Ron Glass

Ron Glass
Ron Glass in 2005
Born	Ronald Earle Glass (1945-07-10)July 10, 1945 Evansville, Indiana, U.S.
Died	November 25, 2016(2016-11-25) (aged 71) Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Respiratory failure
Alma mater	University of Evansville
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1972–2014
Known for	Detective Ron Harris (Barney Miller), Shepherd Derrial Book (Firefly and Serenity)

Ronald Earle "Ron" Glass (July 10, 1945 – November 25, 2016) was an American actor. He was known for his roles as literary Det. Ron Harris in the television sitcom Barney Miller (1975–1982), and as the spiritual Shepherd Derrial Book in the 2002 science fiction series Firefly and its sequel film Serenity.

Early life

Glass was born in Evansville, Indiana, the son of Lethia and Crump Glass.^[1] Graduating from Saint Francis Seminary in 1964, Glass attended the University of Evansville, where he received a Bachelor of Arts, double majoring in drama and literature. Years later, the university awarded him its Medal of Honor. Glass said in 2007 he knew while he was in college that he wanted to act. With a teacher's encouragement, he performed in a play and went on to an acting career.^[2]

Career

Glass in December 2005

Glass made his stage debut at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota before moving to Hollywood. His earliest TV appearances include episodes of Sanford and Son in 1972, an episode of Hawaii Five-O in 1973, an episode of All in the Family in 1973, an episode of The Bob Newhart Show, and episodes of Good Times in 1974. In 1975, he landed the role of Det. Ron Harris in Barney Miller, which ran until 1982. The following season, Glass also co-starred with Demond Wilson on television in the short-lived remake of The Odd Couple, called The New Odd Couple. On December 13, 1985, he played a soul-collecting devil opposite Sherman Hemsley's mathematics professor in an episode of the revived Twilight Zone series. In 1992, he co-starred in the short-lived sitcom Rhythm and Blues, a kind of "black WKRP," playing "the fifth Top" opposite Roger Kabler. In 1996, Glass was cast as uptight history teacher Roland Felcher in NBC sitcom Mr. Rhodes opposite comedian Tom Rhodes. In 1999, he appeared in an episode of NBC sitcom Friends as Ross Geller's divorce lawyer, Russell.

After that, Glass appeared in dozens of television series, including sitcoms such as Family Matters and the series Teen Angel, where he played God's cousin Rod. He had a guest appearance in the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Nightingale". He was a series regular in the science fiction series Firefly (2002) and the sequel film Serenity (2005), in which he played Derrial Book, a pseudo-Christian^[3] "Shepherd" with a mysterious past. Glass provided the voice of Randy Carmichael for the Nickelodeon series All Grown Up! and Rugrats, and the character Garth in the video game Fable II. In 2008 he appeared in the film Lakeview Terrace alongside Samuel L. Jackson, and starred in the 2010 version of Death at a Funeral as Duncan.

Death

Glass died of respiratory failure on November 25, 2016, at the age of 71.^[4][5]

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ron Glass.

• Ron Glass at the Internet Movie Database