BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, SKYRIM and FALLOUT: NEW VEGAS actor Michael Hogan makes first convention appearance since serious injury

In very welcome news, actor Michael Hogan has made his first public convention appearance in almost five years, since he suffered a serious head injury. Hogan is best-known for playing the role of Colonel Saul Tigh in the second iteration of Battlestar Galactica, and subsequently playing the role of Doc Mitchell in the 2010 video game Fallout: New Vegas and General Tullius in Skyrim (2011).

Image from BSGMuseum via Instagram.

Hogan suffered the injury in February 2020, which happened backstage at another event. He was subsequently given excellent but expensive medical treatment, with his family setting up a Gofundme account. His Battlestar costars publicised the appeal. Fans have since contributed almost half a million dollars towards his treatment and rehabilitation.

Hogan made his appearance at the "Salute to Battlestar Galactica 20th Anniversary" convention in Chicago, appearing alongside much of the cast of the show and showrunner Ronald D. Moore. Hogan made an appearance alongside Edward James Olmos (Admiral Adama) and another alongside his on-screen wife Kate Vernon (Ellen Tigh), sporting an eyepatch and his screen uniform in honour of his character.

As part of his rehabilitation, Hogan had to learn to speak and walk again from scratch, no mean feat for an actor who is now 75 years old. Hogan has been supported in his recovery by his family, particularly his wife Susan who has acted as a spokesperson for him, as well as his co-stars. Impressively, he has already returned to work, recently doing voice work for the children's animated series Sonya from Toastville.

This is of course splendid news, and I believe all of his many fans will continue to wish him the best recovery.

Actor Michael Hogan is seriously ill, costars and fans rallying around

Canadian actor Michael Hogan is seriously ill after suffering a fall which resulted in a brain injury, with his wife stepping up as a full-time carer. The accident happened back in February, but his family had kept the news secret until this week when they agreed to let it be made public and set up a Gofundme page to help make up for the family's loss of income.

Michael Hogan is best-known for playing the role of Colonel Saul Tigh on the rebooted Battlestar Galactica, from the pilot mini-series in 2003 to the final episode in 2009. He was an initially divisive figure among fans, a drunkard and a has-been with a failed marriage who takes his inadequacies and rage out on subordinates, particularly Lt. Kara "Starbuck" Thrace (Katee Sackhoff) and is almost presented as the antagonist of the show in the opening episodes of Season 2, when he has to take command of Galactica when Commander Adama (Edward James Olmos) is temporarily incapacitated. However, his characters underwent a major rehabilitation when he was among the colonists on New Caprica put under Cylon occupation at the end of Season 2. Tigh became an indefatigable resistance leader, ruthless in the pursuit of securing freedom and liberty for his people. Hogan's stellar performance - easily the equal of his much more famous co-stars Olmos and Mary McDonnell - sold the transformation and made him a firm fan favourite in later seasons, bolstered by a major character revelation in the final season of the show.

Hogan has also appeared in a veritable galaxy of other genre shows in a career spanning forty years: The Twilight Zone, War of the Worlds, Kung Fu: The Legend Continues, Millennium, The Outer Limits, Earth: Final Conflict, Andromeda, Warehouse 13, Dollhouse, Smallville, Supernatural, Teen Wolf, Fargo, 12 Monkeys, The Man in the High Castle and Chilling Adventures of Sabrina.

He also had a small but highly impactful number of voice-over appearances in video games, playing Captain Armando-Owen Bailey in Mass Effect 2 and 3, Doc Mitchell in Fallout: New Vegas and General Tullius in Skyrim.

Many of Michael Hogan's friends, colleagues and convention buddies have rallied around him and his family at this time, including Katee Sackhoff, Jewel Staite, Bear McCreary, Mary McDonnell, Amanda Tapping, Tricia Helfer, Rekha Sharma, Aaron Douglas, Sam Witwer, Jane Espenson, Mark Meer, Michael Trucco and Edward James Olmos.