Rest in Peace
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Brucewh — 10 years ago(July 13, 2015 07:29 AM)
As did I. The depth he brought to that character was impressive, and those episodes sit right around the top of my favorite re-watch episodes. The jumps he could make from disarmingly inebriated nut who nevertheless knew exactly what he was talking about, to brilliant and insightful semi-inebriated diplomat, to exquisite moments of pure professional seriousness or intense personal sincerity, were moments that every actor should take the time to study.
My two favorite moments of his were small ones.
One was at the end of the episode
He Shall, from Time to Time (2000)
when Lord John is making his farewells before heading off on his diplomatic mission. Leo wishes him good luck, and Lord John's, "Good luck to you, Leo," reply (following the press conference at which Leo went public about being a recovering alcoholic and drug addict) is an an abrupt, singular shift to utterly sincere, caring, and personal.
In the episode "
The Drop In (2001)
," his character makes an instantaneous shift from the jocular Lord John to utterly personal and sincere upon meeting Josh for the first time since his wounding in the assassination attempt, saying, "God bless you, Josh; the prayers of millions were answered." And then instantly shifts back to his standard persona.
Nuanced actors are far too rare, and it's always sad to lose another such as him.
/Bruce/
[aka Slasher]
DPC, USN (ret.) -
pencritical — 10 years ago(July 11, 2015 01:27 AM)
Kind of sad that so many US news outlets can only seem to remember him for his role in Cheers so many years ago. He was a brilliant and talented actor in many, many roles and worked almost to the day he died. I wish that they would give him the credit he so deserved. I loved watching him on screen in many different roles. He was the perfect character actor. His timing was exceptional and his acting always believable, even in some of the more outlandish roles he found himself in. He will be sorely missed.
Rest in peace, Roger. -
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tmj2015 — 10 years ago(July 11, 2015 08:41 AM)
RIP
The Rebecca and Robin story arc on Cheers is one of my top TV moments. He also did a small guest spot on The Middle which ranks up there for me. I should probably seek out some of his "serious" work.
Here's a nice radio interview he did not too long ago in Chicago:
http://wgnradio.com/2014/04/06/roger-rees/
Again, RIP.
