It is with much sadness that I must bring this obituary to your attention.

Actor Vincent Schiavelli, 57, Dies in Italy. If the name doesn’t strike you as familiar, check out the picture. You may not have memorized the name like I did, but he’s one of those “Hey, it’s that guy!” character actors that you love to see.

I’ve liked this guy in everything. He was funny as a Russian spy in the first Gilligan’s Island movie. He was funny in his brief appearance in an episode of “Head of the Class.” He was funny as one of the alien lectroids in “The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension.” He was funny in my favorite Bond film, “Tomorrow Never Dies,” as a ballistics professor who could fire an assassin’s bullet from Stuttgart and still make it look self-inflicted. He was funny as the hologram of a weapons salesman who tries to sell Captain Picard the device that has killed everyone on the planet and is now gunning for his crew. For some reason, none of these are even mentioned in his official obit.

However, his range was wider than just the goofy appearances that capitalized on his, er, goofy appearance. I remember being quite moved by his performance as the spirit haunting a subway in the hit film “Ghost.” He also portrayed a sideshow freak on The X-Files His list of dramatic roles is just as lengthy as his comedic roles.

57 is just way too young for Vincent Schiavelli to leave us. I’m sorry we won’t see him in more films. R.I.P.