© 2026 ABC News

Cordero had been on a ventilator in a Los Angeles hospital since early April after going to the emergency room for what he thought was pneumonia.

While hospitalized, he suffered from multiple infections, sustained lung damage, spent time in a medically induced coma and required a leg amputation, among other health issues. He died on July 5, 2020.

On the day of Cordero's passing, Braff shared an emotional tribute, saying he's \"never known a kinder person\" than the Broadway star.

\"The last thing he ever texted me was to look out for his wife and one year old son, Elvis,\" Braff wrote alongside a photo of Cordero and Kloots. \"I promise the world they will never want for anything. I feel so incredibly grateful I got to have Nick Cordero enter my life.\"

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Zach Braff (@zachbraff) on Jul 5, 2020 at 6:55pm PDT

He later shared a snap of himself with Cordero, captioning the post, \"He played the tough guy, but he was the kindest teddy bear you'd ever have met.\"

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Zach Braff (@zachbraff) on Jul 6, 2020 at 9:09am PDT

Read more about Nick Cordero's long-fought experience with COVID-19 here.

","canonicalUrl":"https://abcnews.com/GMA/Culture/zach-braff-shares-thought-friend-nick-corderos-death/story?id=71712461","legacySlug":"/culture/story/zach-braff-shares-thought-friend-nick-corderos-death-71712461","noIndexNoFollow":false},"publishTime":"16:06","publishDate":"07-10-2020","updatedTime":"17:02","updatedDate":"07-10-2020","socialImage":{"alt":"Nick Cordero and Zach Braff attend the Broadway Opening Night Arrivals for \"Burn This\" at the Hudson Theatre in New York City, April 15, 2019.","credit":"Walter Mcbride/FilmMagic via Getty Images ","ratio":"16x9","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/zach-braff-nick-cordero-gty-rc-200710_hpMain_16x9_1600.jpg","width":992,"height":558},"datePublished":"7/10/2020 16:06:00 GMT","video":{"live":false,"id":71712461,"headline":"Zach Braff reflects on friend Nick Cordero's death","mediaAssetTitle":"ZACH BRAFF WEAR A MASK","description":"Zach Braff shared a thought that's kept him up about Nick Cordero's death.","duration":"5:03","posterImg":{"url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","width":608,"height":342},"video":{"feed":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/12/201230_gma_digital_celeb_corona_died2_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8"},"playlist":["71645829","71627466","71004829"]},"relatedItems":[{"contentType":"story","date":"July 7, 2020","headline":"Actor's widow shares emotional video tribute to late husband","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/amanda-kloots-shares-emotional-video-tribute-late-husband-71645829","id":71645829,"image":{"alt":"Actor's widow shares emotional video tribute to late husband","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/200513_gma_strahan2_0737_hpMain_1x1_240.jpg","credit":"ABCNews.com","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"July 6, 2020","headline":"Tributes pour in for Broadway star Nick Cordero after long battle with COVID-19","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/stars-pay-tribute-life-broadway-actor-nick-cordero-71627466","id":71627466,"image":{"alt":"Tributes pour in for Broadway star Nick Cordero after long battle with COVID-19","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/nick-cordero-gty-jt-200706_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Walter McBride/FilmMagic via Getty Images, FILE","ratio":"1x1"}},{"contentType":"story","date":"July 6, 2020","headline":"Broadway star Nick Cordero dies at 41 after long battle with COVID-19","section":"culture","slug":"/culture/story/broadway-star-nick-cordero-dies-41-long-battle-71004829","id":71004829,"image":{"alt":"Broadway star Nick Cordero dies at 41 after long battle with COVID-19","url":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/kloots-cordero-file-gty-jef-200520_hpMain_4x3t_240.jpg","credit":"Noam Galai/Getty Images, FILE","ratio":"1x1"}}],"relatedContentSection":"news","schemaContent":{"name":"Zach Braff reflects on friend Nick Cordero's death","description":"Zach Braff shared a thought that's kept him up about Nick Cordero's death.","duration":"5:03","uploadDate":"07-10-2020","publication":"07-10-2020","images":"https://s.abcnews.com/images/GMA/default-img-undefined.png","url":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/12/201230_gma_digital_celeb_corona_died2_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","contentUrl":"https://service-pkgabcnews.akamaized.net/opp/hls/abcnews/2020/12/201230_gma_digital_celeb_corona_died2_,500,800,1200,1800,2500,3200,4500,.mp4.csmil/playlist.m3u8","link":"https://www.goodmorningamerica.com/culture/story/zach-braff-shares-thought-friend-nick-corderos-death-71712461"}},"playlist":[{"id":"133712423","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133694181","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133688738","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616358","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133616342","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133522899","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133584123","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133579397","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133482839","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133390157","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133415361","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133414032","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133380485","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133358298","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133350119","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133307515","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133307527","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133282665","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133220149","contentType":"story","section":"news"},{"id":"133179167","contentType":"story","section":"news"}],"kvps":{"pgtyp":"article","lang":"en","sp":"goodmorningamerica","programmatic":"true","bundleId":"com.abcnews"}},"analytics":{"accountID":"wdgnewwdgnewgmaweb","ns":"gma","pageName":"gma:culture:video","pageType":"video","globalSpecVersion":"v1.08","siteDifferentiator":"gma:site","tagID":"g_page01","userABCookie":"0","section":"culture","title":"Zach Braff reflects on friend Nick Cordero's death","pubTime":"12:06","pubDate":"07-10-2020","modTime":"13:02","modDate":"07-10-2020","taxonomyTags":"none","id":71712461,"editorialOtherSubjects":"","wordCount":"none","columns":"none","authors":"Faith Bernstein","authorsUnit":"none","authorsBureau":"none","subBrand":"Good Morning America","provider":"Good Morning America","videoName":"Zach Braff reflects on friend Nick Cordero's death","mediaAssetTitle":"ZACH BRAFF WEAR A MASK","videoId":71712461,"mediaOnPage":"video","legacySlug":"/culture/story/zach-braff-shares-thought-friend-nick-corderos-death-71712461"},"taboola":{}},"request":{"headers":{},"httpVersion":"1.1","method":"GET","url":"/video/71712461","vary":{"host":"www.goodmorningamerica.com","cached":true,"path":"/video/71712461","forwarded-proto":"https","device":"desktop","userab":"0"}},"viewport":{"width":1260,"height":0},"user":{}};