Week of March 20: Tributes To Ron Silver and Natasha Richardson

Sad - and shocking - news this week with the deaths of Ron Silver and Natasha Richardson.

Lots of obituary headline writers sold Silver short by describing him only as a "West Wing" actor. True, he appeared as political operative Bruno Gianelli on a handful of episodes of that excellent series, but his television appearances actually go back to the mid-1970s, starting with such shows as "Rhoda," "McMillan & Wife" and "The Rockford Files." Of course, all of those series are available on DVD.

Like Silver, Richardson was versatile, moving from theater to film to television. One very early TV appearance of hers that's available on DVD is from the second season (or series, as they're known in Britain) of "The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes," starring Jeremy Brett as the sleuth. In the episode "The Copper Beeches," made in 1985, Richardson played a young governess who asked Holmes to help her solve the mystery behind the actions of her new employer. PBS also runs the series.

A more recent appearance that's also on DVD came as crusader Ruth Gruber in the 2001 CBS miniseries "Haven," which also starred Hal Holbrook, Anne Bancroft and Martin Landau. The series itself was not up to the standard of previous miniseries about the Holocaust, but Richardson and the rest of the cast were excellent, and the program was given the Humanitas Prize.

Both Silver and Richardson elevated the performing arts.