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Babylon 5's Katsulas Dies
scifi.com ^

Posted on 02/15/2006 5:43:54 AM PST by shadowman99

Babylon 5's Katsulas Dies

Andreas Katsulas, the character actor known to SF fans as G'Kar on Babylon 5 and a familiar face from Star Trek and other SF&F TV shows, died Feb. 13 of lung cancer in Los Angeles, his agent, Donna Massetti, confirmed to SCI FI Wire. He was 59.

Katsulas, a longtime resident of Los Angeles, played the Narn ambassador G'Kar for five years in the syndicated cult TV series Babylon 5, starting in 1993. He reprised the role in subsequent Babylon 5 telefilms.

Katsulas was also no stranger to Trek fans, playing Romulan Cmdr. Tomalak in Star Trek: The Next Generation. His last appearance in a Trek series was as a Vissian captain on an episode of Enterprise.

Born in St. Louis, Katsulas held a master's degree in theater from Indiana University, his official Web site said. After performing in plays in St. Louis, New York and Boston, he went on to film roles in such movies as Michael Cimino's The Sicilian, which brought him to Los Angeles, then in Ridley Scott's Someone to Watch Over Me and Blake Edward's Sunset.

Katsulas moved to Los Angeles permanently in 1986 and found scores of television and film parts in everything from TV's Alien Nation and Max Headroom to the big screen's The Fugitive, in which he played the infamous one-armed man, and Executive Decision opposite Kurt Russell and Steven Seagal.

Information on memorial services was pending at press time.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: andreaskatsulas; b5; hollywood; katsulas; obituary; scifi
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To: shadowman99
I assmue that the Grim Reaper did not get his scream....
41 posted on 02/15/2006 7:11:19 AM PST by steve-b (A desire not to butt into other people's business is eighty percent of all human wisdom)
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To: camle

I agree with you, but then I kind of liked Ivanova, anyway. Claudia Christian is way beautiful!


42 posted on 02/15/2006 7:16:22 AM PST by magslinger (Cry Havoc and let slip the yobos of war!)
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To: shadowman99

He was a powerful presence on B5 and one of the many reasons that the show was worth watching.


43 posted on 02/15/2006 7:16:34 AM PST by tarawa
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To: Sensei Ern
"Luke Skywalker's Uncle Owen died too...89.

And Dick Cheney was no where around."

LOL! I'm sure David Gregory has already checked Cheneys alibi..

44 posted on 02/15/2006 7:27:46 AM PST by gigo
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To: shadowman99

He made the show. A powerful actor an a terrific voice. RIP.


45 posted on 02/15/2006 7:30:28 AM PST by Cyclopean Squid (History is a work in progress)
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To: MichaelP

He was a very fine actor, prayers for his friends and family.


46 posted on 02/15/2006 7:33:51 AM PST by HamiltonJay
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To: magslinger

"It's a russian thing - before we do anything stupid we like to take a moment to catalogue the extent of our stupidity"

"don't make me do it - you're far too young to experience that much pain"

"Ivonava is God - sorry about that, God"


47 posted on 02/15/2006 7:44:33 AM PST by camle (keep your mind open and somebody will fill it full of something for you.)
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To: shadowman99

Katsulas' portrayal of G'Kar was absolutely fantastic. May he rest peacefully with the Lord.


48 posted on 02/15/2006 7:46:24 AM PST by zeugma (Muslims are varelse...)
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To: shadowman99

RIP greatest of the Narn...


I know he was an actor, but he made the Narn real.


49 posted on 02/15/2006 7:48:45 AM PST by GreenLanternCorps (I'm pink, therefore I'm Spam.)
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To: camle
Tell me this had nothing to do how well you remember her:


50 posted on 02/15/2006 9:03:48 AM PST by magslinger (Cry Havoc and let slip the yobos of war!)
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To: magslinger

I remember the episode when she was tired and fell asleep at the breakfast table. Sinclair and Garibaldi made her food disappear before she awoke. She glances around at her empty plate and pushes off in a rush. Then as simclair and garibaldi divvy up the booty her voice comes from offstage "GARIBALDI! YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!"


51 posted on 02/15/2006 9:07:30 AM PST by camle (Keep your mind open and somebody will fill if full of something for you.)
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To: camle

LOL. Yet you dodge the question.


