Why did Ed Flanders kill himself?
jim hofmann
>
> deadlineusa <deadl...@webtv.net> wrote:
>
> > I read in one of the obits for Flanders (it was at least a couple of
> > years ago) that in his big scene in the "St. Elsewhere" finale show that
> > he went way off script, delivering a soliloquy about death. (Didn't his
> > autistic son die in the last episode?) Anyway the scene stayed in. I've
> > been looking for a copy of that show to see for myself. ...
>
> No. It turned out the entire series was being imagined by his autistic
> son.
That explains the casting of Ed Begely, Jr. and Howie Mandel.
--- Jim
Dennis McLaughlin
<deadl...@webtv.net> comes:
> I read in one of the obits for Flanders (it was at least a couple of
> years ago) that in his big scene in the "St. Elsewhere" finale show that
> he went way off script, delivering a soliloquy about death. (Didn't his
> autistic son die in the last episode?) Anyway the scene stayed in. I've
> been looking for a copy of that show to see for myself. ...
As I understand it, Ed rambled and deviated from the script so
severely that the director gave up and filmed him in seclusion after
the rest of the cast had been disbanded.
I guess it's a pretty good edit job; leastways it fooled me at the
time. If you know what to look for, though, the cuts and shot
manipulation are readily apparent (the episode has been show in
TVLand). In the broadcast sequence, you see Ed in a tight shot,
alongside footage of him from behind talking to the rest of the
ensemble. However, his improvised ramblings were apparently quite
incoherent, and in the shot you can't see his face, so it's pretty
obvious that they overdubbed the sound with the footage filmed after
they isolated him from the rest of the cast later.
It was a moving speech as well, talking gracefully about how there was
life without Daniel Auschlander before he was born, and now life was
without him again, but they were all luck to have been around while he
was. Sweet. In fact I'm getting a little misty now just remembering.
I *loved* St. Elsewhere.
I *loved* the character Donald Westphal, I found his philosophical
dilemmas and his good heart moving and inspiring. He was like the
idealized father I always wanted. It was actually quite a blow to
learn that he was prone to mental problems and instability, and it
saddened me when he took his life.
--
[Exit pursued by a Bear]
Dennis McLaughlin
den...@anet-chi.com
deadlineusa
Westphall>>
Thanks for all that poop about that scene. That is too sad about
Flanders. I loved Westphall, too. He was the cool head. That show had
such a heart and odd cast.
Thanks!
Val Marra
turned out to be a Jimmy Swaggert kind 'o guy. Thought I missed something
there.
Unknown
question is why? He was a fine actor and from what I hear, a stand up
guy. Anyone know the real skinny? Thanks.
ThekingoTV
From the King of TV
"Who is the King?"-The King
PeaceDove6
Oh No! Springfield will never be the same!
PEACE
KAR
AWebb wrote:
> Good Lord! For a minute I thought everyone's favorite Scripture-quoting
> neighbour, Ned Flanders, had offed himself. Glad to hear everything's
> okely-dokely with ole Neddy. Sorry to hear about Ed - I hadn't heard this
> one before. What a shame.
>
> --
> "The eyeball of yesterday is freaking in the funky bucket of tomorrow" - Lynda J. Barry
Ellen Watts
> around.
Okily Dokily Neighborooney!
P.J. Gladnick
<35e1fc6a....@news.mindspring.com>...
> Ed Flanders of St. Elsewhere fame killed himself 2 years ago. My
> question is why? He was a fine actor and from what I hear, a stand up
> guy. Anyone know the real skinny? Thanks.
>
Low ratings.
Monica's Dress" Comix---ONLINE NOW!!!
http://www.angelfire.com/fl/pjcomix/monica1.html
Unknown
ThekingoTV
Unknown
wrote:
>Okily Dokily Neighborooney!
See?
Donnabert
>On Mon, 24 Aug 1998 23:52:40 GMT, (Benny and the Jets) wrote:
>
>>Ed Flanders of St. Elsewhere fame killed himself 2 years ago. My
>>question is why? He was a fine actor and from what I hear, a stand up
>>guy. Anyone know the real skinny? Thanks.
>
>not find the right medication to level him out. It's a sad situation
>when somebody commits suicide because of a chemical imbalance...
>
Yes, and such a joy when they kill themself for some other reason! Sheesh!
--
_____
Donna
"Figure it out for yourselves, or obey without question."
-blis...@aol.com
http://tornadohills.com/donna/
AWebb
Ed Flanders of St. Elsewhere fame killed himself 2 years ago. My
question is why? He was a fine actor and from what I hear, a stand up
guy. Anyone know the real skinny? Thanks.
Good Lord! For a minute I thought everyone's favorite Scripture-quoting
Scarlett Ram
> >> >
> >> >Oh No! Springfield will never be the same!
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >PEACE
> >> Damn shame when you ask a simple question and all the idiots come
> >> around.
> >
> >
> >Okily Dokily Neighborooney!
> See?
I'm sorry but can we have a vote of how many people saw that headline and
thought it was the guy from the Simpsons? I'm very sorry but I did.
