Happy Birthday, Brion James

It's hard to believe we've been made to do without Brion James for almost ten years. He was 54 years old when he died of a heart attack on August 7, 1999. Born in the subtly (and I suppose suitably) creepy California town of Redlands, James knocked around playing bits in the 1970s before hitting his stride in the 80s with back-to-back high profile roles in Walter Hill's SOUTHERN COMFORT and 48 HRS. (1982), Ridley Scott's BLADE RUNNER (1982) and Wolfgang Petersen's ENEMY MINE (1984). James was just as well-known and beloved for his B movies as he was for his A projects, and among them Sam Raimi's CRIMEWAVE (1985), James Isaac's THE HORROR SHOW (1989) and Philippe Mora's PRECIOUS FIND (1996), an intergallactic spin on TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE with Brion playing the Walter Huston role, are worth checking out. The third and last decade of Brion's career included a lot of direct-to-video drek unworthy of his talents and it's fairly obvious the guy worked himself to death. Released in the year following his demise, the Dogme 95 production THE KING IS ALIVE (2000) features an atypically subdued Brion James performance... although one can't help but wonder if the extreme desert locations might have contributed to his poor health. Well, anyway... happy birthday, big guy. You are missed.