R.I.P. Taylor Negron, One Of Cinema’s Greatest Single-Serving Stars

Lost in all of the Golden Globes hubbub this weekend was the untimely passing of “Hey, It’s That Guy!” staple Taylor Negron. He died at the age of 57 after a lengthy battle with cancer, and the acting world lost one of its more intriguing talents.

Negron excelled at a very rare and underappreciated form of acting: The power cameo. He was, to borrow a turn of phrase from the narrator of Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, a single-serving star. Throughout the early to mid ’80s, Negron appeared in exactly one scene in some of that decade’s most memorable comedies. Like…

Fast Times At Ridgemont High…

Or Better Off Dead*…

Or One Crazy Summer…

We could go on and on. Sure, he scored bigger roles as his career progressed—he had a memorable turn as the villain in The Last Boy Scout—but there was something quite perfect in the way Negron managed to make the most out of his limited amount of screen time in these early roles. The key to his success in these roles had to do more with his physicality than any actual lines of dialogue that he spoke; the way he slinked about while on-screen radiated a creepy, not-to-be-trusted vibe. He wasn’t exactly menacing—he was too slight of build to inspire actual fear—but you definitely were not sure what the real motivations were behind his leering eyes.

Taylor Negron was, unfortunately, one of those talents that never really got their due. Instead of lamenting that, though, Negron was pretty positive about his experience as an actor up until the very end. The website XOJane published a story written by Taylor Negron on Saturday night as word of his passing started to spread. Entitled “Reflections On A Life Spent Playing Everyman,” Negron reflects on his life of being what he describes as “fame-ish”:

Being fame-ish is comforting to some. I have come to understand that viewers who knew me when they were young grew up with me. Subsequently when I hear, ‘Hey, you’re that guy from so and so,’ it doesn’t bother my ego, it makes me very proud that I am a shape shifter.” … I am the Alternative Everyman. I have been your postman. I am the man who delivered your pizza. I was the gang member who kidnapped your daughter at gunpoint. I’m a nanny for children. I am a stylist for Stuart Little. I am your shrink. I direct porn films. I am the groom and the maid of honor.”

R.I.P. Taylor Negron, single-serving star for the ages.

[Where to stream Fast Times At Ridgemont High]
[Where to stream One Crazy Summer]

*Did you know Negron reprised his role as “Mailman” in director Savage Steve Holland’s How I Got Into College?