Ron Glass makes intelligent, authoritative characters feel approachable. We especially value his work as Book in Firefly, where his seriousness has weight and his warmth makes the whole ensemble easier to spend time with.
Fi1m perspective
When Ron Glass speaks as Derrial Book in Firefly (2002), his rich, mellow voice makes authority sound agreeable. He gives Book moral weight and still leaves room for warmth and humour. That matters in a crowded ensemble: a figure of spiritual authority could easily become someone the other characters merely have to tolerate. We warmed to Book because Glass made him good company, with a seriousness that never felt like an instruction to stop enjoying ourselves.
That combination had an earlier home in Barney Miller (1975–1982), the ensemble comedy in which he played the stylish, intellectual Detective Ron Harris. The part established him as a familiar television presence, and it suggests a useful way of looking at his work: intelligence need not make a supporting character remote. Sitcoms, guest appearances and voice work followed, before he played Book in Joss Whedon’s science-fiction Western. The move into genre work gave his quiet authority a more explicitly moral purpose.
With nine principal characters, Firefly depends on the actors making their differences clear without lengthy explanations. Jewel Staite’s openness as Kaylee Frye and Morena Baccarin’s composed Inara Serra each make a different impression alongside Book. Glass helps them belong in the same programme without smoothing those differences away. Whedon’s dialogue can spoil a serious moment with an easy joke, and we sometimes wish the writing had as much confidence in these people as the actors do.
The feature continuation, Serenity (2005), brings Glass back as Shepherd Derrial Book, though it is a less generous setting for the ensemble as a whole. Its quick wit and entertaining cast make it worth an evening for the space-adventure crowd, but several characters deserve more attention than the busy storytelling allows. This is frustrating after a programme in which the performers made their differences count for so much. Start with Firefly for Glass, and allow time to get attached to the rest of the company.
Biography
Ron Glass, also credited as Ronald Earle Glass, was an American actor. He was born on 10 July 1945 in Evansville, Indiana, and died on 25 November 2016 in Los Angeles, California. He studied drama and literature at the University of Evansville.
Glass was best known for playing Detective Ron Harris in the television sitcom Barney Miller (1975–1982), a role that earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination, and as Shepherd Derrial Book in the science fiction series Firefly (2002) and its sequel film Serenity (2005). He appeared in guest roles in numerous other series, including Friends, Star Trek: Voyager, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation and Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D..
