This morning, I was saddened to read about the passing of actor Patrick Muldoon.  He died of a heart attack yesterday.  He was 57 years old.

Patrick Muldoon will always be remembered by many for playing Jeff, the “frat boy babe stealer” from Saved By The Bell.  Personally, I thought Jeff and Kelly made for a cute couple and it always bothered me that the show’s writers suddenly changed Jeff from being a nice guy to being a cheater just so Kelly and Zack could (eventually) get back together.  Supposedly, years after the show aired, Muldoon still had strangers yelling at him on the street for breaking up Kelly and Zack.  I felt bad for him reading that.  The man was an actor and he did a good job.

Muldoon went on to play an important supporting role in Starship Troopers, making him the second Saved By The Bell actor to appear in a Paul Verhoeven film.  (Unlike Elizabeth Berkley, Muldoon at least seemed to understand that he was appearing in a satire.)  He also appeared in a countless number of Lifetime films, occasionally sharing the screen with Starship Troopers co-star, Casper Van Dien.  Muldoon was also the first actor to play Austin Reed on Days of Our Lives.  

Here he is in Starship Troopers, getting into a memorable fight with Casper Van Dien.