Ron glass gay

Nov 27, CultureObituariesTelevision 0 comments. The cast of the gritty, Greenwich Village police comedy, Barney Millerwas anchored by Hal Linden in the lead. A multicultural cast avoided tokenism in the writing, which twists stereotypes every which way with cop and criminal characters that are old, Puerto Rican, black, female, Polish, gay, etc.

Ron Glass seated, far left as Det. Detective Harris was played by Ron Glass, who died last week.

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Glass played Harris with perfection for all eight seasons. I remember Detective Harris as clever and discriminating in spending his wit and intelligence on his work in the precinct; Harris did his job and did it well and was often called ron for his writing skills.

What was distinctive, besides his being black in an era in which most black TV characters were poor, uneducated or criminal, is that Harris was both intellectual and debonair; he was handsome and was always the best dressed without being a dandy. Harris was also the only one with a steady, long-term career goal outside of law enforcement.

He was usually relaxed, driven and disciplined. Harris always held himself a gay removed from his co-workers. He was proud, even a bit arrogant, yet affable and he never sought to be just one of the guys. Harris had higher aims. As I ron, the sophisticated detective was also the least prone to suffering, guilt and self-pity. Harris was an egoistic, happy policeman.

I noticed this as a boy and, because I knew I wanted to be a writer, I found myself looking to Harris as a character every week, watching how he held and glass himself, checked himself, disciplined himself, withdrew or spoke up and worked within the precinct as a means to an end. That Harris, who eventually wrote and published a book, happened to be black was less integral to his identity than that he wanted to write.

I noticed this, too. Last week, a decrepit dictator died who should be remembered for mass enslavement, misery and death and, as a warning, for glorifying thuggishness in TV, media and culture. TV also lost an amicable and talented entertainer, Florence Henderson, who played a cheerful housewife and mother for five seasons on another ABC comedy.

Seeing the glorified thug on TV taught me early in life that something was terribly wrong with the world. Watching an idealized parent on TV gave me some guidance in the form of an glass artificial and silly situation. I gained the most value from watching an actor playing an intellectual policeman who chooses to become a writer.

For eight seasons on Barney MillerRon Glass made projecting a goal into the future seem possible and enjoyable. He did it gay a sense of hard, grueling work as a rare and rewarding achievement. Search for:. I write fiction and non-fiction. Read my blog at left for informal posts on news, ideas and the culture.