Michael O’Hare (6 May 1952 – 28 September 2012) was an American actor known for his work in theatre and television. His most famous role was Commander Jeffrey Sinclair in the science fiction series Babylon 5. O’Hare’s career spanned several decades, during which he earned recognition and awards for his performances in various stage productions and television shows.
Born as Robert Michael O’Hare Jr. in Chicago, Illinois, O’Hare grew up in Chicago Heights. His parents were of Irish and Italian descent. As a young man, he attended Chicago’s Mendel Catholic Preparatory High School, where he played American football. This was a remarkable achievement considering his doctor had told him that he would never be able to participate in athletics due to his asthma.
O’Hare received several awards and scholarship offers based on his football skills and academic performance. Although he came from a career military family and considered joining the US Navy or pursuing a career in professional football, O’Hare ultimately chose to attend Harvard University. He studied English literature there and played on the Harvard Crimson football team.
While at Harvard, O’Hare became involved in the university’s drama groups and performed in various productions, including “The Wrongway Inn” and the Hasty Pudding Theatricals’ production of 1972. In the same year, he went to the New York area for an acting tryout and was cast as Beef Saunders in the musical Good News! at Goodspeed Musicals. O’Hare was also a member of the Harvard Glee Club during its 1973 World Tour. In 1974, he left Harvard to study at the prestigious Juilliard School of Drama. Later, in the mid-1980s, he took lessons from renowned acting teacher Sanford Meisner.
O’Hare appeared in numerous theatrical productions on Broadway and regional theatres, demonstrating his versatility as an actor. Some of his notable stage performances include an acclaimed revival of Shaw’s Man and Superman with Philip Bosco, the role of Col. Jessup in the original stage version of A Few Good Men, and Captain Solyony in Chekhov’s Three Sisters.
Other memorable roles include Alfred in a 1986 stage revival of Little Murders, Jake in A Lie of the Mind, and John in Lips Together, Teeth Apart. O’Hare’s talent and dedication to his craft led to numerous accolades and awards, including becoming the first white actor to be nominated by the African-American theatre community of New York for the AUDELCO Award for Best Actor. This nomination was for his performance as Captain Jaap van Tonder in Michael Picardie’s play Shades of Brown, a story about apartheid in South Africa.
In addition to his stage career, O’Hare also found success on the small screen. He co-starred in the biographical TV movie Marciano and an unsold TV pilot Keefer with William Conrad in the late 1970s. Throughout the 1980s, he appeared as a guest star on various television shows, including Trapper John, MD, TJ Hooker, Kate & Allie, The Equalizer, Tales from the Darkside, and Rage of Angels: The Story Continues.
Babylon 5 and Beyond
In 1992, O’Hare was cast in the lead role of Commander Jeffrey Sinclair in the science fiction television series Babylon 5. He appeared in the pilot and throughout the show’s first season in 1994. Due to serious mental health issues, O’Hare left the series after the first season but made guest appearances in the second and third seasons.
After his time on Babylon 5, O’Hare continued to work in television with a guest role on The Cosby Mysteries and two appearances on Law & Order, his last appearance being in 2000. He also lent his voice to commercials and narrated a radio adaptation of the science fiction novella Think Like a Dinosaur for Seeing Ear Theater.
Following his work in the early 2000s, O’Hare retired from acting and made only rare public appearances. He remained a supportive figure in the Babylon 5 community, attending conventions and signing events until he retired from public appearances in 2000.
When O’Hare passed away in 2012, Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski revealed the actor’s struggle with severe mental illness. While filming the first season of Babylon 5, O’Hare began experiencing paranoid delusions and hallucinations that worsened over time. Straczynski offered to suspend production for several months to accommodate treatment, but O’Hare insisted on completing the first season to avoid jeopardising the show and his colleagues’ jobs.
O’Hare’s treatments were only partially successful, but he still managed to make a cameo appearance in the second season and return for a two-part episode in the third season, which closed his character’s story arc. O’Hare and Straczynski agreed to keep his mental health struggles a secret until after O’Hare’s death in order to protect his career and raise awareness about mental illness.
Despite his struggles with mental illness, Michael O’Hare’s contributions to the world of theatre and television remain significant. His dedication to his craft and his perseverance in the face of personal adversity serves as an inspiration to many in the entertainment industry. His work on Babylon 5 has had a lasting impact on fans and fellow actors alike.
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