Actor Ron Silver dies of cancer at 62

ACTOR and political activist Ron Silver, who won a Tony Award as a take-no-prisoners Hollywood producer in David Mamet’s Speed-the-Plow, died on Sunday at the age of 62.

“Ron Silver died peacefully in his sleep with his family around him early Sunday morning in New York City,” said Robin Bronk, executive director of the Creative Coalition, which Silver helped found. “He had been fighting esophageal cancer for two years.”

Silver, an Emmy nominee for a recurring role as a slick strategist for liberal President Jed Bartlet on The West Wing, had a long history of balancing acting with left-leaning social and political causes.