Wednesday, September 08, 2010

So Long, Otho



You may not recognize the name of Glenn Shadix, but you probably saw him in at least one of the more than 70 movies he made.

He died this week after a fall in his condominium in Birmingham, Ala. According to his sister, he had been having mobility problems. He apparently had been using a wheelchair and had fallen in his kitchen, where he sustained fatal head injuries.

I distinctly remember him playing Otho in "Beetlejuice." I saw other films in which he appeared — like "Heathers" and the remake of "Planet of the Apes" — but I don't remember him in them. I guess I should go back and watch them again, as well as the episodes of popular TV shows in which he appeared — "Roseanne," "ER," "Cheers," "Night Court" and "Seinfeld."

I'm sincerely sorry things ended the way they did for Shadix. He was only 58. But I'm glad that his performances — the ones I've seen as well as the ones I hope to see someday — will be with us.