Tony-Winning Actor and Activist Ron Silver Dies at 62

Ron Silver, the fast-talking, no-nonsense actor who won a Best Actor Tony Award for the original Broadway production of David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow, died on March 15 in his Manhattan home. The actor “died peacefully in his sleep with his family around him early Sunday morning,” Robin Bronk, executive director of the Creative Coalition, which Silver helped found, said in a statement. “He had been fighting esophageal cancer for two years.” He was 62.

In addition to his performance as producer Charlie Fox in Speed-the-Plow 1988, Silver played Mickey in the original Broadway production of David Rabe’s Hurlyburly 1984 and co-starred with Marlo Thomas in Andrew Bergman’s hit comedy Social Security 1986. His most recent stage appearance was as rock impresario Bill Graham in the solo show Bill Graham Presents at the Canon Theater in Beverly Hills in 2000.

Born in New York on July 2, 1946, Ronald Arthur Silver was the son of a garment executive and a teacher. He earned an undergraduate degree from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a master’s degree in Chinese history from St. John’s University, then studied drama at the Herbert Berghof Studio and the Actors Studio. Silver began his career off-Broadway at the Public Theater in the early 1970s and began working in films and TV after moving to Los Angeles with the hit off-Broadway revue El Grande de Coca-Cola.

On the big screen, Silver played lawyer Alan Dershowitz in Reversal of Fortune and appeared in a diverse collection of movies, including Find Me Guilty, The Ten, Ali, Silkwood, Semi-Tough, Enemies: A Love Story, Lovesick, Blue Steel, Mr. Saturday Night and Time Cop. He was a regular or semi-regular on TV series such as Skin, Veronica’s Closet, Chicago Hope, Wiseguy, The Stockard Channing Show, Rhoda and, most recently, an Emmy-nominated stint on The West Wing.

In recent years, Silver had been as well known for his outspoken political views as for his long career as an actor. After founding the non-partisan Creative Coalition, the lifelong liberal Democrat became a registered independent in the wake of 9/11, speaking out forcefully for President Bush and other conservative Republicans. He received an Emmy nomination for his work on The West Wing as political strategist Bruno Gianelli, who likewise moved from working with liberal President Jed Bartlet to the conservative candidate played by Alan Alda. After supporting the 2008 presidential bid of Rudolph Guiliani, Silver eventually voted for Barack Obama, according to his brother Mitchell.

Silver served as president of Actors’ Equity from 1991 to 2000 and was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Survivors include his parents, his children, Alexandra and Adam; and his brothers, Mitchell and Keith.