Babylon 5's Andreas Katsulas Passed Away

[Chewbacca]

Great actor who played my all-time favorite TV Character.

Farewell G'Kar.


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http://www.eonline.com/News/Items/0,...00.html?fdnews


As the infamous one-armed man, Andreas Katsulas helped frame Harrison Ford in 1993's The Fugitive. As Ambassador G'Kar, the actor helped ratchet up the intrigue on Babylon 5.

Now, fans of both are mourning the loss of the veteran bad-guy actor, who has died at age 59.

According to his official Website, Katsulas passed away Feb. 13 in Los Angeles after a long illness. His agent, Donna Massetti, tells E! Online that the actor had been battling lung cancer for some time.

Though his name might not immediately be recognizable, Katsulas' scowl and furrowed brow were perfectly suited to villainous roles. He was a ruthless mobster opposite Tom Berenger and Mimi Rogers in Ridley Scott's 1987 thriller Someone to Watch Over Me. He was a terrorist leader in the 1996 Kurt Russell-Steven Seagal airplane-based thriller Executive Decision. And he murdered the wife of Ford's Dr. Richard Kimble in the Oscar-nominated The Fugitive, setting the plot in action.

But his greatest fame came on the small screen. After appearances in the syndicated Alien Nation TV series and The Death of the Incredible Hulk telefilm, Katsulas played the Rommulan commander Tomalak in a handful of episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. That in turn led to his most memorable role, as Narn Ambassador G'Kar in 1993's Emmy-nominated Babylon 5: The Gathering and the subsequent syndicated cult-hit series.

Donning heavy alien makeup, Katsulas played the cool, cunning diplomat with a sense of humor.

While G'Kar began as purely a baddie singularly focused on freeing his people from their arch-enemy, the Centauri, as the seasons wore on, the character evolved into an important spiritual leader, who still had his hand in a few nefarious plots, natch.

Born May 18, 1946 in St. Louis, Katsulas majored in theater at St. Louis University and obtained a master's in theater from Indiana University at Bloomington.

He acted in theater in St. Louis, New York and Boston, before moving to screen roles. He played a Greek immigrant in 1982's King of America opposite Olympia Dukakis, and, that same year, had a role in the TV movie A Midsummer Night's Dream and landed a part on the daytime soap Guiding Light.

Other credits included: Blake Edwards' 1988 comedy Sunset, starring Bruce Willis and James Garner; Patrick Swayze's 1989 hillbilly thriller, Next of Kin; Hot Shots! Part Deux; and guest stints on such TV staples as The Equalizer, Hunter, Murder, She Wrote and The Father Dowling Mysteries.

His most recent TV credits included Millennium, Enterprise and NYPD Blue.

Katsulas is survived by his second wife, whom he married less than a year ago, and a daughter and a son from his first marriage. Funeral services are pending in his native St. Louis.

[Bungleau]

G'kar was your alter-ego for a while, wasn't he?

In any case, rest in peace. Life ends far too soon for some people...

[Azred]

<font color = lightgreen>What a really good actor he was. He will definitely be missed. </font>

[Chewbacca]

Originally posted by Bungleau: G'kar was your alter-ego for a while, wasn't he? In any case, rest in peace. Life ends far too soon for some people...

Yeah, G'Kar was indeed my screenname on IW for a while.

This is the second B5 actor to pass away at a relatively young age. Richard Biggs, who played the doctor, passed away in 2004 in his early 40's.