Ron Silver

Born on July 2, 1946, New Yorker Ronald Arthur Silver was the son of a textile industry executive and a teacher. He was a studious boy who learned Spanish at New York University at Buffalo, and later did a master’s degree in Asian culture. He also took drama classes at the prestigious Herbert Berghof School , and at the Actor Studio.

After several secondary roles in television series, he made his film debut in 1976, with the comedy about the world of television Tunnel Vision , where he played a scientist. He also had this profession in Silent Fury , an action film in which he experimented with an individual who became such a dangerous psychopath that he put the protagonist, the incombustible Chuck Norris , in trouble . He was quite successful with the terrifying film The Entity , where he was a psychiatrist who did not believe anything he was told by the protagonist, Barbara Hershey , a woman raped by a demonic being. He was also a memorable supporting actor in Very Close Friends , Fools in Love, After the green heart and other titles. In 1980 he won a Tony Award for his work in David Mamet’s ‘Speed-the- Plow ‘ . He also triumphed on the boards with ‘Hurlyburly’, by David Rabe , a satire on the world of Hollywood.

He did a great job as a broker who becomes obsessed with a police officer in Kathryn Bigelow ‘s Blue Steel (1990) , which precedes his best-remembered role, lawyer Alan Dershowitz, from The Von Bulow Mystery , a real character who would not be the only one of his career, since he was also Henry Kissinger in the television drama Kissinger and Nixon , and the boxing trainer Angelo Dundee, in Ali .

Ron Silver remained attached to Lynne Miller for many years, whom he married in 1975, and had two children. But the marriage ended up divorcing. He was a man very committed to politics, as he became one of the founders – along with Alec Baldwin and Susan Sarandon– from Creative Coalition, an organization dedicated to supporting artists and various social causes. Known for most of his life for his leftist convictions, after the strong impact of the attacks on the twin towers, he completely reconsidered his political ideology. He decided to publicly support the actions of George Bush, and the war in Iraq and Afghanistan, and even spoke at the 2004 Republican National Convention, where he called himself a “9/11 Republican.” Since progressives predominate in Hollywood, this support for the president took its toll on him, as he confessed in an interview with the Associated Press. “It has affected me quite a bit. I am not going to say what job I have lost, nor do I want to point out anyone, but this world is not very plural, “said the actor. In any case, he was an independent man who did not marry any political party. “He confessed to me that in the end he had decided to vote for Obama,” said his brother Mitchell Silver.

His interest in politics was somewhat reflected in his acting career, as he participated in the series The West Wing of the White House where he was Bruno Gianelli, a brilliant political strategist who advised President Jed Bartlet ( Martin Sheen ). He was also an ambitious senator in the futuristic action film Timecop , with Jean-Claude Van Damme . His last relevant role was the judge in Sidney Lumet ‘s Find Me Guilty .