Broadway star Nick Cordero has passed away on July 5 at the age of 41 due to complications from the coronavirus. The tragic news was confirmed via Instagram by his wife, Amanda Kloots, 38. “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,” wrote of Nick, whom she shares 1-year-old son Elvis Eduardo with.
“I am in disbelief and hurting everywhere. My heart is broken as I cannot imagine our lives without him. Nick was such a bright light,” she added in her message, captioning a black-and-white photo of her husband, which you can see here. “He definitely put up a fight. I will love you forever and always my sweet man,” she concluded. Learn more about the Canadian-born Broadway star who will forever be remembered.
1. Nick was a Canadian actor. Nick was born on Sept. 17, 1978, in Hamilton, Ontario, which is a town about an hour outside of Toronto. His parents were schoolteachers, and he discovered his flair for acting early on. “Theater kept me out of trouble,” he said, per the Washington Post. Nick began performing cabaret at age 14, and later got a job singing on a cruise ship.
He attended Westdale Secondary School in Hamilton, before going on to pursue his post-secondary education at Ryerson University in Toronto for two years. He dropped out to play guitar and sing with his rock band, Lovemethod. In the early 2000s, he began focusing on acting and by 2007, he headed down to New York City to fame and fortune
2. Nick had his leg amputated after a complication from COVID-19. “We got some difficult news yesterday,” Nick’s wife, Amanda, wrote on April 18. “Basically, we had issues with his right leg with clotting and getting blood down to his toes. And it just isn’t happening with surgery and everything…they had him on blood thinners for the clotting and, unfortunately, the blood thinners were causing other issues: blood pressure and some internal bleeding in his intestines,” she continued, going on to confirm the unfortunate result. “We took him off the blood thinners, but that again was going to cause some clotting in the right leg. So the right leg will be amputated today,” she explained.
3. He was nominated for a Tony Award in 2014. Nick was a nominee in the ‘Best Actor in a Musical’ category at the 2014 Tony Awards for his work in Bullets Over Broadway. Although he didn’t win the Tony, he took home the top prize for ‘Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical’ at the Outer Critics Circle Awards. During the production, Nick bonded with the ensemble cast – led by Zach Braff – and many of his former castmembers mourned his death online. “Nick Cordero passed…” tweeted Zach shortly after his friend’s death. “I can honestly tell you I have never met a kinder human being. …I am so grateful for the time we had”
4. Nick became a fan-favorite following turns in Waitress and A Bronx Tale on Broadway. Nick originated the role of Earl in Sara Bareilles’ hit musical Waitress before leaving the show to join the original Broadway cast of A Bronx Tale, in which he played Sonny. He also had roles in the off-Broadway musical The Toxic Avenger and was cast as a replacement performer in Rock of Ages, according to the Washington Post.
5. He also appeared on television. The Canada native, who grew up in Ontario, portrayed the role of Victor Lugo on the CBS police procedural drama Blue Bloods from 2017-18 over a number of episodes.