Within Babylon 5, an extensive team of elite military and diplomatic staff members maintain hard-won peace at the crossroads of infinity. Central to this endeavor was Commander Jeffrey Sinclair, played by the one and only Michael O’Hare. He was at the space station for a brief time compared to the rest of the crew, so where did O’Hare go after leaving the cast of the grand sci-fi series Babylon 5?
Chicago native Michael O’Hare was born on May 6, 1952, to a military family. Much of his early days was defined by proud defiance; doctors told him athletics and physical exertion would never be for him and yet O’Hare pursued football. His athletic and academic performances earned him numerous awards and even scholarships, but for a time O’Hare imagined himself joining the U.S. Navy. Ultimately, he decided to forgo the military and football altogether and attended Harvard to study English literature. There, this veritable Renaissance man would find drama groups and his eventual life’s work.
Why did O Hare leave Babylon 5?
Keeping true to his early theatre roots, O’Hare started off in regional dramas and even Broadway productions, including a critically praised revival of Man and Superman, before moving to television – though not before becoming the first white actor to win an award among the African-American theater community of New York for his performance in Shades of Brown, a play about apartheid in South Africa.
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He excelled equally on television, landing a starring role in Marciano and an unsold pilot in Keefer. He would also appear in Trapper John, M.D.; T.J. Hooker; and The Equalizer, among others. His 1992 recruitment into Babylon 5 would be among his most celebrated, albeit his shortest. His time dwindled and by ’94, he was leaving, citing mental health reasons; the full situation would become apparent later. O’Hare had been suffering from a debilitating psychiatric condition while filming, as confirmed by series producer and writer J. Michael Straczynski. The official diagnosis is not confirmed but reports indicate it may have included paranoia and delusional episodes.
Michael O’Hare was no longer lost in space
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O’Hare had good days and bad and Straczynski offered to pause production so O’Hare could receive the treatment he needed. However, O’Hare did not want to affect dozens upon dozens of other people’s jobs with such a choice and so refused. However, he stayed involved in various ways outside of a starring role and Straczynski honored his promise to keep O’Hare’s condition a secret to protect his career. However, while Straczynski vowed to keep the secret to his own grave, O’Hare told him to just maintain the secret as long as O’Hare himself lived; this way, he may draw attention to mental health needs among those feeling underrepresented.
O’Hare poured his efforts into an acting career that ultimately ended in 2000 – though not before he added Law and Order to his resume. He did not marry or have any children and instead filled his time attending Babylon 5 conventions and signing events until he retreated from the public eye at the start of a new century. Then, late in September of 2012, O’Hare suffered a heart attack and fell into a coma. Straczynski shared this somber news five days later along with the heartbreaking update that on September 28, O’Hare had passed away at the age of just 60. Today, he is remembered and celebrated as an integral part of a beloved franchise he loved even well after he left.