Veteran television actor Ron Glass has died at the age of 71. Glass was best known for his roles on comedies Barney Miller and The New Odd Couple, as well as sci-fi drama Firefly. According to his manager, Jeffrey Leavett, Glass died yesterday, of respiratory failure.
Glass was born in Evansville in Indiana and studied drama and literature at the University of Evansville. After appearing on stage at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Glass moved to Hollywood and began appearing in shows like Sanford and Son, Hawaii Five-0, Good Times, The Bob Newhart Show, and All in the Family.
In 1975, he joined the Barney Miller sitcom on ABC, playing NYPD Detective Ron Harris. He earned a Primetime Emmy nomination in 1982 in the supporting actor category. The comedy series ended in 1982.
The following year, he co-starred with Demond Wilson in The New Odd Couple. The ABC show lasted just one season of 18 episodes. After that, Glass co-starred in short-lived NBC comedy Rhythm and Blues.
He continued to make guest appearances on shows like The Twilight Zone, Family Matters, Friends, Star Trek: Voyager, and Murder, She Wrote.
In 2002, Glass was a series regular on the short-lived sci-fi series called Firefly. On that Joss Whedon series, he played spiritual Shepherd Derrial Book. Firefly has remained a cult favourite and the FOX cast reunited for a feature film called Serenity in 2005.
The actor continued to work on television shows like Dirty Sexy Money, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Rugrats, All Grown Up!, Major Crimes, and Marvel’s Agents of SHIELD.
Reportedly, Glass never married and was a member of the Soka Gakkai International, a lay Buddhist organisation. It’s unknown if he left any family members but he certainly did leave many professional friends and fans.
He got there with grace, humor & enormous heart. He was, among so many other things, my Shepherd. Raise, appropriately, a glass. Rest, Ron. pic.twitter.com/yzPly7TmgE
— Joss Whedon (@joss) November 26, 2016
"Shepard, don't move."
"Won't go far."
We love you, Ron Glass. Don't go far. https://t.co/BAzpzTBLLv— Nathan Fillion (@NathanFillion) November 26, 2016
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https://twitter.com/AlanTudyk/status/802622027085422592
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https://twitter.com/AdamBaldwin/status/802621797778628608
Ron Glass. What an honor it was to know you, to work beside you and to have called you my friend. You will be missed. I love you sir.
— Sean Maher (@Sean_M_Maher) November 26, 2016
I hope Ron Glass is somewhere, enjoying a horrible cup of coffee with Jack Soo. #RIPRonGlass
— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) November 26, 2016
If you can't do something smart, do something right.
RIP Ron Glass
— Ashly Burch 🍉 (@ashly_burch) November 26, 2016
Shocked & Saddened! We just lost another AMAZING person. R.I.P. Ron Glass
— Greg Grunberg (@greggrunberg) November 26, 2016
It was an Honor & a Pleasure to work with the Amazing Ron Glass! RIP, Sir!
— Samuel L. Jackson (@SamuelLJackson) November 26, 2016
What do you think? Are you a fan of Ron Glass’ work? Do you have a favorite role or memory?
