Five years ago, Tony Award-winning actor Ron Silver died after a two-year fight with esophageal cancer. His death silenced one of the most vocal actors and activists of his generation, and also one of its most unpredictable…
Five years ago, Tony Award-winning actor Ron Silver died after a two-year fight with esophageal cancer. His death silenced one of the most vocal actors and activists of his generation, and also one of its most unpredictable. In 1989, Silver founded the Creative Coalition, an advocacy group made up of liberal entertainment industry stars like Alec Baldwin and Susan Sarandon. In 2004 he spoke at the Republican National Convention, supporting the re-election campaign of President George W. Bush, but in 2008, according to his brother, voted for Barack Obama. Pinning Silver down or pigeonholing him with one particular political faction proved impossible. He was a one-man party, following his own evolving beliefs rather than partisan talking points.
As an actor, he was equally versatile but always at his best with smoothly delivered rapid-fire dialogue, slickly and suavely stealing scenes wherever he turned up. He won his Tony for David Mamet’s Speed the Plow, and was nominated for an Emmy for his role as a fast-talking political strategist on The West Wing, where his character, perhaps in a nod to the actor’s real life, switched his political allegiance during the show’s last season.
Written by Seth Joseph. Find him on Google+.
