Hello Colonials...welcome to all of our newest members of course, welcome to the fleet!
We are dedicating this particular message to an actor as a memorial & a honor before all the fans of Battlestar Galactica.
Personally speaking I want to dedicate some memories of this gentlemen that I can share with you all.
My thinking on this was spurred by the fact that this past week fans of science fiction lost a major player and influential person in science fiction...Mr. Michael Ansara...who as Kang in Star Trek set a pattern mirrored by John Colicos as Kor for the future of the Klingon personality.
This honor of Hero of Battlestar Galactica of course must go to a player in the BSG universe...however we honor Mr. Ansara in our thoughts.
The gentleman I have in mind appeared in the original series as Dr. Selik....and I will reveal his name now if you have not guessed...George Murdock.
Not only did he appear in Battlestar Galactica of course, but he also had popular role on Barney Miller as Lt. Ben Scanlon & of course "God" in Star Trek V: The Final Frontier & of course as Admiral Hanson in Star Trek: The Next Generation in 'The Best of Both Worlds Parts I & II)...where he met a bad end during the battle of Wolf 359 at the hands of the Borg.
Luckily, George survived that last one...just not the character!
Well, to get the full scope, here is a sample of his work:
- The Twilight Zone
- The Untouchables
- 77 Sunset Strip
- Combat!
- I Spy
- Ben Casey
- The Wild Wild West
- Tarzan (with Ron Ely)
- Star Trek V: The Final Frontier
- Cimarron Strip
- The Virginian
- Night Gallery
- Bonanza
- Breaker! Breaker!
- Hawaii Five-O
- The Mod Squad
- Adam-12
- Ironside
- The New Perry Mason
- The Magician
- The F.B.I.
- The Streets of San Francisco
- Barney Miller (Lt. Ben Scanlon)
- Gunsmoke
- Earthquake (with Charlton Heston, Lorne Greene)
- McCloud
- The Invisible Man
- Police Woman
- Little House on the Prairie
- Thunder and Lightning (with David Carradine and Kate Jackson)
- Lou Grant
- The Rockford Files
- The Dukes of Hazzard
- Trapper John, M.D.
- The Misadventures of Sheriff Lobo
- Shoot the Moon an Alan Parker film
- Bosom Buddies
- T.J. Hooker
- Hill Street Blues
- Benson
- The Winds of War (based on Herman Wouk's best-seller, with Robert Mitchum)
- Knight Rider
- Fame
- Murder, She Wrote
- Dynasty
- War and Remembrance (sequel to The Winds of War)
- Night Court
- L.A. Law
- Star Trek: The Next Generation
- Final Analysis (with Richard Gere and Kim Basinger)
- Batman: The Animated Series
- Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
- Seinfeld
- The Nanny
- Tyson (TV film)
- Chicago Hope
- ER
- The Gregory Hines Show
- Mike Hammer, Private Eye
- Early Edition
- Just Shoot Me!
- The X-Files
- Battlestar Galactica: The Second Coming
- The X-Files: Fight the Future
- Law & Order
- 2000x (NPR/Hollywood Theater of the Ear radio series)
- The Norm Show
- Smallville
- Small Wonder
- Orange County
- Judging Amy
- The Dead Zone
- Looney Tunes: Back in Action
- CSI: Crime Scene Investigation
- The Six Million Dollar Man
- Torchwood: Miracle Day
He did a few things...you think?
It was my & our joy to have George join us on the 2008 Galacticruise...and actually the film that came out of that adventure Galacticon II: Galacticruise is the last film that he appears in...I was so honored as to share a scene with him.
It's an interesting story as how it happened upon the cruise...we had MANY choices of talent from BSG to bring back with us...originally Aaron Douglas was slated to appear but had to bow out due to his schedule filming "The Plan" and George was always on our list, so he stepped up to the spot that Aaron vacated.
Now, I have NO doubt that Aaron would have made an excellent guest...but I DO know that George did!
It was a great pleasure to have him there...the man was a joy!
It's so funny, I got thrust into the job of doing a panel with him (without notes) because the original person who was to do it had to bow out at the last moment.
I just let George talk...he carried the moment...and saved my reputation.
Near the end of the event as everyone was bidding farewells to their crewmates....I got a big hug from George & I told him that I thought it was a shame that Hollywood wasn't making better use of older, GREAT actors like himself...how much they could benefit...he said "From your lips to God's ear"....and that has stuck with me.
Especially coming from "God"...
This weeks HERO of Battlestar Galactica, though posthumous goes to Mr. George Murdock!
SO SAY WE ALL!
Shawn O'Donnell
President
Battlestar Galactica Fan Club
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