4 ms·

Mira Furlan has died

52 points by ohjeez 6y ago

domano 6y ago
I think that her performance as Delenn was really superb. The whole plot of her being the bridge between humanity and minbari was portrayed with such pathos without drifting into sentimentality. One by one the cast of B5 is leaving us and i am sad to see them go, without another shot at telling another story far superior to most science fiction productions nowadays.
- orangecat 6y ago
  "We have authority here. Do not force us to engage your ship." "Why. Not." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtNtw2HTFtA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtNtw2HTFtA
  - mlang23 6y ago
    Good excerpt, which reminds me that she had a trembling in her voice that always seemed to be a bit out of character for me. But that said, B5 was one of the best Sci-Fi shows ever, and Delenn was a great character. I miss that show. DId a binch-watching of all episodes last time I was ill, should do that again with a clear head sometimes.
    - dingaling 6y ago
      I met her at a BABCOM convention in the mid-90s and she graciously chatted for a few minutes. She really did seem to be Delenn in her character, very calm and regal and patient. She and Andreas Katsulas seemed to be cut from the same cloth.
      - mlang23 6y ago
        Wow, I envy you. I never had the chance to talk to an acttress from a show I know and love. I find it interesting enough to observe the changes in their voice when listening to audio commentary for instance. It would be even more interesting to actually hear them speak IRL.
AndrewLiptak 6y ago
I'm really sad about this. She was fantastic in B5, and in LOST.
borispavlovic 6y ago
she was even better in Yugoslav movies from the 80's before, like 'The Beauty of Vice' https://easterneuropeanmovies.com/drama/the-beauty-of-vice https://easterneuropeanmovies.com/drama/the-beauty-of-vice or 'When Father was away on business' https://easterneuropeanmovies.com/drama/when-father-was-away-on-business https://easterneuropeanmovies.com/drama/when-father-was-away...
- domano 6y ago
  Thank you for this, i am part of the diaspora and always happy to find something to connect my roots with my interests.
at_a_remove 6y ago
I never saw Lost, but what I saw of her in Babylon 5 (showings were spotty where I was), well, she gave her character such depth and conflict.
slightwinder 6y ago
RIP. The curse of Babylon 5 strikes again... Not that there really is a curse, but there is an interessting statistical anomaly that an unusual high amount of people involved with bablyon 5 die early. More than half of the maincast has now died (all in the age 40-65). Even IMDB has a page for this: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls023048945/ https://www.imdb.com/list/ls023048945/ Interessting part is that the production of bablyon 5 already met some unlucky envents at it's production. And the series itself had the curse of the babylon-project as part of it's lore. Probably from this the meme about a curse leaped over to real world.
- WorldMaker 6y ago
  One of my favorite parts of the "curse narrative" is the part where they had the foresight that "HD" TV resolutions were coming, decided to shoot in proper widescreen film and tried to keep the digital files for the special effects reworkable for when it was time to quickly remaster. But somewhere along the way Warner Brothers lost the digital files and the cost to remaster ballooned significantly and in this timeline we'll likely never see a Blu-Ray release of the show despite it being filmed for something like it. One of the twisty roads in that story is that one of the arguments that WB has for how they lost the digital files involves Sierra On-Line's especially cursed attempt at a Babylon 5 videogame and that one argument is that one place that could turn up the lost files is somewhere in the cursed bowels of Activision Blizzard. (Just as WB and Activision Blizzard lost the contracts for NOLF and its sequels somewhere and no one knows who has the rights today.)
  - elsonrodriguez 6y ago
    A year or so ago on the B5 subreddit someone leaked HD renders of some B5 CG scenes. Apparently some of the assets have made it out into the wild, but folks involved are laying low. In terms of video games, there's the fan-made "I've Found Her" for a taste of what could have been.
    - yuppie_scum 6y ago
      Is that the star fury sim? I played that for a little bit when it came out, I thought it was very cool. There is a “Newtonian physics” button for Elite Dangerous where you can do star fury whip around moves if you want, but it’s not really an effective way to fly.
mrkramer 6y ago
> While a cause of death has yet not been revealed, Straczynski said the cast and crew of “Babylon 5” had “known for some time now that Mira’s health was fading.” She died of consequences of infection from West Nile virus transmitted through mosquito. I read it from my local news paper.
jecel 6y ago
She had been recently participating the in crowd funded science fiction series "Space Command".
tibbydudeza 6y ago
We are starstuff.
ankushnarula 6y ago
I just finished watching B5 for the first time last week. Only knew her from LOST prior to this. Outstanding actor - and from the various interviews/cons on YT she seen seemed like a very warm & genuine person as well. Sad.

