I really wish that show was still on the air. I love the vampire myths, I've read all the Anne Rice books…

Absolutely lovely man. Buffy got such wonderful supporting actors and guest stars; Groener, Shimmerman, Hinton Battle, Harris Yulin, Robia LaMorte, Jeff Kober, and Lindsey Crouse, to name a few. Great to see he's having such continuing success.

[ edited by Tonya J on 2006-07-10 20:51 ]

Tonya J | July 10, 22:24 CET

What a sweet guy. Such nice things to say about his wife and their relationship. Everybody should be so lucky.

palehorse | July 10, 22:52 CET

Angelus owns the Mayor as a villain ;-)

The Dark Shape | July 10, 23:03 CET

Groener was wonderful. Far and away my favorite Big Bad. When I first saw him on Buffy, I remembered him as one of the support-group regulars on the 80s sitcom Dear John, with Judd Hirsch. He played an annoying loser on that show. The Mayor was a major upgrade.

1starbuckstown | July 10, 23:07 CET

He had a small role on Bones this past season too ... played a plastic surgeon in the ep 'Girl at the Airport'. It was good to see him on screen with David again ...

resa | July 10, 23:15 CET

The Mayor has always been my favourite Big Bad.

Derf | July 11, 00:02 CET

He was Tam Elbrun on Star Trek TNG's "Tin Man", too.

What a great portrayal of a truly bizarre character, the Mayor!

Chris inVirginia | July 11, 00:42 CET

The Mayor could have been even creepier if he sang show tunes.

gingeriffic | July 11, 01:06 CET

He was darn cool when he was on The West Wing and Star Trek: Enterprise too.

Simon | July 11, 01:19 CET

When he came to a con in Toronto he brought his wife along and they came to the dinner. Lovely woman. Very practised and thoughtful. She found out about each person at the table and had something to say about all of our professions.
And he is a hoot.

Lioness | July 11, 02:42 CET

This article was great. I really liked the nice things he said about marriage -- so simple, and so full of caring! Mr. Groener sounds like a really, really nice guy. :-)

billz | July 11, 02:42 CET

a.) The Mayor indeed own as the Best Buffy Villain ever. It's a fight between him and Angelus, but in the final count, The Mayor delights me in every scene he's in, and he and Faith were the best father/daughter team after Buffy/Giles. I love that half his autograph -seeking crown after his shows is from BtVS.

b.) I love it when actors love the material they're working in, and his love for Mike Nichols, Sondheim and Joss Whedon shows great taste! plus, you gotta give it up for him loving on "Hush" and "Once More with Feeling".

dottikin | July 11, 04:28 CET

Long-time compulsive lurker--first time posting--yay! And thrilled that my first post is about the man who played The Mayor, who's definitely my favorite Big Bad--except maybe for Al Swearingen on Deadwood :) Hey, 1starbuckstown , I never put it together that he used to play the loser guy on Dear John but see it now. I remember seeing him on West Wing and squeeing with delight to see The Mayor. And, I always find it cool when someone in the biz is also a real fan of the show-which his comments about OMWF and Hush suggest. Mr. Groener sounds like a great guy.

eta: dottinkin beat me to praising Mr. Groener's great taste in shows.

[ edited by narnia on 2006-07-11 02:40 ]

narnia | July 11, 04:38 CET

Terrific taste (other than the Ray Cooney thing. Brrr. I once worked as a theater usher for a summer, and had to experience Run For Your Wife several dozen times. Joe Orton it ain't).

Harry seems lovely. Would that all marriages worked as well. And does anyone else see the young Jimmy Stewart (say, circa The Philadelphia Story) in the picture of HG in Crazy For You?

SoddingNancyTribe | July 11, 06:38 CET

He's way too awesome.

Spike's Glory | July 11, 06:46 CET

Angelus was the best villian ever and more original, but Harry was great as the mayor.

cityof | July 11, 07:11 CET

Just finished rewatching Buffy S3 a couple of days ago, and it reaffirmed my initial love of the Mayor as my favorite series big bad. Overall, I found him the most personally satisfying villain/outside threat Buffy ever faced, and the fact that the man comes across so nice and grounded in RL only makes his performance on BtVS that much more amazing to contemplate.

(Re: Angelus -- Don't get me wrong, I adore dark Angel. But Angelus, while awesome in his own right, wasn't around long enough to cut the apocalyptic swath that would have established his incontestible preeminence in Sunnydale (since few outside Buffy's circle even knew he was around), and his continued status as Buffy's beau after returning from hell went a long way toward erasing (or at least mitigating) his past lapses of character (though when it comes to hurting Buffy herself the most, he wins, no question).

(The Mayor, on the other hand, was just bottomlessly, creepily subversive and malign, his weird fixations on proper hygiene, good manners, Boy Scouts and miniature golf only serving to accentuate the oozing, black pit of evil at his core. (I do enjoy imagining, though, what would've happened if Faith had managed to turn Angel, and then he and the Mayor had ended up battling for control of the Hellmouth and the power of the Ascension, with Buffy, Faith and the rest of the Scoobies caught in between ... Good times, no doubt!)

Sounds like Dawn is Harry's own "Edna Mae." I'm happy for them, and for his current success on Broadway. If Joss ever brings Buffy to the stage, I hope HG can sneak in for a flashback, at least.

Wiseblood | July 11, 10:57 CET

I think The Mayor narrowly edges Angelus out just because of the varied feel Harry Groener brought to the role. The switch from chipper 'uncle' to psychopathic killer in a blink was always scarier than Angelus' constant menace because you just never knew where you stood. And I agree that his relationship with Faith was very nicely done (she made herself so vulnerable to him that you really wanted him to mean it and when he seemed to it actually left me thinking 'Well, sure there's the whole apocalypse thing, followed by an eternity of unending evil, but he's not all bad' ;).

That said, I did love the way Angelus would adapt his jibes to each person, somehow sensing exactly what each most didn't want to hear (this was clearer in Ats but evident in both shows). Guy really knew how to press folk's buttons.

ETA: And how cool was it that the episodes he shows the love for aren't ones he was in ? Clearly, actually a fan and a really nice seeming guy too.

[ edited by Saje on 2006-07-11 11:59 ]

Saje | July 11, 13:56 CET

I heartily approve of this thread. :thumbsup:

Seriously, though, The Mayor remains my favorite villain from my favorite season of Buffy. A great villain should have humor as well as malice in his heart and The Mayor had both in spades.

[ edited by themayor on 2006-07-11 13:39 ]

themayor | July 11, 15:37 CET

I also loved the Mayor as a villian. Angelus gets my vote for coolest villian but there was something about the Mayor and his quirky germ fears that you just have to love.

cheryl | July 11, 19:59 CET