'Babylon 5' actor dies

[Ed Kemo]

Richard Biggs, who played Dr. Stephen Franklin on "Babylon 5" and also had a
long run on the soap opera "Days of Our Lives," died Saturday. He was 44,
according to the actor's Web site.

http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/25/obit.biggs/index.html

[John Shk]

He will be missed.


J.

Post by Ed Kemo
Richard Biggs, who played Dr. Stephen Franklin on "Babylon 5" and also had a
long run on the soap opera "Days of Our Lives," died Saturday. He was 44,
according to the actor's Web site.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/25/obit.biggs/index.html
--
In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out.
It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another
human being. We should all be thankful for those people
who rekindle the inner spirit.
--Albert Schweitzer

[Jacqueline Lichtenberg]

Post by Ed Kemo
Richard Biggs, who played Dr. Stephen Franklin on "Babylon 5" and also had a
long run on the soap opera "Days of Our Lives," died Saturday. He was 44,
according to the actor's Web site.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/25/obit.biggs/index.html

I would have missed this news if not for this post -- thank you for letting
us know.

So much of the B-5 story arc, the individual episodes, and large chunks of
the underlying philosophy go together to make B-5 "real" science fiction on
television -- a melding of disparate elements that was thought impossible
before Star Trek.

I feel the most memoriable Dr. Franklin-focused bit of story arc was the
drug-addiction/Walkabout sequence. The philosophy delineated in the
Walkabout (and the psychology) really "worked" for me -- I came to believe
the show on a higher level because of that sequence.

The trick of making people believe really impossible things "before
breakfast" is the way they are embedded in the very well known reality of
the viewer/reader. That a physician under severe pressure can become
addicted to the very drugs he'll protect his patients from is very
realistic. It does happen though seldom makes the news. The "Walkabout"
psychology and practice does happen -- it is real though fully accessible on
the most mystical levels only to those raised in that culture.

The "reality" of the Dr. Franklin character made me "believe" B-5 in ways
other things did not. And that couldn't have happened I think with any
other actor. Richard Biggs left us a legacy -- which would have been
greater had he lived longer.

Jacqueline Lichtenberg
Primary Author: Star Trek Lives!
(see trekkies2.com -- Los Angeles interviews)
Articles in SEVEN SEASONS OF BUFFY and FIVE SEASONS OF ANGEL -- Glenn
Yeffeth ed.
http://www.simegen.com/jl/ homepage

[John Shk]

Thank you for the response as well.

I was touched... and sad when I heard the news.
I had hoped they had a SF funeral and some for of ackowledgement
from all the folks in LA.
I also heard that the new SF museum in Seattle might have a memorial
for Richard Biggs -- I hope soon.
Still looking for a JMS response -- I heard a little tidbit from ET
news show, but it wasn't good enough.

Anyway,

Take care and I still watch and the new SG-1 and SG:AT series.


John.

Post by Jacqueline Lichtenberg

Post by Ed Kemo
Richard Biggs, who played Dr. Stephen Franklin on "Babylon 5" and also had

a

Post by Ed Kemo
long run on the soap opera "Days of Our Lives," died Saturday. He was 44,
according to the actor's Web site.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/25/obit.biggs/index.html

I would have missed this news if not for this post -- thank you for letting
us know.
So much of the B-5 story arc, the individual episodes, and large chunks of
the underlying philosophy go together to make B-5 "real" science fiction on
television -- a melding of disparate elements that was thought impossible
before Star Trek.
I feel the most memoriable Dr. Franklin-focused bit of story arc was the
drug-addiction/Walkabout sequence. The philosophy delineated in the
Walkabout (and the psychology) really "worked" for me -- I came to believe
the show on a higher level because of that sequence.
The trick of making people believe really impossible things "before
breakfast" is the way they are embedded in the very well known reality of
the viewer/reader. That a physician under severe pressure can become
addicted to the very drugs he'll protect his patients from is very
realistic. It does happen though seldom makes the news. The "Walkabout"
psychology and practice does happen -- it is real though fully accessible on
the most mystical levels only to those raised in that culture.
The "reality" of the Dr. Franklin character made me "believe" B-5 in ways
other things did not. And that couldn't have happened I think with any
other actor. Richard Biggs left us a legacy -- which would have been
greater had he lived longer.
Jacqueline Lichtenberg
Primary Author: Star Trek Lives!
(see trekkies2.com -- Los Angeles interviews)
Articles in SEVEN SEASONS OF BUFFY and FIVE SEASONS OF ANGEL -- Glenn
Yeffeth ed.
http://www.simegen.com/jl/ homepage