Ron Silver Was a Mensch

I directed Ron Silver twice. I used to tease him I was the only director who would work with him more then once. First time was a film about Amnesty International where he played the Amnesty representative to Turkey. He was incredibly funny, and we spent a couple of months in Budapest filming (Turkey would not let us in).

No matter how tense the scene, or how hard the schedule, or how painful the work (showing torture, even when it is a reenactment is painful), he could always break the tension with perfectly timed wit and wisdom.

And then he was in a mini series I directed starring Sally Field, Woman of Independent Means. And again, in the heat of Houston, with a brutal schedule, he helped maintain a sense of pleasure and perspective on the set.

And as the years progressed and our politics differed he was always engaging and good-natured about our differences. No matter how intense the political disagreement he was never a name caller or shouter.

He was a gentleman, and he will be missed.