Born in the
Little Italy section of
Manhattan, Coco was the son of Felice Lescoco, a shoemaker, and Ida Detestes Lescoco. The family moved to the
Pelham Bay section of
The Bronx when he was an infant, where he lived until his late teens. in
New York City. As an overweight and prematurely balding adult, he found himself relegated to character roles. He made his
Broadway debut in
Hotel Paradiso in 1957, but his first major recognition was for
Off-Broadway's
The Moon in Yellow River by
Denis Johnston, for which he won an
Obie Award. In 1964 Coco toured with a production of
The Irregular Verb to Love, with
Cyril Richard, and they appeared at the oldest
Summer stock theater, Denver's
Elitch Theatre. Coco's first modern collaboration with playwright
Terrence McNally was a 1968
Off-Broadway double-bill of the one-act plays
Sweet Eros and
Witness, followed by ''
Here's Where I Belong, a disastrous Broadway musical adaptation of East of Eden that closed on opening night. They had far greater success with their next project, Next, a two-character play with Elaine Shore, which ran for more than 700 performances and won Coco the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Performance. Sixteen years later, the two reunited for the Manhattan Theatre Club production of It's Only a Play''. Coco, a veteran of many failed diets, was the author of the bestselling book
The James Coco Diet, released on February 1, 1983, which documented his successful experience of the Structure House Weight Loss Plan, developed by
Gerard Musante. However, he only lived four years after the release of his book. ==Film and television roles==