Glenn Quinn

[DoughnutHole]

Hello!

Ive been wondering this for a while now, and I figured someone here could probably answer my question for me!

I hadnt really watched S1 consecutively since it aired. I have the DVDs, but I usually only watched the later episodes, after Wesley was introduced onto the show. Leaving out Doyle. Because, mainly, I'd forgotten what it was like to have him around...

However, recently, I began watching every episode from start to finish, and I realized how wonderful he was. I know that, sadly, the actor Glenn Quinn died around 2001, and I also know that he was close friends with almost the entire cast... which made me wonder why he left in the first place? Why did they decide to replace him?

Thank you to anyone who can help me out! And also, I'd love to hear what you have to say about the character/actor. What your opinions were, and how you felt when Wesley joined in his place.

[Jenni Lou]

Oh, I loved Doyle. I don't think I have ever gotten attached to a character as quickly as I did his.

As for why he left...it's been awhile but I believe I read that it was planned story element from the beginning. Killing off a major character so quickly into the game only cements the idea that no one is safe.

[Amber]

some people blame drug abuse, and while i doubt Joss would tolerate that sort of behavior, sadly we will never know why they decided to replace him. I hope that that was not the reason, but we can't know what went on in his personal life, and can only respect and love him and remember him as a great actor.

Jenni Lou is right though, it's the Whedonverse, they have to keep us on our toes.

[Sacred Knight]

I believe it was planned from the get-go. Whedon has this fascination with the idea of teasing in regards to having a certain character he planned to kill quickly placed in the main credits, so fans would be deceived into thinking he was a major player and thus not expect a quick death. This was evident in the past when he admitted that for Welcome To The Hellmouth, he wanted to add the character of Jesse to the main credits, make fans think he was important, then of course have him sired then killed by Xander in The Harvest.

For whatever reason that never came to fruition, so I think he just went ahead and did it on Angel four years later. Doyle lasted longer than Jesse did, but I think the plan always was to use him strictly as a character the fans, not to mention Angel and Cordy grew to love, then kill him. As for other possible reasons, I think there were indeed rumors of his substance abuse being a problem, naturally, and there's reports that when all was said and done Doyle was too similar to Angel in certain ways and detracted from him. Any or all the above may be true.

Before Quinn's death though there were ideas floating around to bring Doyle back in some capacity later on. Some ideas suggest they were toying around with bringing him back as a Big Bad.

[vampmogs]

Before Quinn's death though there were ideas floating around to bring Doyle back in some capacity later on. Some ideas suggest they were toying around with bringing him back as a Big Bad.

There was a rumour circulating that Joss had originally planned to bring back Doyle for the big bad role of s4, but after that couldn't happen he decided to make it Cordelia instead.

[buffyholic]

I agree it was planned right from the beggining. It is the series first big shock. It?s Joss telling us how the show is gonna be and that no one is safe and that the show is not gonna be light, it?s gonna be hard and tough.
I?ve seen the episode where he dies four or five times and the ep still gets to me. I liked Doyle and his little crush for Cordy was nice.

[Boltmaiden]

There was a rumour circulating that Joss had originally planned to bring back Doyle for the big bad role of s4, but after that couldn't happen he decided to make it Cordelia instead.

Really? That would have been a great twist.

I personally loved Doyle and was really upset when he died. I really was looking forward to seeing a relationship between Cordelia and him. But I understand why it was done. However even with all the great additions to the cast over the years I still often thought of Doyle and hoped he would come back or at least make a cameo. Then I heard of Glenn's death, so sad and I hope he is now at peace.

I will say I was thrilled at the nod to him when Cordy came back. I loved them showing that video he made. I also loved how Cordy got angry about someone using Doyle's name. I had felt the same way.

[buffyholic]

Yeah, that was a good continuity. Now that I know that he?s dead, makes his death in "Hero" more heartbreaking for me.

[Oldone]

Oh this thread is so freaky! I just watched Angel season 1 (really bad weekend! Double choc fudge cookies with regular supplies of coffee and Oreo top ups bad!) So I thought a marathon would help. Which may have helped if 'I Will Remember You' and 'Hero' werent so damned sad! (ran out of cookies at 3am *sniff*)
Glenn died on the 3rd of December 2002. Which was way before I had ever watched Angel. (it was all out on dvd by the time I caught on) I remembered Glenn well from Roseanne though and was very sad about his death at the time. I didn't even know he was Irish then as his American accent was that good!


So I went googling about Glenn sometime between the cookies and coffee running out probably around 3.30am this morning, I found a rather lovely montage tribute on you tube, (A site I usually avoid like the plague! nothing slays laptops faster than the demon you tube!) Then from clicking on something, I dont know what or how, I ended up in a rather distasteful site where it had his Autopsy report! grrrr We all know he died of an overdose that much was news but that site made me feel like a Vamp! Taking away what should be ones last dignity, Death. It was so heartbreakingly tawdry, needless to say I didn't stay long!
I did however come across a couple of news clips and from there a really good Bio of Glenns career and life on TV.Com. It said that David Boranez, Christian Kane were good friends with Glenn and found shooting the scenes in series 5 really hard.
Glenn supported a Cancer unit and asked for any gifts sent to him to be forwarded on to the hospital.
He had two tattoos one on each shoulder in homage to his Irish heritage, one that read Erin Go Bragh (I hope that is the correct spelling) which means Ireland Forever and the other was a Harp.
I also had no idea that at the time of Glenns death he was in so much financial trouble that Michael Fishman (DJ from Roseanne) set up a memorial fund to help Glenns family with the funeral expenses. Such a lovely gesture, dont you think. It allowed them to replace the very simple marker with a memorial more fitting. If I ever come into some money I think I would like to send some flowers. You know just a simple thanks for the smiles he brought to my miserable face this weekend!

