Samuel L Jackson and Joss Whedon lead tributes as Firefly’s Ron Glass dies aged 71

Tributes have been pouring in after the death of actor Ron Glass, who was best known for playing mysterious holy man Shepherd Book in Firefly and died of respiratory failure late last night according to his agent.

Among those honouring the 71-year-old actor were Joss Whedon, who wrote and created 2002 series Firefly and its 2005 film sequel Serenity and put the actor on the map for many viewers, alongside several other members of that series’ cast including Nathan Fillion, Jewel Staite and Star Wars: Rogue One actor Alan Tudyk.

Other celebrities paying their respects online included Samuel L Jackson (who appeared alongside Glass in 2008 thriller Lakeview Terrace), while some stars chose to remember Glass’ breakthrough role in 1970s cop show Barney Miller, where his performance as wannabe author Detective Ron Harris made his name.

Glass’ work also included roles in Rugrats, Agents of SHIELD, CSI, Dirty Sexy Money and Star Trek: Voyager.