Ron Glass, Firefly's Shepherd Book, Has Died (hollywoodreporter.com) 67
Slashdot reader tiqui tells us that Emmy-nominated actor Ron Glass has died.
The actor was 71 and the family has not released more details of his death, but Firefly/Serenity fans can follow this link to the Hollywood Reporter for more information.
Firefly creator Joss Whedon posted on Twitter that Glass "got there with grace, humor and enormous heart. He was, among so many other things, my Shepherd. Raise, appropriately, a glass. Rest, Ron." And Nathan Fillion, who played Captain Reynolds on Firefly, posted an appropriate quote on Instagram. ("Shepard, don't move." "Won't go far...")
The actor's Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor came in 1982, for his role on the long-running TV series Barney Miller. Interestingly, one of Glass's co-stars on that show was Abe Vigoda, who also died earlier this year at age 94 -- a full 34 years after his death was mistakenly reported by People magazine.
Firefly creator Joss Whedon posted on Twitter that Glass "got there with grace, humor and enormous heart. He was, among so many other things, my Shepherd. Raise, appropriately, a glass. Rest, Ron." And Nathan Fillion, who played Captain Reynolds on Firefly, posted an appropriate quote on Instagram. ("Shepard, don't move." "Won't go far...")
The actor's Emmy nomination for Best Supporting Actor came in 1982, for his role on the long-running TV series Barney Miller. Interestingly, one of Glass's co-stars on that show was Abe Vigoda, who also died earlier this year at age 94 -- a full 34 years after his death was mistakenly reported by People magazine.
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My brown-coat heart cries for the loss -- but beyond Firefly, I grew up watching him on Barney Miller. I don't think there was a member of that show that wasn't a spectacular spectacular comedic actor. With Ron's passing, the last surviving cast member of Barney Miller is Max Gail (Wojo). You could argue Gregory Sierra (Chano) also -- but he was gone after season 2. It was a great show but it has aged poorly.
2016 has been a rough year for great talent.
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Holy crap, he is! I thought he died years ago!
Maybe we can now Light the Linden now that Abe Vigoda has passed on.
RIP (Score:5, Interesting)
R.I.P. my favorite kneecapper (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:R.I.P. my favorite kneecapper (Score:5, Insightful)
The special hell.
Actually, I think his deleted monologue from Serenity best describes Book's character:
I'd like to choose a quote that best describes Ron personally, but I don't know what he was really like. Jewel's comments were really touching, though.
RIP, Shepherd Book (Score:4, Insightful)
With the combo of his voice and dialog delivery Ron Glass was as unique an actor as any who have received much more recognition. A truly great actor. ...gonna miss ya, fella
no (Score:2)
This is Slashdot. There is no fact checking or editing here.
My question is "Was he really 71?" Or was that maybe just his "Hollywood age"? It seems hard to believe that he was in only his 50 when he did Firefly. Of course I know people age at different rates (look at Wilfred Brimley playing a senile citizen in Cocoon when he was in his 40's for another example), but Glass always seemed much older to me.
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Let alone the fact is two days old by now.
Barney Miller (Score:5, Informative)
The opening titles [youtube.com]. "Nostalgic" to the older generation. "Old folks liked bland entertainment" to the younger generation. No doubt, one of the best bass lines in a sitcom jingle.
Glad for the Slashdot story. When I learned he'd died earlier today, I immediately remembered him for Barney Miller but felt uneasy, like I was forgetting something. Firefly, facepalm.
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Worldwide? or US only? or some other country/region only?
Oh great. Such wonderful news. (Score:2, Insightful)
Now they're never going to renew Firefly.
Fine, I give up. You win Fox, you win!
I hope you're happy with yourselves.
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You do recall that the shepherd was killed off in the movie, right?
Re:Oh great. Such wonderful news. (Score:4, Insightful)
More to the point, there's no point in the timeline where he would need to be included.
* In any prequel, they wouldn't have met him yet
* In anything after Serenity, he's dead
* If they do an in-between, he's reported to have left the ship at the same time as Inara (if I remember correctly), which was right after the series ended. So that event just needs to happen off-camera. We know that Serenity visited him several times, but they don't have to cover any of those visits.
