Actor Taylor Negron has passed away at the age of 57 following a long bout with cancer. Negron is best known as a mainstay character actor from numerous films of the 80s, including the memorable pizza delivery scene from Fast Times At Ridegemont High, but he was also a well respected comedian. From Deadline:
Negron was born in Glendale, CA on August 1, 1957, the son of Lucy (née Rosario) and Conrad Negron, Sr., a former mayor of Indian Wells, CA. He studied with Lee Strasberg and even had a private comedy seminar with Lucille Ball. Negron interned for Ball when she was 68 years old and he was 19. Negron told KCET last May, “I learned from Lucy that you never get what you really want and you have to be flexible.” Further adding what he gained from her, “What I learned from her was what she learned from Buster Keaton – know your props, know what you’re doing, know where the exit is, know the entrances, know where the camera is. Get there early. Know everyone on the set. Do not pull any funny business. Be a professional.”
Negron’s cousin Chuck Negron, former lead singer for the band Three Dog Night, announced the actors’ passing in a tearful online video.
You could probably find Negron in almost any corner of film and television. For me, I remember him the most from his bit part as a hairdresser on Seinfeld, his villainous role as Milo in The Last Boy Scout, and a bit cameo as a terrorist in this Die Hard sketch from The Ben Stiller Show. He was one of those familiar faces that always seemed to pop up in something you were watching, be it some movie with John Cusack in the 80s or an episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm (something he mentioned and was quite funny about in his final article over at XOJane). It’s a fond way to be looked at and a positive attribute to a life cut short by a rotten disease.
