As the title suggests, I am sorry to interrupt your regularly scheduled blog post, as I was working on the Clayface Movie Review during the week when I decided to do something, to the best of my knowledge, that I have never done before. I have never advertised a particular blog post for the next week and then written about something else.
Well, today is that day. As you have already guessed, I should have presented you with the Clayface Movie Review; however, because of some events during the week, I decided to change it, mainly to keep ahead of the curve and because I’m the head writer, so I can do what I want.
Basically, this is my way of saying, sorry, but I need to talk about life and death this week. It means this blog post has been assembled very quickly, so the quality will be average, which, let’s be honest, is very consistent with this website.
And what about life and death was so important that I needed to stop writing the Clayface review and write about this immediately? It’s because of Eric Bauza, Walter Koenig, and Sir Patrick Stewart. I wore my one and only Star Trek t-shirt with pride over the weekend.
Eric Bauza died on 25th October, at his home in Los Angeles, California, United States, aged 46 years old. If you don’t recognise his name, its ok, but I’m sure you can recognise his voice. Bauza started in the entertainment industry as an intern, then production assistant, and finally a voice actor.
He voiced many characters, and some of his notable works in movies, included Flash and Mr. Freeze (DC Super Friends), Dom and Dog Owner (A Cat in Paris), Amadeus Cho (Avengers Confidential: Black Widow & Punisher), Ryan Choi (Justice League: Gods and Monsters), The Atom, B’dg, and Jimmy Olsen (Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash) Two-Face, Laughing Mask Samurai, Antiques Dealer (Batman Ninja), Bracelet Monster, Announcer, Angry Man and Boy (Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus), Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn, and Marvin the Martian (Space Jam: A New Legacy), Splinter, Foot Soldiers, Radio Newscaster, Secret Agent (Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Movie), and Gen. Button Wutton and Sarangay (Forgotten Island).
Bauza also worked on shows including G.I. Joe: Resolute, Hero: 108, The Looney Tunes Show, Ben 10: Omniverse, Black Dynamite, Ultimate Spider-Man, Teen Titans Go!, Lego Star Wars: Droid Tales, Transformers: Robots in Disguise, Star vs. the Forces of Evil, Lego Star Wars: The Freemaker Adventures, The Powerpuff Girls, Guardians of the Galaxy, DuckTales, The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle, Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Big Hero 6: The Series, The Mighty Ones, Star Trek: Lower Decks, A Tale Dark & Grimm, Samurai Rabbit: The Usagi Chronicles, The Adventures of Puss in Boots, Gremlins: Secrets of the Mogwai, Aqua Teen Hunger Force, The Simpsons, Bob’s Burgers, X-Men ’97, Invincible, and Avatar: Seven Havens, as well as various video games.
Though, to be fair, his most famous roles are legendary characters like Woody Woodpecker, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Elmer Fudd, Foghorn Leghorn, Marvin the Martian, and Bugs Bunny. The first time I heard of Bauza was watching Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League – Gotham City Breakout with UMC1 and UMC2. I thought Bane’s voice was amazing and unique, so I searched for the actor’s name, only to feel stupid to discover Bauza’s massive body of work. As for the boys, they liked him as well, which is high praise from them.
His death is another reason why I need to see Coyote vs. Acme, since Bauza played at least 11 different roles. That’s insane.
Walter Koenig was a screenwriter, director, novelist, and actor who died at the age of 90 on 25th October in Los Angeles, California, United States. Koenig was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Russian Jewish immigrants who escaped the Soviet Union. Upon arrival, they changed their surname from Königsberg to Koenig.
His career spanned six decades, involving acting in television shows, movies, and video games, as well as voice acting, in addition to writing five books and working on several television shows as a writer. Koenig was also a humanitarian activist assisting refugees and human rights.
In two of his most famous roles, Koenig played Pavel Chekov, a Russian, from the Star Trek franchise, starting in the second season of the Original series, then expanding to movies, other television appearances, and video games. I only experienced watching Koenig on the bridge of the U.S.S. Enterprise in movies and reruns, as that’s how Star Trek still existed when I was growing up.
However, I do understand the significance of Koenig’s role as Chekov as an adult, since Star Trek was broadcast during the height of the Cold War and the Civil Rights Movement. It must have blown the audience’s minds watching a space drama set hundreds of years in the future, where you had a white American male, an alien, a Scotsman, an African-American woman, an Asian male, and a Russian male, all working together and respecting each other.
I always thought Koenig was such an underrated actor in that fictional universe, because Chekov was friendly, supportive, and awesome. I believe that a lot of actors in well-known roles can suffer from being typecast, and I think Koenig understood this, as his second famous role was Alfred Bester in Babylon 5.
In this show, Koenig played a villain, or at least an antagonist. I enjoyed Babylon 5, and I remember watching him and thinking, “Wait, Koenig is a bad guy now?” “Damn, that’s cool!”
To me, whenever his face popped up in whatever medium, I couldn’t help but admire his acting ability.
And so, just three days after losing Bauza and Koenig, the great city of Los Angeles claimed another star; this time it was Sir Patrick Stewart. He was 86 years old. Like Koenig, Stewart was another actor whose career spanned over 60 years, which involved acting on stage, in video games, on television, and in movies.
He spent 16 years with the Royal Shakespeare Company from 1966 to 1982, then worked for another 11 years, for a total of 27 years. He was involved in over 40 productions, which included The Merchant of Venice, Hamlet, Henry V, The Taming of the Shrew, King Lear, The Two Gentlemen of Verona, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Hedda Gabler, Bingo, A Miserable Lonely Death, Macbeth, Twelfth Night, Antony and Cleopatra, Othello, and Every Good Boy Deserves Favour, as well as many, many more non-Shakespeare productions.
Stewart’s television career involved animated and live-action shows like Fall of Eagles, Jackanory, The Simpsons, Moby Dick, A Christmas Carol, Animal Farm, Mysterious Island, The Hollow Crown, Family Guy, American Dad!, Blunt Talk, and I, Claudius; plus many more. Some of his filmography included Excalibur, Dune, Lifeforce, L.A. Story, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, The Pagemaster, Conspiracy Theory, The Prince of Egypt, Chicken Little, Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind, Gnomeo & Juliet, Ted, Green Room, The Sheep Detectives, and countless others.
Among his roles, two made Stewart a household name: Captain Jean-Luc Picard and Professor Charles Xavier. Stewart’s role as Picard in Star Trek: The Next Generation via television and movies cemented his place in Star Trek and pop culture, with his portrayal of the compassionate and intelligent Picard.
These traits also helped Stewart with his other famous role as Professor X in the X-Men movies from Fox, now Disney/Marvel. Portraying the mutant telepath exposed Stewart to new audiences for his acting talents, and brought the beloved leader of the group that protects a world that hates and fears them to life.
These roles offered him two unique, but similar opportunities to be a mentor, to pass on wisdom and knowledge. Yes, the lines were written for him, but the message was never lost on us. In 2010, Stewart was also knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in recognition of his contributions to the arts, to go along with his OBE (Order of the British Empire). Stewart also did various charity work and activism.
All three men will be missed by millions of people from all different walks of life. And from me, to Eric, Walter, and Patrick, thank you so much for sharing your talents, skills, and lives with us. Your work has made the world a better place. Now, if you excuse me, that’s all, folks, because I need to find the nuclear wessels and I’ll have the Clayface Movie Review next week for you. Make it so.
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