To me, it seems that the biggest problem with resuming it now is that all of the actors are aging. It sort of puts a limit on when you can fit them into the timeline, especially if you want to do a prequel. I know recasting is the standard approach to that, but I doubt they could come close to the original cast. I mean, can anyone seriously picture anyone other than Nathan Fillion as Mal?
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I mean, can anyone seriously picture anyone other than Nathan Fillion as Mal?
No one else in Hollywood is as ruggedly handsome as he is.
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I mean, can anyone seriously picture anyone other than Nathan Fillion as Mal?
Ugh. It was the role he was born for. Every time I stumble across Castle I think "Ughh.. this series is so badly written. I wish I was watching Firefly instead."
Though I could imagine, had Firefly been made 10-15 years later than it was, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau could have been good in that role.
but Vigoda was so young! (Score:1)
I'm going to miss the lighting of the Vigoda. [youtu.be] I don't understand what happened, they're supposed to live 200 years. :(
GET OFF OF MY LAWN! (Score:1)
WKRP in Cincinnati.....
His best role ever. :(
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You're right, he's wrong.
(WKRP was one of my favorites, back in the day - a great ensemble cast)
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Yeah, i was wrong.
Tab anyone? We can fondue later.
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Fondue sounds great - just have to pick up my leisure suit from the cleaners first.
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I think there's a big woosh here
I actually thought of trying to make a Venus Flytrap/Ron Glass mistaken identity joke myself, but didn't think it was funny enough.
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You must be new here.
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No, this [slashdot.org] is New Here.
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https://slashdot.org/comments.... [slashdot.org]
All I'm gonna say.
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Do you have any nerd friends? Do you realize how much they worship at the alter of Firefly??
I'll always remember him best for Barney Miller (Score:4, Funny)
Firefly was good, but there have been very few shows as good as Barney Miller.
For some reason the scene that comes to mind is when he has arrested a native American for who know what and is booking him and the Indian points out that they introduced us to tobacco. Ron takes a drag off his cigarette and coughs and sarcastically says "Thanks".
And who can forget when Wojo's girlfriend made hash brownies and the whole squad (except Barney, I think) got stoned?
An obviously stoned Detective Harris explains Nick's behavior: "Hey, um...Barney. I think he's stoned."
Barney (examining the brownies): I think there's something in these things! Have you had any?
Ron (with a big grin on his face): mmm-hmmmm!
I think they got hash in them, Barney.
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Don't forget Abe Vigoda's part in that episode. His character, Fish, had a brownie or two, and felt really good. He drags in a young guy that he arrested, and the guy is going on about how the old man chased him down, over rooftops and jumping between buildings. Then Fish finds out there is hash in the brownies, and looks sad. They as him why he's sad, and he says, "It's the first time in years I feel good, and it's illegal."
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Expect to hear more about Andrew Breitbart.
...from beyond the grave!
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Indeed. Ron Glass dies, Andrew Breitbart rises from the dead, and gets picked to play Shepherd Book in a new series of Firefly.
Something about this new Shepherd Book just doesn't feel right...
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His warnings weren't heeded?
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The sad thing about this is that 2016 isn't done with us yet and that 2017 is 2016 II: Electric Boogaloo.
Expect to hear more about Andrew Breitbart.
Your skills to reference truly shit-tacular sequels is rather good...thanks for the laugh.
Meanwhile, in the mainstream media... (Score:2)
... they're mostly remembering Barney Miller.
The cast (Score:2)
This web page [imdb.com] lists the Firefly cast members. Ron Glass is the only cast member who has died.
Still, if another Firefly TV show or movie is to be made, they need to make it soon. Actors/actresses get older, and might gain weight or die. If a follow-up show were made today, they'd have to explain why the cast looked so much older.
Spoiler: (Shepherd Book and Hoban Washburne died in the movie. But something might happen to the other cast members.) /Spoiler
My favorite actor/actress was Adam Baldwin. He had lots
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But Adam Baldwin's going to have a hard time getting acting work again.
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But Adam Baldwin's going to have a hard time getting acting work again.
Why, is he dead too?
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Worse.
He's a conservative.
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Oh, yeah, I was going to mention this one. The constantly changing T-shirt was a nice touch. Ron Glass played the part perfectly.
Bonus, Hemsley's character eventually comes up with the theologically proper thing to say to a demon. :)
The Special Hell (Score:2)
2016 is officially going to the special hell.