Tuesday, March 17, 2009

R.I.P Ron Silver.


I was very saddened to learn of the death of one of my favorite actors, Ron Silver. He was incredibly versatile, and has appeared in a variety of roles on the stage, and screen. He originated the role of "Charlie Fox," in one of my favorite plays, "Speed-the-Plow," by my favorite playwright, David Mamet. He played Alan Dershowitz in, "Reversal Of Fortune," opposite Jeremy Irons as Claus von Bulow. He had a great stint on "The West Wing," and was in so many other TV shows as well.

He was also, for a time, my neighbor. Mind you, not my next door neighbor, but he lived in the same village in Westchester County where I lived prior to moving to Rochester. He was a frequent visitor in the camera shop in the village center where I would go to get my film developed and my camera serviced. He was always quite cordial, though also a little stand-offish. I suppose this was to protect his privacy, for which I can't blame him.

He was also very politically active, which came as a surprise. He was very much a maverick, having voted for Bush in 2004, even after being a staunch Democrat for much of his life. In reading about his political leanings, it would appear that he was more of a pragmatist than anything else. Personally, his political leanings don't concern me. He was an exceptional actor, and that is all I really cared about.

He will be missed.

4 comments:

Sistertex said...

Oh No! I had not heard this. Very sad.

Anonymous said...

I didn't know who he was till you mentioned West Wing - I thought he looked familiar, but couldn't place him. That will be where I've seen him.

It sounds as though he'll be a real loss. So sad to see our favourites disappear. Even sadder for their families, of course.

A said...

I basically knew him best from "The West Wing", a series that ran with some success in Belgium.

It's always sad to lose someone to cancer, but I had no idea he once was your neighbor.

Strangely enough, his personal life (divorced, two children) was hardly mentioned by most news sources.

Unknown said...

I, too, loved Ron. He was an excellent actor. Yes, he will be missed. And heck, I didn't even know he was sick!