Actor Ron Silver Dies of Cancer at the Age of 62

Actor Ron Silver died on Sunday at the age of 62 of cancer. According to Robin Bronk, the executive director of Creative Coalition, "Ron Silver died peacefully in his sleep with his family around him early Sunday morning. He had been fighting esophageal cancer for two years. He was a talented actor, a scholar and a great believer in participatory democracy. He was an activist who became a great artist and his contributions will never be forgotten."

For those who religiously watched "The West Wing," actor Ron Silver is probably best known for portraying Bruno Gianelli, a slick, fast-talking political strategist to President Jed Bartlet (played by Martin Sheen). Silver also won a Tony award for his role as a Hollywood producers in David Mamet’s "Speed-the-Plow." For those unfamiliar with those works, Silver’s claim to fame may have been an abrupt, political "about face" from liberal democrat to self-style "9/11 Republican" who moved in lockstep with President Bush’s anti-terrorism approach.

Silver’s political change of heart probably served as a bane in liberal-minded Hollywood, and he spoke on several occasions about how his career was likely suffering as a result of his politics. Shortly after his turn to "9/11 Republicanism," Silver noted, "It’s affected me very badly. I can’t point to a person or a job I’ve lost, but this community (Hollywood) is not very pluralistic. I haven’t worked in 10 months. Often when I walked onto the set of 'The West Wing' some of my colleagues would greet me with a chanting of 'Ron, Ron, the neo-con.' It was all done in fun but it had an edge." Among Silver’s movie credits are "Ali," "Reversal of Fortune," "Enemies: A Love Story," "Silkwood" and "Semi-Tough."