Whedonesque Mobile : Comments on 16459 : Happy Birthday Doyle!

happy birthday and r.i.p., glenn quinn.

gone before your time. you'll always be remembered as mark on roseanne and doyle on ats.

NileQT87 | May 29, 06:09 CET

He is surely missed. My heart goes out to his family at this time.

zillah | May 29, 06:35 CET

I met Glenn briefly many years ago, way back when he was still on "Roseanne".

I was in L.A. on business and while there had broken my ankle. A friend and I had decided to go out for a drink on my last night there. And as I was trying to maneuver the pub's door with my crutches, I literally ran into Glenn who was leaving. Not only did he get the door for me, he took me by the elbow and helped me up the entryway's stairs. We exchanged a few pleasant words and he was off.

After all these years, I'm still struck by what a nice gesture that was.

Cheers Glenn. The world is a poorer place without you.

shishkarobb | May 29, 07:03 CET

Ah Boyo, you are surely missed. You were my favorite on Angel. I am sad. I did not know you were gone from us. sniff.

madmolly | May 29, 09:19 CET

I really liked the character of Doyle. He brought something to the team that was never equaled and his death (both the character and the actor) permanently changed the tone of the show for me.

archon | May 29, 09:57 CET

I know that I could never watch the first season and not hang onto every word he says, for all the obvious reasons.

Mirage | May 29, 10:46 CET

A great talent. Definetely gone too soon.

jnr616 | May 29, 10:57 CET

RIP Glenn :(

Donnie | May 29, 12:20 CET

Let us go forth, the tellers of tales, and seize whatever prey the heart long for, and have no fear. Everything exists, everything is true, and the earth is only a little dust under our feet.
- WB Yeats, 'The Celtic Twilight'

Condolences to his family on what must be a very difficult day.

Saje | May 29, 12:37 CET

Fuck Yeats, and his eloquent despair. Why can't we help people who are dying from drugs? Maybe partly because we're listening to the wrong voices.

dreamlogic | May 29, 13:23 CET

I didn't know the guy so I can't comment on Glenn Quinn's situation but I do know for a cast-iron fact that you can't help someone in that situation that doesn't want to be helped.

(I agree though that fighting nebulous "wars" on drugs probably isn't helping anyone, if that's what you mean by "wrong voices". The underlying causes aren't as sound-bite friendly though)

Saje | May 29, 13:32 CET

I never meant to attack you personally, Saje, Or even include you in this argument. It's late at night in my time zone and I'm clumsy and sleepy, but I still don't mind attacking Yeats.

dreamlogic | May 29, 13:53 CET

Oh I didn't feel attacked for a second, no worries dreamlogic ;).

Saje | May 29, 14:08 CET

He was a great actor, that one. Big fan of him in Roseanne, and I loved his character in Angel.

sportforredneck | May 29, 14:29 CET

In fairness, poor Yeats doesn't have an account to defend himself (plus, dead!) ;). In any case, I'm not sure why this is his fault and I don't think we need to curse perfectly nice dead people to get our points across. Yeats is certainly not stopping anyone from helping those in need of help, nor is he responsible for the "war on drugs". Think twice, post once is a good rule and doubly so when tired.

zeitgeist | May 29, 14:32 CET

From Hero:
"Is that it? Am I done?"

Still gives me chills and sadness.

mockingbird | May 29, 15:29 CET

And the scene in the last season, when Cordy watches the tape again, after so much has happened. Heartbreaking.

jcs | May 29, 15:42 CET

Aw, we miss ya Glenn.

cookiepartier | May 29, 16:16 CET

There should be a rule against posts that make me cry prior to 9 am EST. Darn ya'll. I do so miss Doyle and his "low rats". Rest in peace Glenn. You are remembered fondly.

skeezycheeses | May 29, 16:46 CET

To this day I can not see Hero without crying like a baby. R.I.P Glenn and please know your fans will never forget you!

Spikeslady | May 29, 17:48 CET

I too cry whenever I watch "Hero."

R.I.P.

UnpluggedCrazy | May 29, 18:51 CET

After watching "Hero" for the first time just this last fall, I frantically went on wikipedia to see when, or if, Glenn would be returning to the show. I loved the character was really saddened by his death, but I knew that dead characters sometimes get a reprise. Finding out that Glenn himself had died a few years after leaving the show literally felt like I'd be slapped.

He was a great talent on that show, and in rewatching the show I find myself mesmerized by his performance. RIP.

"The good fight, yeah?"

Nolan | May 29, 22:20 CET

Zeitgeist, the argument about "not here to defend themselves" in my mind applies more to those, most of humanity, who didn't cast their words in verse and publish them with eye towards eternity, than an obvious eternity-whore like W.B.

