Saturday 4 April 2009

Andy "Lorne" Hallett dies at 33


Angel's favourite demon has died. Andy Hallett wowed Buffyverse fans when he debuted in Angel Season Two as Lorne, the epically camp karaoke-bar-owning demon with the Broadway-musical voice.

We just loved what he did with his character, dahlings. Like James Marsters, who played Spike, Andy brought so much to a minor part that his role as The Host eventually expanded until he established himself as one of Team Angel in more than 70 episodes between 2000 and 2004, eventually winning the supreme accolade of being included in the opening titles and starring in his own story-lines.

Blessed with an amazing soulful voice himself, Lorne (Green, geddit?) was gifted with the ability to read your soul through your singing, leading to some exquisitely comic moments, such as when David Boreanaz as Angel sings what is probably the worst version of "Mandy" you evah heard. (Outtakes here.)

"You don't have to sing. A break for you, a break for me, and a break for Manilow."

"Almost anything that can manifest, in order to move in this dimension, can be killed. Kinda the down side to bein' here. That, and the so-called musicals of Andrew Lloyd Webber."

"You know what I'm talking about. In this city, you better learn to get along 'cause L.A.'s got it all, the glamour and the grit, the big breaks and the heartaches, the sweet young lovers and the nasty ugly hairy fiends that suck out your brain through your face. It's all part of the big wacky variety show we call Los Angeles. You never know what's coming next. And let's admit it, folks, isn't that why we love it?"

Watching Lorne cringe while he sipped on his SeaBreeze as his sensitive lugholes were assaulted by an assortment of demons behind the Caritas Club mic on their evening off was a regular delight.

He died in Los Angeles on March 29, aged only 33, of congestive heart failure following a five-year battle with a heart condition. I don’t know how you got your jollies in real life, Andy, but I hope you had fun while it lasted. One of the sweetest and funniest demons ever to grace the World of Whedon. Rest in Peace, sugarbuns.

3 comments:

Madam Miaow said...

Makes me want to have an Angel binge. I loved the revelation of Lorne's backstory on Pylea with Joss Whedon's memorable dance as his brother. And his Mum.

harpymarx said...

That's really sad. Liked him.

Rabelais said...

I'm just about to have an Angel-binge. Got the DVD box set for my birthday and started watching it on Sunday and was looking forward to seeing Lorne again. A great character and wonderful foil for the emotionally 'slow' Angel. Andy Hallet's death is very sad news.

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