Sad news for 'Babylon 5' fans... RIP Michael O'Hare
Michael O'Hare - better known to fans of 'Babylon 5' as Commander Jeffrey Sinclair in S1 -- has passed away, following a heart attack. He was 60 years old.
This is my tribute to Michael.... speaking as a big B5 fan ... and as someone who had the privilege of speaking with Michael on the phone one-on-one!
I also had the honor of seeing/meeting him in person once, at a convention many years ago.
Here's a bit of backstory first, before I explain how *that* phone call occurred.
I was in the minority in B5 fandom in that I prefered O'Hare's Sinclair over Bruce Boxleitner's Sheridan as the lead on B5 -- Sinclair had a great chemistry and backstory with Garibaldi, and I always missed that after S1.
Back in my con-going days (when I had time/money to do that), I knew a gal who was a bit of a BNF in B5 fandom. We were at a con in Chicago where the BNF had a B5 room party one afternoon. Michael O'Hare was a guest at the con, and he came by for a while. I got an autographed copy of a B5 comic book, but I can't say I actually 'met' Michael. He seemed to be a nice, good-looking, down-to-earth kinda guy while he was there though, and I was happy just to have had the opportunity to admire him from afar (from the other side of the room, actually, lol) in the brief time he was at the party.
Because of that, I joined O'Hare's fan club (I think one of the club organizers was at the party too). So of course, I was on their mailing/contact list.
One day, months later, as I was walking in the door after coming home from work, the phone rang and the machine picked up. It was a guy named Michael calling, and he left a message about contributing to an AIDS walk in New York and left a call back #.
Since I lived in Chicago, I puzzled over the message for a few minutes, wondering why some strange guy from New York was calling me and how he got my name & number. Then I realized the voice was familiar.... and then I remembered Michael O'Hare was actively involved with an AIDS charity...
OMG.... Holy crap....! Michael O'Hare had called ME PERSONALLY....! Yea, of course I knew he was probably just going down the membership list of the club and was looking for donations..... But OMG....! It was HIM !
So I waited a little while -- to calm down enough so I wouldn't sound like a total fangirl! -- before calling him back. And he answered the phone! I think I managed to sound reasonably adult, and agreed to donate to the AIDS event. And I even had a (short) personal conversation with him. Michael had grown up in Chicago, and we somehow ended up talking about local politics! He mentioned that he thought the (then) Mayor Daley was a good mayor, but I disagreed with him because I lived in the city and knew much more about day-to-day city life! It was a brief phone call, but obviously very memorable, because that call was over 15 years ago, maybe 20.
I kept the answering machine tape for a long time - don't know what happened to it, but even if I did, I wouldn't have anything to play it on nowadays, LOL. And I'm not sure where the autographed comic book is either (probably buried in the box of old convention stuff in the back of my closet).
Michael wasn't on TV much after that, just the occasional guest spot, and I think he went back to the theatre. And my B5 obsession waned when I moved onto other fandoms.
But nonetheless, I was very sad to hear the news today, because I still remember that phone call very fondly!
In Valen's name.... Entil'Zha... you will be missed, Michael.
This is my tribute to Michael.... speaking as a big B5 fan ... and as someone who had the privilege of speaking with Michael on the phone one-on-one!
I also had the honor of seeing/meeting him in person once, at a convention many years ago.
Here's a bit of backstory first, before I explain how *that* phone call occurred.
I was in the minority in B5 fandom in that I prefered O'Hare's Sinclair over Bruce Boxleitner's Sheridan as the lead on B5 -- Sinclair had a great chemistry and backstory with Garibaldi, and I always missed that after S1.
Back in my con-going days (when I had time/money to do that), I knew a gal who was a bit of a BNF in B5 fandom. We were at a con in Chicago where the BNF had a B5 room party one afternoon. Michael O'Hare was a guest at the con, and he came by for a while. I got an autographed copy of a B5 comic book, but I can't say I actually 'met' Michael. He seemed to be a nice, good-looking, down-to-earth kinda guy while he was there though, and I was happy just to have had the opportunity to admire him from afar (from the other side of the room, actually, lol) in the brief time he was at the party.
Because of that, I joined O'Hare's fan club (I think one of the club organizers was at the party too). So of course, I was on their mailing/contact list.
One day, months later, as I was walking in the door after coming home from work, the phone rang and the machine picked up. It was a guy named Michael calling, and he left a message about contributing to an AIDS walk in New York and left a call back #.
Since I lived in Chicago, I puzzled over the message for a few minutes, wondering why some strange guy from New York was calling me and how he got my name & number. Then I realized the voice was familiar.... and then I remembered Michael O'Hare was actively involved with an AIDS charity...
OMG.... Holy crap....! Michael O'Hare had called ME PERSONALLY....! Yea, of course I knew he was probably just going down the membership list of the club and was looking for donations..... But OMG....! It was HIM !
So I waited a little while -- to calm down enough so I wouldn't sound like a total fangirl! -- before calling him back. And he answered the phone! I think I managed to sound reasonably adult, and agreed to donate to the AIDS event. And I even had a (short) personal conversation with him. Michael had grown up in Chicago, and we somehow ended up talking about local politics! He mentioned that he thought the (then) Mayor Daley was a good mayor, but I disagreed with him because I lived in the city and knew much more about day-to-day city life! It was a brief phone call, but obviously very memorable, because that call was over 15 years ago, maybe 20.
I kept the answering machine tape for a long time - don't know what happened to it, but even if I did, I wouldn't have anything to play it on nowadays, LOL. And I'm not sure where the autographed comic book is either (probably buried in the box of old convention stuff in the back of my closet).
Michael wasn't on TV much after that, just the occasional guest spot, and I think he went back to the theatre. And my B5 obsession waned when I moved onto other fandoms.
But nonetheless, I was very sad to hear the news today, because I still remember that phone call very fondly!
In Valen's name.... Entil'Zha... you will be missed, Michael.