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Ron Silver

 
Actor: Ron Silver
 
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Jul 02, 1946 in New York City, New York
  • Died: Mar 15, 2009
  • Occupation: Actor, Director
  • Active: '70s-2000s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Comedy Drama
  • Career Highlights: Reversal of Fortune, Fellow Traveler, Enemies: A Love Story
  • First Major Screen Credit: Word of Honor (1980)

Biography

Ron Silver was known for his extraordinary stage presence and high-energy portrayals of a variety of offbeat characters in films and on television. A native New Yorker, Silver studied Chinese at State University of New York at Buffalo and drama at the Herbert Berghof Studio and the Actors Studio. After receiving his bachelor's from S.U.N.Y., Silver earned a master's degree in Chinese history at the College of Chinese Culture in Taiwan and then returned to New York to study at the aforementioned acting studios. 1976 was a big year for Silver who debuted as a comedian in feature films (Tunnelvision), television (The Mac Davis Show), and theater (El Grande de Coca-Cola). He was also a regular cast member between 1976 and 1978 on the sitcom Rhoda, and then appeared in several made-for-television movies before appearing in Semi-Tough (1977). His feature film career picked up in the early '80s, but he did not get his first big break until he starred opposite Anne Bancroft in Sidney Lumet's Garbo Talks (1984). Silver earned critical acclaim in 1989 for starring in Philip Saville's Fellow Traveler as a Hollywood screenwriter forced to flee his family and friends to avoid getting blacklisted during the early '50s. That same year, Silver won a Tony and a Drama Desk Award for starring in David Mamet's Speed-The-Plow and scored a second film coup in Paul Mazursky's adaptation of author Isaac Bashevis Singer's Enemies, A Love Story. In the years to follow,, the busy Silver, who juggled his time between the three entertainment forms, became a respected mid-range star who could be counted on to deliver consistently strong, fine performances. As the '90s progressed, he moved into more lead roles playing everything from psychopaths (Blue Steel [1990]), senators (Time Cop [1994]), sleazy lawyers (in the TV medical drama Chicago Hope [1994- ]), and scientists (The Arrival [1996]). Silver died of esophageal cancer in 2009 at the age of 62. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Ron Silver
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
Ron Silver
Born Ronald Arthur Silver
July 2, 1946(1946-07-02)
New York City, New York, USA
Died March 15, 2009 (aged 62)
New York City, New York, USA
Occupation Actor, director, producer and political activist
Years active 1974–2008
Spouse(s) Lynne Miller (1975–97) (divorced)

Ronald Arthur "Ron" Silver[1] (July 2, 1946 – March 15, 2009) was an American actor, director, producer, radio host and political activist.

Contents

Early life

Silver was born in New York City, New York, the son of May (née Zimelman), a substitute teacher, and Irving Roy Silver, a clothing sales executive.[1][2] Silver was raised in the Lower East Side of Manhattan and attended The East Side Hebrew Institute ("ESHI") and then Stuyvesant High School.[3] He went on to graduate from SUNY at Buffalo with a Bachelor of Arts in Spanish and Chinese, and received a Master's Degree in Chinese History from St. John's University in New York and the College of Chinese Culture in Taiwan. He also attended Columbia University's Graduate School of International Affairs and studied acting at the Herbert Berghof Studio.

Career

Silver made his film debut in Tunnel Vision in 1976. From 1976 to 1978 he played downstairs neighbor Gary Levy in the series Rhoda. Additional screen roles include Lovesick (1983), the devoted son of Anne Bancroft in Garbo Talks (1984), an incompetent detective in Eat and Run (1986), the pistol-wielding psychopath opposite Jamie Lee Curtis in 1989's Blue Steel. and the lead in Paul Mazursky's Oscar-nominated Enemies: A Love Story (1989). Silver also starred opposite Jerry Lewis in the "Garment District Arc" of the crime show Wiseguy (1988). He often said in interviews that growing up the son of a man working in the garment industry was a great help in preparing for the role. He also portrayed defense attorney Alan Dershowitz in Reversal of Fortune (1990), based on the trial of Claus von Bülow. In 1998, he starred opposite Kirstie Alley for Season 2 of Veronica's Closet.

