Craig T. Nelson pays moving tribute to late 'Coach' co-star Shelley Fabares

Craig T. Nelson is lamenting the loss of his Coach co-star Shelley Fabares.

For those unaware, Fabares passed away after a brief illness at the age of 82 on August 22, 2026. Her family refrained from sharing the exact cause of her death; however, she had a successful liver transplant in October 2000 after battling autoimmune hepatitis and it was not specified whether her historical health struggles contributed to her passing.

Nelson, who played the role of Coach Hayden Fox, husband of Fabares’ Christine Armstrong Fox in Coach, paid a moving tribute to his late co-star in a statement shared with Entertainment Weekly.

The 82-year-old American actor said, “Shelley was a great and grand lady… just a rock. I will miss her. She was a foundational part of my life during the run of Coach.”

He went on to sing praises of Fabares, admitting that she was “just an extraordinary woman. She always had a smile.”

“She was welcoming in the midst of chaos and always someone I could go to for advice and counsel, not only myself but others as well. I’ll remember you with love, Shelley Fabares,” The Family Stone star confessed.

It is pertinent to mention that Craig T. Nelson and Shelley Fabares worked in the ABC sitcom Coach across the nine-season run, which started in February 1989 and ended in May 1997.