Broadway Star Nick Cordero, Who Died Sunday After Long Battle With Coronavirus, Remembered As A Force Of Nature On Stage
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Tributes are pouring in for Broadway star Nick Cordero, who died after a three-month battle with coronavirus.
Cordero was just 41 when he died Sunday at a Los Angeles hospital. His wife, Amanda Kloots, wrote on Instagram, "He was surrounded in love by his family, singing and praying as he gently left this Earth."
Cordero was known as a force of nature on stage. He made his broadway debut in 2012 and later went on to originate the role of mob boss "Sonny" in the stage production of Chazz Palminteri's "A Bronx Tale," choreographed by Sergio Trujillo.
"Nick had an exceptional talent. He was so tall, so imposing, but yet there was this charisma and inner peace that he carried," Trujillo told Moore.
Cordero and Kloots first met as cast mates in "Bullets Over Broadway." They later had a son, Elvis, who was often by Amanda's side as she updated fans and the public about Nick's long battle with coronavirus.
The young father was placed in a medically-induced coma three months ago. Cordero woke up from that coma, but suffered setback after setback. In April, coronavirus complications forced doctors to amputate his right leg. To fully recover, Kloots told CBS This Morning, Nick would need an even more significant surgery.
"Our ultimate, ultimate goal would to be to get him to be a candidate for a double-lung transplant," Kloots said. "We think that that is most likely the possibility."
Cordero ultimately lost his battle with the coronavirus after 95 long days in the hospital, but Trujillo said his life has left an indelible mark on Broadway and the world.
"He made it. He was able to be a Latino leading man on Broadway, and that's an achievement on its own," Trujillo said.
An achievement that will live on, long after his death.
Kloots sad she'd been told on four different occasions from doctors that Cordero wasn't going to make it, but he kept rallying and she thought he would pull through once again.
Sadly, over the weekend, it was not meant to be.