Silver was featured in such diverse films as Mr. Saturday Night (1992), Timecop (1994), and as Muhammad Ali's boxing cornerman Angelo Dundee in Ali (2001). From 2001 to 2002 and 2005 to 2006, Silver portrayed presidential campaign advisor Bruno Gianelli on The West Wing.

From 1991 to 2000, Silver served as president of the Actors' Equity Association.

In February 2008, Silver began hosting The Ron Silver Show on Sirius Satellite Radio, which focused on politics and public affairs. The show aired live from 9–11am ET, during morning drive time, on Indie Talk, Sirius 110.

Personal life and politics

Silver traveled to more than 30 countries and spoke fluent Mandarin Chinese and Spanish. He taught at the high school level and was a social worker for the Department of Social Services.

He was a co-founder in 1989 of the entertainment industry political advocacy organization the Creative Coalition.

Silver was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2000, he co-founded the organization One Jerusalem to oppose the Oslo Peace Agreement. Its purpose is to maintain "a united Jerusalem as the undivided capital of Israel."[4]

Silver, a Democrat for many years, left the party and became an Independent, and a supporter of President George W. Bush, citing the September 11, 2001 attacks and Democratic policies regarding terrorism as reasons. He spoke at the United States 2004 Republican National Convention, continued to support President Bush, and was appointed Chairman for the Millennium Committee by New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Silver and friends of his said that following his endorsement of President Bush, he was ostracized by former friends and colleagues, and on his blog on the Pajamas Media website, he wrote that his colleagues on the set of The West Wing would call him "Ron, Ron, the Neo-Con."[5]

On October 7, 2005, Silver was nominated by President Bush to be a Member of the Board of Directors of the United States Institute of Peace.

On September 8, 2006, it was announced that Silver had joined an advisory committee to the Lewis Libby Legal Defense Trust.[6]

Death

Silver died on March 15, 2009 of esophageal cancer, which he was diagnosed with two years earlier. He is survived by both parents, brothers Mitchell and Keith, son Adam, and daughter Alexandra.[7]

Work

Television

Stage

Film

References

  1. ^ a b "Ron Silver". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/16/movies/16silver.html. Retrieved on 2009-03-16. 
  2. ^ "Ron Silver Biography". http://www.filmreference.com/film/62/Ron-Silver.html. Retrieved on 2007-11-01. 
  3. ^ "Ron Silver". Greater Talent Network. http://www.greatertalent.com/speakers/speakers.php?speakerid=563. Retrieved on 2007-11-01. 
  4. ^ "Mission Statement". http://www.onejerusalem.org/statement.asp. Retrieved on 2007-11-01. 
  5. ^ http://www.philly.com/inquirer/obituaries/20090317_Ron_Silver__62__Tony_winner__social_and_political_activist.html
  6. ^ "Libby Legal Defense Fund". http://www.scooterlibby.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-01. 
  7. ^ K. Li, David (March 15, 2009). "Ron Silver Dies". New York Post. http://www.nypost.com/seven/03152009/news/regionalnews/ron_silver_dies_159710.htm. 

External links

v • d • e
Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actor in a Play

John Wood (1976) · Al Pacino (1977) · Barnard Hughes (1978) · Tom Conti (1979) · John Rubinstein (1980) · Ian McKellen (1981) · Roger Rees (1982) · Harvey Fierstein (1983) · Jeremy Irons (1984) · Derek Jacobi (1985) · Judd Hirsch (1986) · James Earl Jones (1987) · Ron Silver (1988) · Philip Bosco (1989) · Robert Morse (1990) · Nigel Hawthorne (1991) · Judd Hirsch (1992) · Ron Leibman (1993) · Stephen Spinella (1994) · Ralph Fiennes (1995) · George Grizzard (1996) · Christopher Plummer (1997) · Anthony LaPaglia (1998) · Brian Dennehy (1999) · Stephen Dillane (2000)

This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Ron Silver".  Read more

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