Dateline: 09-01-2005

Michael Sheard dies at age 65

We are saddened by the loss of a good friend of CONvergence. Michael Sheard, a CONvergence Guest of Honor in both 2001 and 2003 has passed away at age 65.

TV and film fans know Michael best for his roles as Mr. Bronson on the long running Grange Hill series, for his appearances on Dr. Who, and for his roles as Admiral Ozzel in The Empire Strikes Back and Adolf Hitler in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade.

CONvergence members will remember Michael for his charm, his infectious energy, his love of scotch, and his love of fandom. Michael enjoyed his first year at CONvergence in 2001 so much that he called for CONvergence to become a five day convention at the Closing Ceremony on Sunday. The chant of "Five Days" has become a recurring joke of the convention.

Another memorable Michael Sheard moment, resulted from Michael's countless stories of his good-natured distain for "that f-ing dog" (the infamously difficult to work with Doctor Who companion K-9). A mock-up of K-9 was secretly prepared to be offered up to Michael at the 2003 Closing Ceremony for him to destroy with a cricket bat. Before the mock-up K-9 had been revealed, Michael was asked to share with the Closing Ceremony audience his thoughts on the robotic dog, to which Michael responded "If he were here right now, I would jump up and down on him." You can't ask for a better cue than that. Out came K-9, and Michael did indeed stomp K-9 to bits. K-9's head currently resides in the CONvergence 2003 Time Capsule.

So raise a glass for Michael Sheard. We'll do it together at CONvergence 2006.

We'll miss you Michael.

Do you have memories of Michael Sheard you'd like to share? Send them to info@convergence-con.org with the words "Michael Sheard Memories" in the subject line. We'll post them to our web site as well as share them at CONvergence 2006.