Tough-talking, no-nonsense actor and activist Ron Silver passed away yesterday at the age of 62 after a two-year battle with esophageal cancer. Silver was best known for his portrayal of no-nonsense Campaign Manager Bruno Gianelli on The West Wing. According to Robin Bronk, executive director of the Creative Coalition, which Silver had help found, "Ron Silver died peacefully in his sleep with his family around him early Sunday morning" in New York City.

Though Silver was best known for his Emmy nominated recurring West Wing role, he was also a Tony Award winning actor and an intense character actor in several Academy Award winning films such as Ali and Silkwood. Before The West Wing, Silver had several other recurring roles on television including stints on Veronica's Closet and Chicago Hope. In recent years, Silver had become personally as politically outspoken as Bruno Gianelli himself. After September 11th, the life-long Democrat began referring to himself as a "9/11 Republican" and registered as an independent. In 2004, he spoke at the Republican National Convention in support of President George W. Bush and was often seen on nightly news programs discussing his new found conservative political views.

Though he wasn't a main character on The West Wing, few outlying characters had as much impact on the Bartlett White House than Bruno Gianelli. West Wing watchers were introduced to the take-no-prisoners campaign manager in the third season premiere "Manchester, Parts 1 and 2," as the General Chairman for the Committee to Re-Elect Bartlet. With his questionable morals and principles, Bruno was 180 degress from the rest of the idealistic Bartlett team, which led to some initial disagreement. Bruno quickly quashed the in-fighting and established his dominance during a memorable West Wing scene and with a classic Bruno-ism in Manchester Part 2. With the entire staff fighting in a quaint New Hampshire barn, Bruno ended the argument by saying, "I will stick a pitchfork so far up your asses you will quite simply be dead." From that moment on, we knew Bruno would be a beloved addition to the Bartlett administration.

It was only with the practiced hand of a talented thespian such as Ron Silver  that such an amoral and unlikable man could become a beloved character on a show like The West Wing. Just like the characters he portrayed, Ron Silver himself displayed a rare gravitas that made you take a moment to listen, even if you didn't agree with what he was saying. Did Bruno rub off on Ron Silver or did Ron Silver rub off on Bruno Gianelli? Perhaps a bit of both.

We'll leave you with one of our favorite Ron Silver scenes:

-- Abbey Simmons, BuddyTV Staff Writer
(Image courtesy of NBC)