Manny Coto, Emmy Winning ’24’ and ‘American Horror Story’ Executive Producer, Dies at 62

Michael Schneider
·3 min read
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Emmy-winning writer/producer/director Manny Coto, whose credits include “24” and its sequels “24: Live Another Day” and “24: Legacy,” as well as “American Horror Story,” “Star Trek: Enterprise” and “Dexter,” died Sunday in Pasadena. He was 62.

News of Coto’s death was confirmed by a family representative. Coto died after a 13-month battle with pancreatic cancer, and passed away at his home, surrounded by family.

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Born in Havana, Cuba, Manuel Hector Coto was one of primetime’s most prominent Latino writers and showrunners. He shared the outstanding drama series Emmy in 2005 for Season 5 of “24,” and co-created “24: Legacy.” Coto also spend four seasons as exec producer of “American Horror Story,” and also exec produced two seasons of “American Horror Stories,” directing the 2021 episode “Feral.”

“Manny was an incredibly beloved member of the 20th Television and FX family for close to two decades,” the studio and network said in a joint statement. “He was brilliantly creative with a deep intellectual curiosity, and his loyalty and friendship touched many. He will be immensely missed by all who were fortunate to have known and worked with him over the years, and our sincere condolences go out to his beautiful family at this most difficult time.”

Coto’s credits also include creating the Showtime series “Odyssey 5,” as well as the Fox series “Next.” He also worked on the final three seasons of “Dexter” and the final two seasons of “Star Trek: Enterprise.” Taking over “Enterprise” as showrunner in Season 4, that gig represented a full-circle moment for Coto, who grew up watching the original “Star Trek” in reruns as a kid.

In features, Coto co-wrote and directed 1992’s “Dr. Giggles,” which found a new generation of fans via a Blu-ray re-release from Shout! Factory. And he co-wrote (with Brian Helgeland) the unproduced screenplay “The Ticking Man” in 1990, which at the time made headlines for selling for $1.2 million — a then-staggering amount for a spec script.

Coto and his mother emigrated to the United States when he was less than a year old; his father, a physician, managed to join them several months later and establish a new practice in Orlando, Fla., where Coto grew up.

Coto grew up making home movies with his siblings and his father’s Super 8 camera. Later, he attended Loyola University in New Orleans, where he made a 16mm film about college life, “Roommates.”

Moving to Los Angeles in 1983, Coto started his career in commercials, and soon shot the murder mystery short “Twist,” starring Tippi Hedren. From there, he was accepted into the American Film Institute, where he made additional shorts, which led to episodes of the syndicated series “Monsters,” as well as an episode of a revived version of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents.”

Early features from Coto included the horror thriller “Playroom,” starring Christopher McDonald; the political thriller “Cover-Up,” starring Dolph Lundgren; the family sci-fi film “Star Kid”; and the Disney Channel movie “Zenon: The Zequel.”

Coto also built a model train room, collected pulp fiction and built a vineyard in his backyard — a Zinfandel/Petite Sirah blend that yields 200 bottles a year. Coto met his wife, visual effects supervisor Robin Trickett, on “Odyssey 5,” and they had four children together: Manny Austin (14), Riley (12) and twins Charlotte and Finley (9).

Besides his immediate family, Coto is survived by his mother Norma, his sister Normi, his brother Juan Carlos and eight nieces and nephews.

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