I have a love/hate relationship with his work. Saje's comment reminded me of the hate side.

dreamlogic | May 29, 22:29 CET

Let's just hope Glenn Quinn's tragic ending woke up other people who were following his path.

Life is short, and there's no need to make it needlessly shorter. I had a cousin who died a year ago from an allergic reaction to an illicitly gained narcotic. He was one of those live-fast, die-hard types. It really hurt to lose someone so young to something so stupid.

It's sad and Darwinian to say, but Prohibition doesn't work - it just makes the problem worse. You can't keep people from using drugs. If the individual wants to stop, they can find a way to stop. If not, all the laws and preaching in the world won't change things.

quantumac | May 29, 22:59 CET

Peace at last for him, I'd hope.

DaddyCatALSO | May 29, 23:10 CET

Oh Glenn, we hardly knew ye!

magnus carnage | May 29, 23:25 CET

The not here-to-defend-himself was a joke, the rest was not. Just be careful what you post, Saje could esily have been hurt by what you posted.

zeitgeist | May 29, 23:42 CET

Oh... he was younger then I am now when he died. That's too young, too f'ing young. I remember when I heard he had died. It was like a gut-punch. He was so talented, and so young. Happy birthday, Glenn, where ever you are.

Most people who become addicts have underlying issues and they're self-medicating. It sounds trivial, but I'm severely ADHD, and I've always been a huge caffeine consumer--like 5-6 cups of coffee a day, sometimes more, sometimes with a few No Doz washed back. A lot of people with ADHD end up on meth--which is similar to the drugs that are actually used to treat ADHD. Drug use needs to be de-criminalized and drug users shouldn't be looked at as weak people who need to be shamed into controlling themselves using will-power. Usually there is so much more going on, and until society removes moral judgment, things won't get better. (This isn't addressed to anyone here; just my views on the subject.)

[ edited by Dizzy on 2008-05-29 20:45 ]

Dizzy | May 29, 23:42 CET

Yeah, Dizzy. That's kind of what I was getting at. Though I seldom seem to get to what I'm getting at. Glenn Quinn was in maybe one of the worst places in the world to have the problem he had. In Hollywood, drug problems are hidden until they can't be, which is much later than when treatment should start. Treatment, when available, is based on a moral-religious abstinence program developed for alcoholics (who have a different medical condition than opiate addicts) that often doesn't work for them, either.

Contrast with Europe, where harm reduction is always the main method of treatment for opiate addicts. To say that he shouldn't have been in Hollywood is maybe to say that he shouldn't have been who he was. I don't want to say that. But maybe Hollywood, USA, could be made better for the next young shining talent who makes a mistake and gets a potentially fatal condition from it? The thing that pisses me off about Yeats is that I think sometimes he would rather have us mourn elegaicly about things than prevent what needn't be from being lost.

dreamlogic | May 30, 00:03 CET

Blimey, he's only a poet. Surely if you don't agree with his perspective then just don't adopt it ?

Haven't read all his stuff by any stretch but it seems like quite a few of his elegiac mournings were for people or things already lost - no-matter how resolute we are to actually do something there's not much we can do for them except mourn. And US drugs policy is hardly Yeats' fault ;).

Saje | May 30, 00:19 CET

Sorry, stopping with the Yeats-bashing now. My point is really about an attitude with no particular author.

dreamlogic | May 30, 00:51 CET

Rest In Peace, Glenn. You are truly missed.

jperiodrperiod | May 30, 03:35 CET

I usually reserve this for when one of my cyberfriends has died, but I feel moved to post it anyway, as I'm recalling how I felt when I read the news about Glenn, and this verse was unknown to me then.

Of the mead so sweet upon our lips,
In those summer days,
All that remains is a jar gone dry,
And a winter memory that stays.
(Guillaume-Georges Crepeau)

DaddyCatALSO | May 30, 04:07 CET

Saje, that's a powerful Yeats quote--gave me chills to read it. Art is not a freakin' social worker. It won't save my beloved brother from alcohol & drugs. But it does give me beauty, comfort, depth, disturbance. In my life, the imagination is a saving grace.

It is difficult
to get the news from poems
yet men die miserably every day
for lack
of what is found there.
(William Carlos Williams, "Asphodel That Greeny Flower")

[ edited by stellabee on 2008-05-30 17:45 ]

[ edited by stellabee on 2008-05-30 17:47 ]

stellabee | May 30, 20:44 CET

I would like to use this thread to recognize Glenn's birthday and to show my appreciation for the legacy he left us.

Doyle's death resonates all the more because, to us, it was Glenn's send off too. I often wonder what could-have-been in the later seasons if Glenn had still been around for a cameo.
(Maybe a conversation with Cordy in 'You're Welcome'- "Are you coming or what?")

And just a thought, but perhaps we can save the drugs or poetry debate for the boards.

missb | May 31, 05:37 CET

May 29 2008