52 points by ohjeez 6y ago

I think that her performance as Delenn was really superb. The whole plot of her being the bridge between humanity and minbari was portrayed with such pathos without drifting into sentimentality. One by one the cast of B5 is leaving us and i am sad to see them go, without another shot at telling another story far superior to most science fiction productions nowadays.

orangecat 6y ago
"We have authority here. Do not force us to engage your ship." "Why. Not." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtNtw2HTFtA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtNtw2HTFtA
- mlang23 6y ago
  Good excerpt, which reminds me that she had a trembling in her voice that always seemed to be a bit out of character for me. But that said, B5 was one of the best Sci-Fi shows ever, and Delenn was a great character. I miss that show. DId a binch-watching of all episodes last time I was ill, should do that again with a clear head sometimes.
  - dingaling 6y ago
    I met her at a BABCOM convention in the mid-90s and she graciously chatted for a few minutes. She really did seem to be Delenn in her character, very calm and regal and patient. She and Andreas Katsulas seemed to be cut from the same cloth.
    - mlang23 6y ago
      Wow, I envy you. I never had the chance to talk to an acttress from a show I know and love. I find it interesting enough to observe the changes in their voice when listening to audio commentary for instance. It would be even more interesting to actually hear them speak IRL.

AndrewLiptak 6y ago

I'm really sad about this. She was fantastic in B5, and in LOST.

borispavlovic 6y ago

she was even better in Yugoslav movies from the 80's before, like 'The Beauty of Vice' https://easterneuropeanmovies.com/drama/the-beauty-of-vice https://easterneuropeanmovies.com/drama/the-beauty-of-vice or 'When Father was away on business' https://easterneuropeanmovies.com/drama/when-father-was-away-on-business https://easterneuropeanmovies.com/drama/when-father-was-away...

domano 6y ago
Thank you for this, i am part of the diaspora and always happy to find something to connect my roots with my interests.

at_a_remove 6y ago

I never saw Lost, but what I saw of her in Babylon 5 (showings were spotty where I was), well, she gave her character such depth and conflict.

slightwinder 6y ago

RIP. The curse of Babylon 5 strikes again... Not that there really is a curse, but there is an interessting statistical anomaly that an unusual high amount of people involved with bablyon 5 die early. More than half of the maincast has now died (all in the age 40-65). Even IMDB has a page for this: https://www.imdb.com/list/ls023048945/ https://www.imdb.com/list/ls023048945/ Interessting part is that the production of bablyon 5 already met some unlucky envents at it's production. And the series itself had the curse of the babylon-project as part of it's lore. Probably from this the meme about a curse leaped over to real world.

WorldMaker 6y ago
One of my favorite parts of the "curse narrative" is the part where they had the foresight that "HD" TV resolutions were coming, decided to shoot in proper widescreen film and tried to keep the digital files for the special effects reworkable for when it was time to quickly remaster. But somewhere along the way Warner Brothers lost the digital files and the cost to remaster ballooned significantly and in this timeline we'll likely never see a Blu-Ray release of the show despite it being filmed for something like it. One of the twisty roads in that story is that one of the arguments that WB has for how they lost the digital files involves Sierra On-Line's especially cursed attempt at a Babylon 5 videogame and that one argument is that one place that could turn up the lost files is somewhere in the cursed bowels of Activision Blizzard. (Just as WB and Activision Blizzard lost the contracts for NOLF and its sequels somewhere and no one knows who has the rights today.)
- elsonrodriguez 6y ago
  A year or so ago on the B5 subreddit someone leaked HD renders of some B5 CG scenes. Apparently some of the assets have made it out into the wild, but folks involved are laying low. In terms of video games, there's the fan-made "I've Found Her" for a taste of what could have been.
  - yuppie_scum 6y ago
    Is that the star fury sim? I played that for a little bit when it came out, I thought it was very cool. There is a “Newtonian physics” button for Elite Dangerous where you can do star fury whip around moves if you want, but it’s not really an effective way to fly.

mrkramer 6y ago

> While a cause of death has yet not been revealed, Straczynski said the cast and crew of “Babylon 5” had “known for some time now that Mira’s health was fading.” She died of consequences of infection from West Nile virus transmitted through mosquito. I read it from my local news paper.

jecel 6y ago

She had been recently participating the in crowd funded science fiction series "Space Command".

tibbydudeza 6y ago

We are starstuff.

ankushnarula 6y ago

I just finished watching B5 for the first time last week. Only knew her from LOST prior to this. Outstanding actor - and from the various interviews/cons on YT she seen seemed like a very warm & genuine person as well. Sad.