Television star Mira Furlan ofLostandBabylon 5fame has sadly passed away. According to her manager, Chris Roe, the actress died on Wednesday at her home in Los Angeles due to complications from West Nile Virus. She was 65 years old.
Furlan might be best known for her role as the Minbari ambassador Delenn on the sci-fi seriesBabylon 5. She appeared on a total of 111 episodes over five seasons between 1993 and 1998. After learning of her passing,Babylon 5creator J. Michael Straczynski took to Twitter to pay tribute to the late actress. In an essay written in memoriam of Furlan, Straczynski details his memories of the actress and praises her talents as a performer.
“Mira was a good and kind woman, a stunningly talented performer, and a friend to everyone in the cast and crew ofBabylon 5, and we are all devastated by the news,” Straczynski writes in part. “All of our thoughts tonight will be on the memories she left behind, the dazzling light of her performances, the breadth of her talent, and the heart and love she shared with [her husband] Goran, and with all of you.”
A graduate of the Academy for Dramatic Arts in Zagreb, Furlan began her acting career performing on stage at the Croatian National Theatre and appearing on Yugoslav television. She later played Ankica Vidmar in the movieWhen Father Was Away on Business, which won the Palme d’Or at the Canne Film Festival in 1985; it was also nominated for best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. By the early 1990s, she relocated to New York City, leading to herlanding the role of DelennonBabylon 5soon after.
Furlan is also very well known for her recurring role as Danielle Rosseau, also known as the “French Woman,” in the first four seasons ofLost, a role she briefly reprised in the sixth season. Some of her other roles include voicing Silver Sable in the animatedSpider-Manseries along with other roles on the Amazon seriesJust Add Magicand the popular crime dramaNCIS. She also lent her voice and likeness to a character called the Butcher in the video gamePayday 2.
Remember Furlan, Roe also shared a touching passage from an autobiography that the actress was working on. It reads, “I look at the stars. It’s a clear night and the Milky Way seems so near. That’s where I’ll be going soon. ‘We’re all star stuff.’ I suddenly remember Delenn’s line from [Straczynski’s] script. Not a bad prospect. I am not afraid. In the meantime, let me close my eyes and sense the beauty around me. And take that breath under the dark sky full of stars. Breathe in. Breathe out. That’s all.”
Furlan’s survivors include her husband, Goran Gajić, and our condolences go out to him along with the rest of Furlan’s family and friends at this difficult time. May sherest in peaceas her memory lives on. This news comes to us fromThe Hollywood Reporter.