52 posted on 02/15/2006 9:08:56 AM PST by magslinger (Cry Havoc and let slip the yobos of war!)
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To: magslinger

do you remember what she did when the guy in the zocalo called her "cute"? garibaldi declined to arrrest her saying "I wanna live!"


53 posted on 02/15/2006 9:15:35 AM PST by camle (Keep your mind open and somebody will fill if full of something for you.)
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To: camle

Or Marcus, who loved her more than life, and proved it. Marcus was my wife's favorite character, she cried.
And still you don't answer thr question, You like Ivanova because she's one hot chick, don't you?


54 posted on 02/15/2006 9:42:43 AM PST by magslinger (Cry Havoc and let slip the yobos of war!)
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To: magslinger

i grieved for Marcus meself. I really lied him. But I never thought of Ivanova as "hot", just admirable and a hoot in a crises. Leyta Alexander was much better looking. but when the show began to delve into people's sex lives, it cheapened itself and lost it's edge.

I looked at Ivanova as competent, fierce, indomitable and able to stand up to a crises without going all ga-ga. All admirable traits. her character was feminine without being sleazy - an officer who just happened to be female - and a good one at that.


55 posted on 02/15/2006 9:48:20 AM PST by camle (Keep your mind open and somebody will fill if full of something for you.)
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To: camle
I looked at Ivanova as competent, fierce, indomitable and able to stand up to a crises without going all ga-ga. All admirable traits. her character was feminine without being sleazy - an officer who just happened to be female - and a good one at that.

I think that might well be part of why I thought she was hot. Also, it's a pretty good description of Mrs Mag, hold the officer part. Mrs Mag also physically resembles her except for height and eye color.

I liked Marcus and his dying saddened me, but being Marcus, he could do no other than to die saving Ivanova.

I think that is why B5 was so great, the characters always stayed true to themselves.

56 posted on 02/15/2006 10:14:43 AM PST by magslinger (Cry Havoc and let slip the yobos of war!)
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To: KevinDavis
OHh I am so sorry for his family.

I really liked him.
57 posted on 02/15/2006 10:28:48 AM PST by EsmeraldaA
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To: camle
Strazinsky was/is a genius in his analogy.

I corresponded with JMS on the old Compuserve SciFi forum way back when B5 was getting set to go. He shared a lot with all of us as he put together the plans, got the go ahead, cast it, etc. From day one he emphasized that he had a 5 year story arc pre-written (in broad terms) and that he was going to try to make every episode advance the main story elements toward that goal.

When the first show aired I posted a note to him complaining about the "obvious" cliches that he had set up with the reptilian bad-guy Narn and the comic relief Centauri. I emphasized how obvious the nature of the Centauri was by pointing to the casting of Stephen Furst as the Centauri Vir Cotto. I mean, c'mon, Flounder from Animal House? It was obvious.

JMS wrote back and straightened me out immediately. We were all supposed to fall into that particular trap, make those assumptions, because most of the rest of the series was based on reversing those stereotypes. And then he pointed out a key element of why the Centauri looked the way they did. The "comic opera" outfits were meant to provide the same "silly look" as most westerners had the first time anyone saw a Samurai warrior in full regalia. The first reports from Japan after it was opened always made fun of the way they dressed, but that was before they saw them cut off a head with one swipe of their sword, usually just because they wanted to test the sword.

He was trying to make us relearn that lesson. Don't make assumptions about good guys and bad guys based on things like "silly looking costumes." That set the tone for the rest of the series for me and I was hooked.

58 posted on 02/15/2006 10:38:45 AM PST by Phsstpok (There are lies, damned lies, statistics and presentation graphics, in descending order of truth)
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To: magslinger

agreed. at some point in time, I'll have to get the DVD's.

BTW: I thought that Crusade sucked. They took a splendid idea, and ruined it.


59 posted on 02/15/2006 10:40:06 AM PST by camle (Keep your mind open and somebody will fill if full of something for you.)
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To: Phsstpok

oh yeah. Kinda like the pre WW-I buffoons the german miilitary was made out to be.


60 posted on 02/15/2006 10:41:52 AM PST by camle (Keep your mind open and somebody will fill if full of something for you.)
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