Babylon 5 curse
Many bad things happened to the cast of Babylon 5 and many of them died young (defined by me under 65).
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Richard Biggs had a somewhat unsettled childhood as he travelled between Air Force bases where his father was stationed. Because of his itinerant lifestyle he made few friends and changed schools often. When he was seventeen, and living at a missile base in North Dakota, he decided to change his plans for a medical career after playing the lead in a local theatrical production of 'The Wiz'. After that, bitten by the acting bug and never deterred by deafness in one ear, he went on to complete a Bachelor of Fine Arts (majoring in performing arts) at USC's School of Theatre, with the distinguished actor John Houseman as one of his drama teachers. He later went on to give his own acting classes at the Will Geer Theatricum Botanicum in Topanga Canyon.
Like so many other aspiring performers, Richard had a tough time in his quest to get started in his chosen field. His chief difficulty lay in obtaining membership in the Screen Actor's Guild without experience, yet how was one to acquire experience without a union card ? Living in his car for much of this time, he made ends meet by playing small roles on stage, and, occasionally television. He also worked for a while as a telephone operator answering complaints for an LA waste disposal company. One of his local stage performances, as Romeo at the Ensemble Theatre, impressed an agent who took him on and landed him an audition for a part on the daytime soap opera Days of Our Lives (1965). Several auditions later, he got the part, and the SAG card as well.
For most of his career on television, Richard played doctors, an irony which was probably not lost on him: Dr.Tomson in The Twilight Zone (1985), Dr. Lecksis in Beverly Hills, 90210 (1990), Dr.Milo Morton in "Strong Medicine", and, of course, Dr.Marcus Hunter, in 1295 episodes of 'Days of Our Lives', from 1985 to 1992. Richard had done his homework for the part by observing a real plastic surgeon in action. However, having played the same individual for such a lengthy period led him later to express doubts about the one-dimensional 'goody two-shoes' nature of the character, who he would have preferred a little 'rougher around the edges'.
A far edgier and more complex part was that of Dr.Stephen Franklin, the chief medical officer of J. Michael Straczynski's cult sci-fi series Babylon 5 (1993). Richard played the humanly flawed, but mercurial character from 1994 to 1998 (also in three made-for-TV movies, and, briefly, in the short-lived spin-off series Crusade (1999), as part of a first-rate ensemble cast. His performances were often extremely compelling, particularly in the 'walkabout' episodes of season three, culminating with 'Shadow Dancing'.
Post-Babylon, Richard played a detective in Any Day Now (1998), returned to soap opera as Clayton Boudreaux in Guiding Light (1952) and had a brief run as a scientist in the unsuccessful TV spin-off Tremors (2003). The character in his last series, Strong Medicine (2000), was killed off in the show because of the actor's tragic, untimely death at the age of 44. Richard Biggs was eulogised by Babylon 5's Straczysnky as a 'consummate professional' and 'quite simply, a terrific guy'.Was mostly deaf, died at 44- Michael O'Hare was born on 6 May 1952 in Chicago, Illinois, USA. He was an actor, known for Babylon 5 (1993), C.H.U.D. (1984) and The Ambulance (1990). He was married to Ruth Ivy Ballam. He died on 28 September 2012 in the USA.Suffered Schizophrenia which forced him to quit after the first season. This didn't come to light until after his death. Died at 60.