I believe that as long as you can just make someone smile in this life then you never really die!

Some stars just burn and shine so bright and so much that they just burn themselves out. When we look to the sky though we see the light of those stars that died millenia ago shining bright still!

Glenn may be gone but his star still shines.

Oldone

[cd48jj]

Glen Did a great job as Doyle...I had know idea that he was Mark on Rosanne. He is greatly missed.

[buffyholic]

And I know that Glen Quinn wasn?t the first choice for the part. They wanted Max Perlich(Whistler in Becoming) but he was busy with other things.
But I think Glen Quinn is just right for this part!

[skinless]

Glenn Quinn was an amazing actor I was so sad to hear that he passed away. But I miss Doyle and It wouldve been great to have him back in season 4 cuz he wouldve made a great Villian. I also loved how his name came up in the series every once in a while Especially in NFA.

Some stars just burn and shine so bright and so much that they just burn themselves out. When we look to the sky though we see the light of those stars that died millenia ago shining bright still!

This is a great saying. Did u make it up or did u find it somewhere?

[SuperOrange]

There was a rumour circulating that Joss had originally planned to bring back Doyle for the big bad role of s4, but after that couldn't happen he decided to make it Cordelia instead.

Yes I remember that. I thought that was the reason that they gave Lydsey the name Doyle to use on Spike. Then the playing of the tapes in 'Your, Welcome'. *just watched that one last night*
They did the same thing in Buffy for the last season, bring back the root of the show, the history of what started it etc. etc. It made it more whole then just another season.

In season 1 if they kept going on the way they were, it would have gotton, slow imo for a 'new show'. I think the death right when you start to really like the character makes you feel more for the show and the loss the characters are going to have to deal with.

"First soldier down."

[MaverickKing]

I miss Doyle. He WAS my favourite Angel character and still is.

[Boltmaiden]

You know it wasn't until I just restarted watching Angel that I realize in actuality that Doyle is only in 9 episodes...I have to give Glenn so much credit because his character made a huge impact on me and to do that with so little episodes is really amazing. I mean I always missed Doyle after he was gone which I have already stated, always hoped he would come back in some way...and loved how they remembered him in Your Welcome. But to be able to maintain that mean Glenn and his character were something special...and watching him again now is just so bittersweet.
"Is that it...am I done?"

[Retrograde]

I adore Doyle, he is by FAR my favourite character in Angel! If he had come back to be the Big Bad in Season 4 I think it would have broken my heart too much.

Was so sad when I found out about Glenn

[blue_peroxide]

Ohh, Doyle. It's so sad. The actor and the character, everything. It really is weird that he's only in nine episodes but made such an impact. Yes I understand Joss's point wanting to show that nobody is safe even the main characters etc but couldn't he have waited at least until the end of the season? I would very much have wanted him to get at least the chance to date Cordy for a while. (And I do wish Joss would have done this "putting in credits and then killing off" with Jesse in BtVS instead and let Doyle live a bit longer.)
It's amazing how we learned so much about this character with so little time. I loved him from the start and it was awful to watch the end of Hero. I was crying. And hoping until the very end that he actually made it somehow...
Doyle was such a marvellous charming character with great lines. The first 9 episodes of Angel are my very favourites - just thanks to him. And he was really wonderful with Cordy - why on earth didn't they want to explore that relationship more?

Also what's strange is that, and now I quote Wikipedia:

Whedon considered killing off Doyle early on from the opening episodes, "That was always a plan, and clearly that character didn't mesh. He was a very popular character, but the mesh was very difficult in ways that made it hard to write. Glenn had a kind of intensity that was kind of like David's, and David already has that. It could have gone a different way, but that was the plan we had and we decided to execute it. Glenn Quinn knew that it was an issue and he learned pretty early on. I said this is what we're going to do...' and I promised him a hero's exit."

I can't understand what did Joss mean with the "intensity that was kind of like David's" - I think Doyle and Angel couldn't have been more different and to my mind they rather complemented each other - at least that's what it looked like on the TV-screen

[Kanten]

At the TCA Writer's Guild of America West party in 2000, supervising producer David Fury stated, "Joss has bandied about, 'I love the idea of putting a character in the main credits as one of the stars of the show and then kill him right off the bat.' But in the case of Doyle, he didn't want to kill off Doyle. It just became a situation. The work situation became difficult... It's hard enough to make a television show without the headaches."

Was this quote ever confirmed true or false?

[prayer]

I love Doyle, and it's empty after he is gone, Wes don't really fill up that whole.
But his death was a really diapointment. I had pictured him and Cordy kissing in the rain on the street before running against his destiny. I just thought the whole storyline of hero was kind of silly and bad. And his ending was just so wrong.

[blue_peroxide]

Yeah, the whole nazi storyline in "Hero" was indeed bad (and boring). But it is still extremely sad episode if only because of the last scenes. The ending with Angel and Cordy watching the recording and "Is that it... Am I done?" is one of the few scenes that actually made me cry. And it still would.

Doyle was wonderful and it's so sad he never got chance to hang with Wes, Gunn, Fred or Spike.