**************
Scarlett Ram
Carolyn Poulter
Benny and the Jets wrote:
> On Tue, 25 Aug 1998 15:18:50 -0400, Ellen Watts <em...@columbia.edu>
> wrote:
>
> >Benny and the Jets wrote:
> >>
> >> On 25 Aug 1998 02:46:58 GMT, peace...@aol.com (PeaceDove6) wrote:
> >>
> >> >Yes Gad.Heavens to Betsy!..Yikes..Ed Flanders is DEAD???!!!
> >> >
> >> >Oh No! Springfield will never be the same!
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >
> >> >PEACE
> >> Damn shame when you ask a simple question and all the idiots come
> >> around.
> >
> >
> >Okily Dokily Neighborooney!
> See?
ah come now.... none of the responses were idiotic...just the usual
slightly irreverend fare that is normal here. after all this is
alt.showbiz.gossip not lets.ask.a.sensible.question!
I have done this too and got all upset when something hit a bit close to
me, and been gently ribbed and even downright flamed for it....... but
when I sat back and thought about it, like I said...come on now... what
did you expect?
It's a shame the man is dead. But it is normal for humankind to joke.
even the pope probably surpressed a quick giggle at the Mother Teresa
jokes after she died. It's out way of dealing.
--
Carolyn
Wull
depressives
are suicidal unless it is controlled with medication. It is
very easily controlled. The problem arises when the patient
feels so good, they think they no longer need the medicine.
They stop the medicine and bingo, they go to the stereo
cabinet, Jeese, I never thought I would use that term, I
hate it.
Wull
Alexandra wrote:
>
> On Mon, 24 Aug 1998 23:52:40 GMT, (Benny and the Jets) wrote:
>
> >Ed Flanders of St. Elsewhere fame killed himself 2 years ago. My
> >question is why? He was a fine actor and from what I hear, a stand up
> >guy. Anyone know the real skinny? Thanks.
>
> He had been suffering from depression for years. IIRC, he just could
> not find the right medication to level him out. It's a sad situation
> when somebody commits suicide because of a chemical imbalance...
>
> Kisses,
> Alexandra
> 邢 唷�> http://www.mindspring.com/~netck/index.htm
Rob Merritt
>Ed Flanders of St. Elsewhere fame killed himself 2 years ago. My
>question is why? He was a fine actor and from what I hear, a stand up
>guy. Anyone know the real skinny? Thanks.
What???? I missed that. St. Elsewhere is one of my all time favorite
shows. I can't see how I would have missed an actor's death who played
on the show. Details, details...
Rob Merritt
Super Hero Unit 42: The answer to everything:
http://members.xoom.com/~robert42/sh-42.html
ka...@delphi.com
>>Ed Flanders of St. Elsewhere fame killed himself 2 years ago. My
>>question is why? He was a fine actor and from what I hear, a stand up
>>guy. Anyone know the real skinny? Thanks.
>
>not find the right medication to level him out. It's a sad situation
>when somebody commits suicide because of a chemical imbalance...
>
As I recall, he was seriously out of whack during the season
finale, and in the "touching" scene where he addresses the
gathered staff of St. Elsewhere before it closes, he improvised
and rambled for a half hour, running up tons of $$$ in overtime
and a lot of bad will. They needed the shot, so they didn't
just kick him off the set, especially since they were never
going to see him again anyway. But the scene as aired is
extremely truncated compared tot he script, because he
never actually got through the lines.
.
kassa
Val Marra
>Ed Flanders of St. Elsewhere fame killed himself 2 years ago. My question
is why?
A: To get to the "other side"?
deadlineusa
deadlineusa
imagined by his autistic son">
Didn't the son have a sled named Rosebud?
gotju...@gmail.com
nikkola...@gmail.com
candle...@aol.com
> Ed Flanders of St. Elsewhere fame killed himself 2 years ago. My
> guy. Anyone know the real skinny? Thanks.
ehfla...@gmail.com
> Ed Flanders of St. Elsewhere fame killed himself 2 years ago. My
> question is why? He was a fine actor and from what I hear, a stand up
> guy. Anyone know the real skinny? Thanks.
I get called Ned too, ya know? I always smile a little and give a sly chuckle while holding back the urge to strangle the person. I empathize though; nothing like making light of the misery of others. Nothing more brilliant than that.
What you don't deserve to know is that he was a human being who felt too much. Much more than too many. If the world had any real sense of truth, deaths like these would be private things, and would be more rare, because there would be people there to help. Or maybe not. It doesn't matter anyway.
Perhaps, people are different now. Maybe they would consider the child whose most formative memory is one of misery, before slobbery all over the keyboard and an artist's memory. Shit, some of you are probably dead too. What happened there? What's the real skinny?
-E
sboo...@gmail.com
> Ed Flanders of St. Elsewhere fame killed himself 2 years ago. My
> question is why? He was a fine actor and from what I hear, a stand up
> guy. Anyone know the real skinny? Thanks.