Jeff Corey's Appearance on Babylon 5
By egoebelbecker
Babylon 5 drew from many places for its guest stars. Genre stalwarts like Michael Ansara and Brad Dourif. TV regulars like William Sanderson, Melissa Gilbert, and Erica Gimpel. Special guest stars like Michael York and Robert Englund. Even fresh new faces like Bryan Cranston.
But one of my favorite appearances, even though it was barely a cup of tea in length, was by Jeff Corey. You might know him from Little Big Man, where he gave an incredible performance as Will Bill Hickok.
Or maybe from Conan the Destroyer as the creepy Grand Vizier.
Or maybe you recognize his voice as Silvermane in the 90’s Spider-Man cartoons. Or the sheriff in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. Or Tom Chaney (the main villain) in True Grit Or from one of the 100s of roles he played on TV, such as in the original Star Trek or The Outer Limits. He was everywhere, and he tended to be memorable.
His turn on Babylon 5 is a real treat. Without revealing any critical spoilers, he plays a mysterious man that wants something from a skeptical Captain Sheridan (Bruce “Scarecrow” Boxleitner,) and is delightfully strange and oddly persuasive. It’s a great piece of writing, where the series creator, J. Michael Straczynski starts revealing what has really been going on for three seasons with some great dialogue and vivid imagery.
I have a clip with just enough to give you a taste without revealing too much.
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