J. Michael Straczynski posted the news today in the Usenet group rec.arts.sf.tv.babylon5.moderated. Richard Biggs (who played Dr. Stephen Franklin) was only 43. 
WHAT? WHAT?
I didn’t watch B5 but I remember him from a soap opera (I think it was Days of Our Lives?) and I always liked him.
Damn. Are we sure this is correct? Any other cites confirming this? 43 is way too young.
Straczynski is the creator of Babylon 5; I suppose someone could be impersonating him and playing a cruel joke, but it seems unlikely.
I’m positive Briggs had a role, as a doctor no less, in the episode of Crossing Jordan which aired April 25th. However, the NBC listing does not confirm this.
Damn, damn, damn, damn, damn, damn! #$@%^&*
I liked his portrayal of Dr. Franklin. Met him once at a convention in Oklahoma City, he was nice to us fans, at least in public.
I checked IMDB and the “Crossing Jordan” episode is listed.
And he was a doctor on a soap too. He talked about it at the convention, speaking about the differences between soap fans and sci-fi fans. During autograph signings I asked him to “say something medical” on a picture of him I was getting for my sister, who is a pharmacist. His writing? “Give me drugs!”
I am seriously bummed.
So far, Google hasn’t turned up anything, nor has a search at Yahoo! Richard Biggs is currently at least a recurring character on Guiding Light; there was nothing up on the cbs.com Guiding Light pages. There was nothing up on Richard’s own home page, nor on one of the major B5 pages that I checked, nor on CNN.com.
Richard also played, in addition to Dr. Stephen Franklin on Babylon 5:
-Marcus on Days of our Lives
-a recurring character on the show on USA (I think?) called Any Day Now (I think … my memory is -not- what it once was!).
-and yes, he’s done several guest appearances recently, including the one on Crossing Jordan.
I’m still looking for confirmation and don’t want to believe it until I do see it.
I’m afraid it’s true. He apparently had a stroke on Saturday, according to some soap opera fans with DOOL inside sources. There’s some more details here about Biggs’ extensive acting history.
I really enjoyed Biggs on DOOL as Marcus. He brought a lot of humor and warmth to a sadly underutilized role.
Sigh. This fucking sucks.
All I have found is some mentions on some newsgroups. Nothing on his official site or any of the cast members who were his friends’ sites either.
If it is true, it sucks. I really liked him. If it isn’t, someone needs an ass whoopin’.
Still haven’t seen an obit on an official site, but SF writer Peter David has now posted the news in his blog. In the comments to the entry, he states he’s spoken personally with Bill Mumy (the actor who played Lennier on B5), who told him the news. Doesn’t look like a hoax to me…
Sadly it’s true, and it couldn’t have happened at a worse time - just as B5: TMoS was gearing up. Let’s hope that RB’s passing doesn’t affect the new production; he obviously loved his time on the show, and I’m sure he wouldn’t have wanted it interfered with on his account.
There’s a lovely letter about it on Bruce and Melissa’s site I did a lot of digging around online looking for confirmation.
This is awful. Simply awful.
After holding out hope that it might not be true, it looks like it is. Thank you, Whiterabbit for the link to Bruce & Melissa’s page–their tribute was very heartfelt. I’ve got tears in my eyes … I’d followed Richard’s career since practically the beginning–his days as Dr. Marcus Hunter on Days of our Lives, but especially the role of Dr. Stephen Franklin on Babylon 5. He seemed to gravitate towards MD roles, didn’t he?! He will indeed be sorely missed. My heart goes out to his family.
As a long time {b]Days**addict, and a sometime watcher of B5, I am very, very sad.
What is B5:TMoS?
Richard’s death is indeed a shame.
B5:TMoS is some new big B5 project that JMS has been hinting about on Usenet for a while – I think the general consensus there is that it’s going to be a movie, but until an actual announcement all is speculation, based on some interesting hints.
I didn’t quite believe it at first myself.
My dad died just as suddenly when he was 41. Poor kids.
Damn. I bought season five a couple weeks ago and just finished it off on Sunday, sniffling through Sleeping in Light. (Dust on the DVD, you know?)
I still remember the episode the fans dubbed, "The day Dr. Franklin discovers he’s not on the Enterprise – the one where he saves a kid’s life only to have him sacrificed by his parents. His character was definitely the heart of the ensemble.
DD
Believers, S1. A bit too heavy on the pathos, but it was still boldly going where no sci-fi show had gone before.
My personal favourite Franklin episode is Shadow Dancing, but I honestly don’t think I’m going to be able to watch it for a long time. If you remember the ep, you’ll know why.
http://www.cnn.com/2004/SHOWBIZ/TV/05/25/obit.biggs/index.html
I’m definitely sorry to see him go.
I heard about this a couple days ago. I’m shocked to. My fiance and I are going through the series now(we’re on the 4th season…second time for me) and I read this. It’s an amazing coincidence that we are going through this show at the same time he died.
Sad.
I hope it wasn’t brought about by Dr. Franklin’s addiction to stims.
(Sorry, even in a time of tragedy such as this, I couldn’t resist.)