Andreas Katsulas (G'Kar) 1946-2006
POSTED BY: cljohnston108
UPDATED: Saturday, April 8, 2006 06:10
VIEWED: 13599
PAGE 3 of 3
CBY, not everything everyone does can involve the crises in the world.
Do you not mourn the loss of someone you know, even if only in passing?
How would you feel if, during a relative's funeral, someone said to you, "Why are you spending your time here at one person's funeral when children are dying all over the world? Does this person deserve more flowers than them?"
No one said that other people DON'T deserve more recognition. You're jumping to conclusions and making rash judgements about people you don't know.
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Until Firefly, Babylon 5 was my all-time favorite SF TV show -- and it's still a damn close second. Andreas Katsulas' wonderfully subtle and sustained performance as G'Kar was a large part of that.
The Babylon 5 Universe, like the Firefly 'Verse, resonates because it was filled with people and societies that were incredibly real, multi-sided, full of flaws and magnificence at the same time.
We celebrate the memory of Andreas Katsulas not because he happened to die -- that happens to everyone sooner or later, one to a customer -- but because he lived -- and used his talent to communicate some small wisdom about the human condition to his audience.
(And yes, I weep for the lost children too -- but only God is large enough to properly mourn all who fall.)
"There are things in the Universe billions of years older than either of our races. They are vast, timeless, and if they are aware of us at all, it is as little more than ants and we have as much chance of communicating with them as an ant has with us. We know. We've tried and we've learned that we can either stay out from underfoot or be stepped on. They are a mystery and I am both terrified and reassured to know that there are still wonders in the Universe, that we have not explained everything." -- G'kar
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This is sad, just read a mini-bio on IMDB and thought some might be interested...
Biography for
Andreas Katsulas
Birth name
Andrew C. Katsulas
Mini biography
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Andreas was a cross between apple pie and baklava, coming from a working-class Greek-American family. Attracted from early childhood to being on stage when at 4 his mother took him to see a community theater performance, he took theatre as an extra-curricular activity in high school. He then majored in it at St. Louis University, where he worked his way through school doing things like waiting on tables. Next, after earning a drama fellowship, Katsulas received a Master's Degree in Theater Arts from one of the nation's top schools for the genre, Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana.
With never a doubt or hesitation, Andreas jumped right into the professional theater world, performing in plays in his native St. Louis with the Loretto-Hilton Repertory Theater. This was followed by work with the Theatre Company of Boston. After that, Katsulas moved to New York to some challenging off-off-Broadway theater at La Mama. This was followed by a fifteen-year heart and soul involvement with Peter Brook's International Theatre Company in Paris, performing around the world with a challenging combination of improvisational theater in every imaginable circumstance and space, and "prepared" theater pieces in traditional, as well as unconventional, theatrical spaces. Katsulas trod the boards from Lincoln Center in New York and The Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C., to the "mean streets" of Brooklyn and marketplaces in remote African Villages. There were performances from elite Theater Festivals in Iran, Avignon and Belgrade: in prisons & mental institutions; at rock quarries in Australia; on barrios in Venezuela; in sewage plants in Switzerland; winding through the streets of Venice, Italy; in the fields with farm workers in California, near the lakes of Minnesota with Native Americans, in sometimes extreme conditions like snow, rain, and intensive heat.
Diring a hiatus from the stage, a part in Michael Cimino's "The Sicilian" brought Andreas to Los Angeles, after which he was immediately cast as Joey Venza in Ridley Scott's "Someone To Watch Over Me", then as Arthur, the chauffeur, in Blake Edward's "Sunset".
In early 2005, Andreas was diagnosed with inoperable lung cancer; he passed away a year later, in Los Angeles. He had lived there since 1986, and had hoped to return to working in the theater before his far-too-early death, just over three months shy of his 60th birthday.
IMDb mini-biography by
ILuvFlix
Trivia
He did not own a computer.
Graduated from Indiana University (Bloomington, Indiana) with an MA, 1969. (Source: Page 22, "The College", Winter 2003, Vol. 26 No. 1. Published by Indiana University Alumni Association.)
A guy who lived his dreams.... something to be admired.
" Over and in, last call for sin
While everyone's lost, the battle is won
With all these things that I've done "
The Killers
http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/killers/allthesethingsthativedone.html
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Oh man that is sad. G'Kar was always my fave B5 chracter. I just spotted this thread now and I am genuinely saddened by this. He maybe someone a never knew personaly however B5 and his character G'Kar meant alot to me. So in my eyes the actor and the person Andreas meant something to me as well.
R.I.P. Andreas. I will always remember B5 for G'Kar. It wouldn't have been the series it was without you :(
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G'Kar was one of the most fascinating characters on B5, although they all were very interesting, but I remember at the beginning of the show, I thought he was a evil dirt bag, and by the end, I thought he was an enlightened person, who saw things from such a wide perspective no one else could match him. While the writing was JMS, it takes an actor to bring life to words on the page, he did a phenominal job. I do not know of any of his other endevours, but he...was the power behind one of the most amazingly deep characters I have ever seen on screen. I am deeply saddened by his passing, G'kar, Andreas Katsulas, I salute you. He has achieved a degree of immortality, because he lives on in the minds of his fans.
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In the immortal words usually ascribed to Ace Rimmer, Andreas Katsulas...what a guy.
The only reason I even gave Babylon 5 a chance during its abysmal pilot film and so-so first season was Andreas Katsulas. I loved how his character made this almost seamless transition from one-dimensional bad guy to fully-fleshed-out spiritual good guy. It was a refreshing change from the ordinary and, I think, paved the way for similar characters in the genre. I, like others on this board, never knew the man personally, but what I knew of him from his portrayal of G'Kar made me think this was quite a guy to have a beer with.
This is one geek who will toast the memory of Andreas Katsulas. He was quite a guy.
- T
:(
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G'Kar was my favorite character on B5 as well.
I remember getting very excited watching "The Fugitive" the first time when I recognized the voice of the one armed man and realized who the actor was...
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dc4bs
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This is such sad news. I loved Babylon 5 and Andreas put in an incredible performance as G'kar. He will be missed
"Gorramit Mal... I've forgotten my line."
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What a great man he was, his talents will be dearly missed
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