- Actor
- Writer
- Producer
Jeff Conaway was born on 5 October 1950 in New York City, New York, USA. He was an actor and writer, known for Grease (1978), Taxi (1978) and Jawbreaker (1999). He was married to Kerri Young and Rona Newton-John. He died on 27 May 2011 in Encino, Los Angeles, California, USA.Suffered from major dug addiction. Died at 60- Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Andreas from a working-class Greek-American family. Attracted from early childhood to being on stage when at 4 his mother took him to see a community theater performance, he took theatre as an extra-curricular activity in high school. He then majored in it at St. Louis University, where he worked his way through school doing things like waiting on tables. Next, after earning a drama fellowship, Katsulas received a Master's Degree in Theater Arts from one of the nation's top schools for the genre, Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
With never a doubt or hesitation, Andreas jumped right into the professional theater world, performing in plays in his native St. Louis with the Loretto-Hilton Repertory Theater. This was followed by work with the Theatre Company of Boston. After that, Katsulas moved to New York to some challenging off-off-Broadway theater at La Mama. This was followed by a fifteen-year heart and soul involvement with Peter Brook's International Theatre Company in Paris, performing around the world with a challenging combination of improvisational theater in every imaginable circumstance and space, and "prepared" theater pieces in traditional, as well as unconventional, theatrical spaces. Katsulas trod the boards from Lincoln Center in New York and The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., to the "mean streets" of Brooklyn and marketplaces in remote African Villages. There were performances from elite Theater Festivals in Iran, Avignon and Belgrade: in prisons & mental institutions; at rock quarries in Australia; on barrios in Venezuela; in sewage plants in Switzerland; winding through the streets of Venice, Italy; in the fields with farm workers in California, near the lakes of Minnesota with Native Americans, in sometimes extreme conditions like snow, rain, and intensive heat.
During a hiatus from the stage, a part in Michael Cimino's The Sicilian (1987) brought Andreas to Los Angeles, after which he was immediately cast as Joey Venza in Ridley Scott's Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), then as Arthur, the chauffeur, in Blake Edwards's Sunset (1988).
In early 2005, Andreas was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer; he passed away a year later, in Los Angeles. He had lived there since 1986, and had hoped to return to working in the theater before his far-too-early death, just over three months shy of his 60th birthday.Was a heavy smoker and died of lung cancer at 59. - Dallas-born Tim Choate considered himself better qualified as a theatrical performer than as a screen actor. The University of Texas graduate had indeed a solid background in stagecraft, having performed on Broadway (including 300 performances in the Pulitzer prize-winning 'Crimes of the Heart') and the Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven, Connecticut, where he starred in 'The Philanthropist'. He also appeared alongside Stacy Keach in Peter Sellars's 1986 New York production of Robert E. Sherwood's 'Idiot's Delight', as a French communist (according to the New York magazine reviewer, sporting an impenetrable 'nouvelle' accent!).
On screen, Tim had a long association with Merchant/Ivory films, making his debut in The Europeans (1979). However, it was in a TV production, where he was to have a singularly popular impact. In an interview, he explained, that he felt comfortable in heavy make-up and using diverse accents, citing actors Paul Muni and Robert De Niro as among his role models. He added, that, by becoming chameleon-like, it became easier to 'take risks' with his performances. Thus he developed the character of Zathras in Babylon 5 (1993), a pivotal recurring role (with full prosthetic make-up) which did much to illuminate the complex story arc of the series between seasons one and three. According to Choate, he 'channelled' the accent of Zathras within minutes of the audition while waiting in a parking lot. Zathras was also played with a wonderful sense of impromptu humour which endeared this character to audiences worldwide. Sadly, Tim Choate died aged just 49 as a result of a motorcycle accident while on his way to rehearsals for the play 'Macbeth' at the Globe Playhouse.Was killed in a motorcycle accident at 49. - Actor
- Soundtrack
Jerry Doyle was born on 16 July 1956 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Babylon 5 (1993), Captain Simian & The Space Monkeys (1996) and Babylon 5: The River of Souls (1998). He was married to Andrea Thompson. He died on 27 July 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.Died at age 60- Robin Sachs was a British actor from London who is known for playing Ethan Rayne from Buffy the Vampire Slayer. He also voiced Zaeed Massani from Mass Effect, Sergeant Sam Roderick from SpongeBob SquarePants, and Admiral Saul Karath from Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic. He passed away in February 2013 due to heart failure.Died at 61
- Actor
- Director
- Producer
Stephen Furst was born on 8 May 1954 in Norfolk, Virginia, USA. He was an actor and director, known for National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), Babylon 5 (1993) and The Dream Team (1989). He was married to Lorraine Furst. He died on 16 June 2017 in Moorpark, California, USA.Died at 63