Andreas Katsulas (G'Kar of Babylon 5) passes away

[Noukon]

I have no idea if there are any B5 fans around here, but this is pretty sad. Katsulas has been battling lung cancer for some time. Suddenly, all the "smoking Narn" jokes from the set of B5 aren't so funny.

From Sci Fi Wire (http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=0&id=34628):


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.

[Delthayre]

Normally I abstain from mourning for celebrities because, and I loathe that honest and callousness must mingle here, they generally don't have much personal signifigance to me and I regard pro forma gestures as insulting.

But Kastulas is different.

Babylon Five is special to me, silly as it is to speak so loftily of a television show, it has a unique status in my life. It was the first show I ever felt compelled to watch with any dedication or sustained interest (at the time I didn't realize how atypical it was) and it thusly has had, I sheepishly admit, a rather profound impact upon me (along with Doctor Who, Monty Python's Flying Circus, the novels of Douglas Adams, and J.R.R. Tolkien).

Kastulas was one of my favorites. He was perhaps the best cast (or even with Peter Jurasik) among a generally excellently cast show. He had a potent aptitude for both comedy and drama and managed to create both a singular character in the form of G'kar and built a singular chemistry between G'kar and Londo. The two complemented and competed for the center attention whenever they were on screen together and I rarely could say who one, only that it was a hell of an experience to watch. Of all the memorable things I found in Babylon Five, the best, if not the most abundant, had Kastulas at the heart of them.

What I think I liked best was that he had the force of voice and presence to make real the eloquence attributed to his character. Perhaps I am indulging my fanaticism, but his speech at the end of "The Long Twilight Struggle" remains one of the most effective pieces of oration I have experienced in my life. Certainly it was nicely written, but Kastulas give it the force of right and fury of liberty that keeps it in memory.

And he was about the only really good thing about The Legend of the Rangers (and nearly all that I remember besides laughing at that silly kicking and punching control mechanism for the weapons... oy).

So, he has left this place, but a part of him remains, and like the most envied of men, that part of him is one worth remembering.

[The Penguin]

I never watched B5, but Tomalak is one of the supporting Next Gen characters I always remember. "Future Imperfect" (http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TNG/episode/68470.html) is one of the episodes that has made an impression on me as far as my remembering it and the various incarnations of Tomalak played a key role in how everything played out.

R.I.P. Andreas.

[Rasputin]

I concur with Delthayre's opinions here, Katsulas was one of the best things of a very good show. More than that, though, is that I'm saddened he died at only 59. I would have enjoyed having him around a little while longer.

So...I guess Londo won, then...*sniff*

[Joker85]

I just....can't believe it. 59 years old. The Babylon 5 cast is being taken from us too soon. First Richard Biggs and now Andreas. He truly was a great actor, and with Peter Jurasik created one of the best friendships on television. He will be greatly missed. RIP Andreas. :(

[halinar]

Holy cow! This is a real shocker.
He was a real nice guy the one time I was fortunate enough to meet him.

[Delthayre]

I think it appropriate to JMS' own brief memoriam (http://jmsnews.com/msg.aspx?id=1-17526).


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

[DR.MID-NITE]

Delthayre, I also remember watching B5 when it was originally on. And watching the clock hoping each episode wouldn't end. The stories and characters keeped me locked in. And I knew I would have to wait another week to see a question answered...and another question asked.
Andreas and Richard will and are sorely missed. Both were taken way to early.

:crying: R.I.P.

[Gatomon41]

I heard of the lost of one of Sci-fi's greatest actors on Spacebattles. A sad day that was. Andreas made some of the most memorable characters. He will be missed. :crying:

Moment of silence...

[James]

Woah, I can't believe it. It seems so sad when someone you don't know dies and it makes your jaw drop.

I guess, for me, Babylon 5 was a fantastic story experience and he was one key attribute in making that work. Be it the comedy, the drama or action, he never waivered. Even the more difficult (or as the show's distractors may argue, contrived) slices of dialogue were never a problem. They flowed from his tongue. He could make mainstream space opera sound like Shakespere.


I saw him in roles prior to B5. The Fugitive, STTNG, The Death Of The Incredible Hulk... he would always get the bad guy parts. It's wonderful when a show can give an actor the opportunity to show the world what he's truely worth beyond the roles he normally plays. B5 was a gift to Katsula's as it was to Koenig and Jurasik. In turn, their skill was a gift to the show and it's audience.

I recall seeing him at the Blackpool Convention back in '98. He appeared charismatic and full of warmth. I recall meeting Richard Biggs there - he seemed a nice guy, hell, all that show did.

However, I think Katsulas epitomizes the shows success and really was very much such a vital part in bringing it the popularity it deserved.

I wish Katsulas had got a few more roles of that calibre to show the world he was far more than a "bad guy/thug/goon" actor. Far more.

RIP.

"..It was as if the universe were holding its breath... waiting. All of life can be broken down into moments of transition, or moments... of revelation. This had the feeling of both. G'Quan 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." - Ambassador G'Kar, "Z'ha'dum"