By
GustavoLeao /
18:05, 29 September 2012 /
General Genre/SciFi
Rest in Peace, Michael O'Hare
A Tribute Written by Rich Handley
Every year, Hollywood
experiences the passing of far too many talented people we admire, as
we're reminded during the "In Memorium" portions of the annual Academy
Award and Emmy Award broadcasts. Sadly, another name can be added to the
list for the next memorial videos: Michael O'Hare,
O'Hare may not have became a household name, but to science fiction
fans, the Illinois-born actor was well-known as Commander Jeffrey
Sinclair, the star of
Babylon 5's
pilot and first season, and a recurring guest star in seasons two and
three. O'Hare's soft-spoken yet articulate approach injected a strong
gravitas into the character that, for many fans, made his performances mesmerizing and powerful.
I've seen reviews of his work on
B5 characterize O'Hare as stiff
and wooden, but I couldn't disagree more with that assessment. Quite the
contrary, in fact—I firmly believe that the slow, methodical way in
which he spoke perfectly matched the character's history. Sinclair was a
career officer from a military family who was educated among the
Jesuits, a strictly obedient Catholic order sometimes called "God's
Marines" since their founder, Spanish priest Ignatius of Loyola, also
came from a military background. As far as I'm concerned, O'Hare hit it
out of the park.
Educated at Harvard University, the Juilliard School of Drama and
Sanford Meisner, O'Hare worked primarily in the theater, both on and off
Broadway. Among his notable performances was as Colonel Nathan R.
Jessup in Aaron Sorkin's 1989 play
A Few Good Men, a role
originated on stage by Stephen Lang (more recently seen as the
testosterone-charged Colonel Miles Quaritch in James Cameron's
Avatar)
and played brilliantly in the 1992 film adaptation by Jack Nicholson.
Given how O'Hare approached the role of Sinclair, I truly wish I'd been
able to see his performance as Jessup, as I'm positive he must have been
perfect for the role (the same is true for Lang, by the way—I'll bet he
was downright terrifying when yelling out "You can't handle the
truth!").
His other work included
Shades of Brown, a play that closely
scrutinized South African apartheid, resulting in his becoming the first
Caucasian actor to receive the Audience Development Committee (AUDELCO)
Award—established in 1973 to honor excellence in the New York
African-American theater scene—for best actor.
But it was as Jeffrey Sinclair that O'Hare became most recognizable, when J. Michael Straczynski cast him for the lead role in
The Gathering,
Babylon 5's pilot film.
For my money (and given that I'm someone who purchased all of the
B5 DVDs,
novels and comic books, my money counts), Sinclair was among the most
interesting characters of the pilot and first season. The mystery of the
missing 24 hours of his life, the truth regarding the Battle of the
Line, his relationship with Catherine Sakai, his connection to
Ambassador Delenn, his friendship with Garibaldi and the secret reason
the Mimbari requested his assignment to the station had me riveted, and I
was floored when it was announced that he would not return for season
two (a decision that both O'Hare and Straczynski have described as being
mutual and amicable). No more Sinclair? After season one's "reassigned
to Mimbar" cliffhanger? What??
As such, I was slow to warm up to Bruce Boxleitner as his replacement,
John Sheridan, since I simply didn't want O'Hare to leave the series. Of
course, like most other fans, I soon came to see how amazing a
character Sheridan was, and how perfectly cast Boxleitner was in the
role... but I still missed Sinclair. So when the commander later
returned in a guest-starring capacity, and we learned (GASP!) that he
was really—no, wait, I won't spoil that true masterpiece of storytelling
for those unfortunates who haven't yet watched the show. Suffice it to
say Sinclair and O'Hare fans received pretty much the best closure for
that arc that we could possibly have hoped for.
Following his all-too-brief stint on
Babylon 5, O'Hare sadly slipped into acting obscurity. Other than guest appearances on
The Cosby Mysteries and
Law & Order in the mid-90s, his TV career pretty much ended, leaving many wondering what had happened to this once-promising actor.
I'm still not entirely sure what happened, but I have an inkling.
Although he was a private guy and news about him was scarce, I've heard
over the years that he'd become ill. Back in the '90s, my friend Michael
Thune and I saw him at a science fiction convention. Both of us were
great fans of
B5, and of O'Hare's performance, so we were
ecstatic at the chance to see him. Unfortunately, he acted strangely
throughout his presentation. The audience fidgeted nervously at the
sight of him walking in sow-motion and speaking as though only
half-lucid. Picture a 100-year-old man moving his feet a couple of
inches at a time, his back hunched over and his attention wandering, and
you'll have a pretty good idea of how he looked... and yet he was in
his early 40s at the time.
At first, we thought it was some weird performance art, but when it
didn't end, there was an awkward dawning on everyone's part that it was
real. It was confusing and heartbreaking to behold. I later learned that
he may have been on heavy medication that day for some undisclosed
reason.
In recent months, JMS has commented that O'Hare was not doing well,
culminating in his announcement yesterday of Michael's passing at the
young age of sixty. Whatever illness O'Hare suffered from, it was
apparently with him for a long time and was visibly affecting him. It's
too sad to think about. Instead, I choose to remember how much I enjoyed
his performance on
Babylon 5, and how permanent a place he secured in my mind and on my DVD shelves. In fact, I think may re-watch his final two-part
B5 episode, "War Without End," tonight in his honor. Rest in peace, Mr. O'Hare.
*************
Published originally at
Hasslein Blog: Rest in Peace, Michael O'Hare
