One year ago: Robert Ginty

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Robert Ginty was a versatile actor, director and producer who made no apologies for roles in action movies that helped him to make less-commercial projects that also interested him.

’ ‘The Exterminator’ made $35 million so people like to talk about it and I don’t mind talking about it,’ Ginty told the New York Times. ‘But I can separate very clearly my politics from my acting. . . . I’ve played a very violent repertory of movies and what they’ve done for me is given me an economically viable career.’

Ginty, who died a year ago of cancer at age 60, might be best known for his recurring role in ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep,’ which aired on NBC in the 1970s.

But other roles included the films ‘Coming Home’ (1978), ‘Bound for Glory’ (1976) and ‘The Alchemist’ (1984). And in 1994, Ginty became artistic director of the Irish Theatre Arts Center in West Hollywood.

Among his directing credits was a hip-hop production of ‘A Clockwork Orange’ in Toronto.

His news obituary appeared in The Times on Sept. 23, 2009.

--Keith Thursby