Babylon 5's Katsulas Dies

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That was one show I could never get into.

[Skywarner]

Terribly sad to see the way time is passing and taking the people that made B5 great away from us. Dr Franklin is gone, G'Kar is gone, Zathras is gone. Life far too short for all of them."

Agreed. B5 was, and still is, one of my all time favorite Sci-Fi shows. It had many parallels to the situation today regarding the war against islamic aggression.

I've got a autographed photo of the cast from season 1 that proudly hangs in my study.

[Knitting A Conundrum]

That is a wonderful site that triggers good memories...I would like to watch it again.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Rest in peace.

[big'ol_freeper]

Ping

[Politicalmom]

The show jumped the shark when Ivanova left.

[Galactic Overlord-In-Chief]

Son of a gun, this is a big shock. He was great on B5 and in Star Trek. Frankly, he should have been in Star Trek: Nemesis. RIP

[KevinDavis]

He was a good actor.... I hope they don't do a B5 movie with Richard Biggs dead and now him...

[EsmeraldaA]

You're right.
It wouldn't be the same at all......

[KevinDavis]

Here are some neat Babylon 5 quotes:

"I apologise, I'm sorry. I'm sorry we had to defend ourselves against an unwarranted attack. I'm sorry that your crew was stupid enough to fire on a station with a quarter million civillians, including your own people.... and I'm sorry I waited as long as I did before I blew them all straight to hell!"
- Sheridan, "The Fall of Night"

Keffer: "But there's something out there!"
Ivanova: "Yes, there is. There's something out there. There's also something in here. That something in here is me giving you a direct order."
- "Confessions and Lamentations"

"From this place we will deliver notice to the parliments of conquerors that a line has been drawn against the darkness. And we will hold that line. No matter the cost."
- Sheridan, "The Long, Twilight Struggle"

"I do not like Santiago. I've always thought that a leader should have a strong chin. He has no chin. And his vice president has several. This to me is not a good combination."
- Ivanova, "Midnight on the Firing Line"

and my favorite quote:

Reporter: "After all that you've just gone through, I have to ask you the same question a lot of people back home are asking about space these days. Is it worth it? Should we just pull back, forget the whole thing as a bad idea, and take care of our own problems, at home?"
Sinclair: "No. We have to stay here, and there's a simple reason why. Ask ten different scientists about the environment, population control, genetics - and you'll get ten different answers. But there's one thing every scientist on the planet agrees on: whether it happens in a hundred years, or a thousand years, or a million years, eventually our sun will grow cold, and go out. When that happens, it won't just take us, it'll take Marilyn Monroe, and Lao-tsu, Einstein, Maruputo, Buddy Holly, Aristophanes - all of this. All of this was for nothing, unless we go to the stars."
Infection

[AzSteven]

Citizen G'Kar: G'Quon wrote, "There is a greater darkness than the one we fight. It is the darkness of the soul that has lost its way. The war we fight is not against powers and principalities, it is against chaos and despair. Greater than the death of flesh is the death of hope, the death of dreams. Against this peril we can never surrender. The future is all around us, waiting, in moments of transition, to be born in moments of revelation. No one knows the shape of that future or where it will take us. We know only that it is always born in pain."

That particular quote struck me at the time I first heard it, and came back to mind after 9/11. It feels like an excellent description of our current struggle, but when Katsulas made that speech it truly resonated...

[Braak]

True, the famous boot quote is hard to beat....god what I would not pay to hear someone in an AC-130 play that over the guard channel in Afghan land...just before a gun run...might unnerve Mr. Taliban.

[SevenofNine]

DAMN Mr Morden buddies did him in????

[SevenofNine]

How about pilot when he ask Lyta Alexander for her DNA LOL! that in was gathering how do you want make love conciosus or unconscious that was funny LOLOLOL!

[Tarantulas]

From Sci-Fi Wire:

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. —Patrick Lee, News Editor

And there's also this, from J. Michael Straczynski, the creator of Babylon 5:

Just over a year ago, Andreas Katsulas -- who loved smoking with a passion that cannot be described -- was diagnosed with lung cancer, which by then had already spread to other areas. He quit smoking at once and went on a healthy diet and vitamin program, but there was little hope of a good resolution even though the new regimen was very good for him. When we spoke about it, he laughed, and said, "Now that I'm dying I've never felt better!"

His spirits were always up and positive, putting everyone at ease about his condition, because...well, that's the kind of person he was.

A couple of months ago, he and his wife convened a dinner with me, Doug, and Peter Jurasik, which was filled with laughter and stories and good food. He wanted to know all the stories we never told him because, as he said, "Who am I going to tell?" So we did. Because we knew we were saying goodbye, and there would not be a second chance.

Last night, in the company of his wife and family, Andreas closed his eyes and went away.

He lived an amazing life...full of travel and wonder and good work...was part of the world renowned Peter Brook company...he saw the planet, loved and was loved, ate at great restaurants, smoked too many cigarettes...he lived a life some people would die for.

And, sadly, due to the last part of that equation...he did.

Memorial arrangements are still being worked out, but will doubtless be private.

Andreas is gone...and G'Kar with him, because no one else can ever play that role, or ever will.

I will miss him terribly.

J. Michael Straczynski

[tang-soo]

The list of his appearances can be found here.

[iPod Shuffle]

bump.

[iPod Shuffle]

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.

Yeah! In the first season, I thought G'Kar was supposed to be like a raging Klingon from Star Trek. Only later is it revealed that he had a legit. reason to be pissed off about the Centauris.