Sunday, March 15, 2009

Ron Silver has passed away

Ron Silver, liberal activist who turned conservative after 9/11, has died. I always liked his style.

"Michael Moore and that faction of the party was one of the factors that did not let me support the Democratic nominee this year," Silver told the AP in 2004. "He is a charlatan in a clown suit." I have to admit, that helped.
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"Hi-ho, Silver........and...............away..." You might say he was a real "lone" ranger in Hollywood. May he rest in peace.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ron Silver Dies of Cancer in NYC at Age 62


Sun Mar 15 (Edited and Truncated by FT)


AP – ... Actor Ron Silver, who won a Tony Award as a take-no-prisoners Hollywood producer in David Mamet's "Speed-the-Plow" and did a political about-face from loyal Democrat to Republican activist after the Sept. 11 attacks, died Sunday at the age of 62.


"Ron Silver died peacefully in his sleep with his family around him early Sunday morning" in New York City, said Robin Bronk, ... "He had been fighting esophageal cancer for two years."


Silver, an Emmy nominee for a recurring role as a slick strategist for liberal President Jed Bartlet on "The West Wing," had a long history of balancing acting with left-leaning social and political causes.


But after the 2001 terrorist attacks, longtime Democrat Silver turned heads in Hollywood with outspoken support of President George W. Bush over the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.


Silver spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention, began referring to himself as a "9/11 Republican" and reregistered as an independent.


In an interview with The Associated Press a month later, Silver said his support for the war on terror was costing him work in liberal-minded Hollywood.
"It's affected me very badly. I can't point to a person or a job I've lost, but this community is not very pluralistic," Silver told the AP.

"I haven't worked for 10 months."


His switch to a more conservative image threatened to overshadow an esteemed career on stage, television and film, along with his long history of activism ...


"He was a talented actor, a scholar and a great believer in participatory democracy," Bronk said Sunday evening. "He was an activist who became a great artist and his contributions will never be forgotten." ...




Besides "The West Wing," Silver was a regular or had recurring roles on such TV shows as "Veronica's Closet," "Chicago Hope" and "Wiseguy." He directed and costarred in the 1993 TV movie "Lifepod," a science-fiction update of Alfred Hitchcock's "Lifeboat." ...



Silver still found work despite his conservative shift, appearing in episodes of "Law & Order" and "Crossing Jordan" and such movies as "Find Me Guilty" and the Ten Commandments comedy "The Ten."


He continued his recurring role on "The West Wing," joking that he faced some taunting over his views from co-workers on the show which took place in a fiercely liberal White House administration.


"Often when I walked onto the set of 'The West Wing' some of my colleagues would greet me with a chanting of 'Ron, Ron, the neo-con.' It was all done in fun but it had an edge," Silver wrote in a Nov. 15, 2007...


Silver's on-screen work rankled liberals, too. He narrated 2004's "Fahrenhype 9/11," a deconstruction of Michael Moore's Bush-bashing hit documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11."


"Michael Moore and that faction of the party was one of the factors that did not let me support the Democratic nominee this year," Silver told the AP in 2004. "He is a charlatan in a clown suit."


Born July 2, 1946, in New York City, he was the son of Irving and May Silver. His father worked in New York's garment industry and his mother was a teacher.


Earning a bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a master's degree in Chinese history from St. John's University, Silver studied drama at the Herbert Berghof Studio and the Actors Studio.
In the 1970s, he gradually moved from theater work in New York City into television and film. His early credits included "The Mac Davis Show," "Rhoda" and "The Stockard Channing Show."



Silver and ex-wife Lynne Miller had a son, Adam, and daughter, Alexandra.


Whichever end of the political spectrum his activism fell, Silver viewed such involvement as something of a duty for entertainers.


"I think there's almost an obligation," he said in a 1991 interview with the AP. "Many of us are very well compensated for work which a lot of people would love to do. And we also have a lot of leisure time in between jobs.


"They say that Hollywood is sex without substance, and Washington is substance without sex, so maybe the marriage of the two is mutually intriguing."

Always On Watch said...

Ron Silver was a patriot and an outspoken advocate for freedom.

Sad that we have lost him so soon.

Z said...

Thank you, Anonymous, but the story is in the link!!

Always, it's a real loss, isn't it.

Anonymous said...

I had not heard. How sad and may he rest in peace. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.


He is in a far better place than we are. Nonetheless I am still saddened to hear this news.

Anonymous said...

Rest in peace, Ron Silver. You had the courage to speak out for your country, when many of your peers did not.

When all is said and done, you will be remembered by many of us, as a patriot first.

Pris

Anonymous said...

Cancer is the very worst enemy we face.

We should put everything we have towards defeating this satanic biological process that robs life from people too young, too innocent or too good to die.


~ FT

elmers brother said...

Oh man I missed this. D!@#

Anonymous said...

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God bless Ron Silver, he was a 'Liberal' who came to his senses about Jihadis and brutal Dictators. He knew they would destroy America, and Hollywood if they could. He realized that if America goes down the tubes, then the whole planet is doomed.

You were great Ron! Time Cop, Arrival, Wiseguy, and The West Wing among many were particularly good. Thank you for everything, especially your courage, RIP.
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