Biography

Coster was born in London to an American mother and a New Zealander father, who was a marine commander.

He first appeared in the NBC soap opera Young Doctor Malone. Later, he created the role of Professor Paul Britton on The Secret Storm, a role that he played in 1964 and from 1967-1968. Jed Allan, who also played that part, played his rival C.C. Capwell on "Santa Barbara". He played John Eldridge (one of Lisa's many husbands) in both the primetime serialized drama Our Private World and later on As the World Turns.

His first appearance on television was on an episode of The U.S. Steel Hour in 1959. Since then, he has racked up more than 80 appearances on three dozen television shows, guest-starring most notably as David Warner, the father of Blair Warner, on the sitcom The Facts of Life. He also spent one season on the NBC comedy Sheriff Lobo.

He returned to daytime television by first creating his Robert Delaney role on Another World during the weeks preceding the premiere of Somerset in March 1970. When the Delaneys were written out of that show in 1972, he went over to Another World where he played the role until 1976. Coster returned to the role briefly during the summer of 1980. He later played gangster-turned-informant Anthony Makana on One Life to Live but left to create the role of Lionel Lockridge on Santa Barbara. He left his role on that show briefly due to lack of storyline for his character, and during his 30-month hiatus, he played Travis Montgomery's kidnapper Steve Andrews on the ABC soap opera All My Children (briefly becoming involved with Erica Kane) and returned to Another World for its 25th anniversary in 1989. He later came back to Santa Barbara in the spring of 1990 when emphasis on the Lockridges was restored, but the show was eventually canceled in January 1993. He returned to play a second role on As the World Turns from 1993-95, once again playing one of Lisa's many husbands, Eduard Grimaldi.

Personal life

Coster is currently married to Beth Pantel, with three children (two from a previous marriage to actress Candace Hilligoss).

He is a Scuba Diving instructor and with his foundation teaches scuba diving and organizes sail trips for disabled people

Selected film roles

• My Blood Runs Cold (1965)
• The Sporting Club (1971)
• All the President's Men (1976)
• MacArthur (1977)
• The Big Fix (1978)
• Slow Dancing in the Big City (1978)
• Goldengirl (1979)
• Just You and Me, Kid (1979)
• The Concorde ... Airport '79 (1979)
• The Electric Horseman (1979)
• Little Darlings (1980)
• Stir Crazy (1980)
• The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper (1981)
• Reds (1981)
• Big Business (1988)
• How I Got into College (1989)
• Betsy's Wedding (1990)
• The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood (2000; TV movie)

[ Source: Wikipedia ]