proved too much to overcome. 

The Broadway star regained consciousness in early May after months of being comatose, but Kloots said her husband still couldn’t move or talk by mid-June, in part because of significant weight loss due to muscle atrophy. 

The Canadian-born actor earned a Tony Award nomination in 2014 for his role in “Bullets Over Broadway” and also starred in productions of “Rock of Ages,” “Waitress” and “A Bronx Tale.”

Zach Braff, who starred in Broadway’s “Bullets Over Broadway” with Cordero, wrote on Instagram that the actor died at 11:40 a.m. Sunday with Kloots and his mother at his side.

“I have honestly never known a kinder person,” Braff wrote. “But COVID doesn’t care about the purity of your soul or the goodness in your heart.” 

From the time he was admitted to the hospital until June 19, Kloots was not able to visit her husband because of coronavirus restrictions. Instead, she checked in on him via FaceTime set up by his nurses. 

On Day 79 of his hospitalization, she posted a photo of herself finally holding his hand in the ICU. 

The virus has sickened other Broadway veterans, including actors Danny Burstein, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Gavin Creel, Aaron Tveit, and Laura Bell Bundy, as well as composer David Bryan. It also claimed the life of Tony-winning playwright Terrence McNally.