Brad Stephen “Taylor” Negron died on January 10, 2015 he was an American actor, comedian, painter, and playwright.
Born in Glendale, California, on August 1, 1957 he began performing stand-up comedy in high school before going on to appear in more than 100 films and television shows, including The Last Boy Scout with Bruce Willis and HBO’s Curb Your Enthusiasm with Larry David, along with appearances on Friends, Wizards of Waverly Place and Seinfeld.
Taylor’s cousin Chuck Negron (from the band Three Dog Night) posted a teary-eyed video announcing, “We just lost a wonderful man, my cousin Taylor Negron.” The 57-year-old actor started doing stand-up in high school, interned for and learned from Lucille Ball when he was only 19, and made his acting debut in the 1982 comedy Young Doctors in Love.
Soon came other roles – Fast Times, Stuart Little, Easy Money, Angels in the Outfield, Nothing but Trouble, and, notably, as the bad guy in Bruce Willis’s The Last Boy Scout.
Negron had a memorable scene in the 1982 comedy Fast Times at Ridgemont High as a pizza delivery guy who brings food to Mr. Hand’s history class for surfing stoner Jeff Spicoli, played by Sean Penn.
Negron also wrote the critically acclaimed The Unbearable Lightness of Being Taylor Negron – A Fusion of Story and Song, which debuted in the Green Room at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival and later ran at the SoHo Playhouse and Barrow Street Theater.
Negron is also an accomplished painter and was featured in solo exhibitions at venues such as Los Angeles’ Laemmie Royal Theater and the Hotel de Ville Lifestyle.
Negron recurred in eight episodes of The Hughleys as Chuck Ballard.
Close your eyes and think back and you’ll remember Negron as the prosaic E! Spokesperson during their late 1980s interstitial when the channel first launched, exclaiming every single vowel pronunciation of “Eeee.”
In 1995, he landed the role of arrogant, narcissistic TV station manager Gwillem Blatt on NBC’s sitcom Hope & Gloria.
The show’s co-creator Cheri Steinkellner praised Negron to the L.A. Times saying, “He’s so hugely unique and funny, they totally broke the mold when they made him…He’s like no one on TV, unless he replicates himself–which I wouldn’t be surprised if he could.”
Negron met Hope & Gloria creators Cheri and Bill Steinkellner in 1978 when they were partners in the Comedy Store Players.
In 2008 Negron wrote The Unbearable Lightness of Being Taylor Negron – A Fusion of Story and Song directed by opera director David Schweitzer and co-starring singer/songwriter Logan Heftel, which debuted at the Edinburgh Comedy Festival.
The show also played the 2009 Best of New York Solo Festival at the SoHo Playhouse and at the Barrow Street Theater. Negron’s comedy essays have been published in the anthology Dirty Laundry (Phoenix Books) and Love West Hollywood: Reflections of Los Angeles (Alyson Books).
Another one of Negron’s notable plays included Gangster Planet, a four character domestic comedy set during the 1992 L.A. riots, which was staged in 1993 and 2002. He directed theater as well.