Broadway star Nick Cordero has died at 41 after a months-long battle with COVID-19 complications that included an amputated leg and two mini-strokes, his wife announced Sunday evening on Instagram.
“God has another angel in heaven now,” Amanda Kloots wrote. “My darling husband passed away this morning. He was surrounded in love by his family, singing and praying as he gently left this earth.
“I am in disbelief and hurting everywhere. My heart is broken as I cannot imagine our lives without him.”
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For months, Kloots had chronicled Cordero’s life-and-death battle on Instagram, encouraging fans to sing one of his songs, “Live Your Life,” each day at 3 p.m.
“We sang it to him today, holding his hands. As I sang the last line to him, ‘they’ll give you hell but don’t you light them kill your light not without a fight. Live your life,’ I smiled because he definitely put up a fight,” Kloots wrote.
“I will love you forever and always my sweet man.”
The Tony-nominated Waitress and Rock of Ages star—who was the father of a 1-year-old son, Elvis—fell ill on March 20 and was initially diagnosed with pneumonia before testing positive for the coronavirus.
Cordero was put on a ventilator on March 31 and was in a medically induced coma until May 12. He faced a slew of complications from the virus, including the blood clots that forced doctors to amputate his right leg, severe lung damage, and septic shock.
He had a tracheostomy at one point and and recently underwent two rounds of experimental exosome treatments. Kloots, who was unable to see him for the first 11 weeks of hospitalization, said her husband lost 65 pounds and was too weak to move but could blink his eyes yes or no.
Cordero had been hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles for 94 days when he died. Tributes from the theater world quickly began pouring in.
“Devastating,” Hamilton star Lin-Manuel Miranda tweeted. “What a loss, what a light. Whole heart with Amanda and his family tonight.”
In a statement, Diane Paulus, who directed Cordero in Waitress on Broadway, said: “Nick was not only a great actor, but a big-hearted, positive soul that lifted the spirits of everyone around him. Working with him on Waitress was a total joy — he always listened so intently, and then with total command of his craft, he dedicated himself to the storytelling. The theatre world has lost one of its treasures. My heart goes out to Amanda and Elvis.”
