Biography

Never had to read for the part of "Vir" in Babylon 5 (1993). When he went to the audition, he saw that the other actors had their hair done in the Centauri crest, while he didn't. A trip to the bathroom to raid the soap dispenser and plaster his hair up ended disastrously with his hair askew and tears running down his face where the soap had gotten in his eyes. When he was called in, he entered apologizing profusely in run-on sentences for his appearance, whereupon the creator and producers looked at each other and said, "Oh my God! It's Vir!" He asked if they wanted him to read and they said no, he had the part.

Furst publicly credits J. Michael Straczynski's show Babylon 5 (1993) with saving his life, because he is a longtime diabetic whose kidneys failed midway through the show. A fan who loved his portrayal of "Vir" heard of his health problems and donated a kidney to save him from dialysis and a likely early demise.

Before he became an actor he delivered pizzas in Hollywood. Later on he started putting his picture and resume inside the pizza boxes and was soon discovered by producer Matty Simmons, who cast him in "National Lampoon's" National Lampoon's Animal House (1978).

In 1996, between the third and fourth seasons of Babylon 5 (1993), he shed approximately 100 pounds, going from over 275 pounds down to 175. When he returned for the fourth season, all of the existing Vir Cotto costumes were too large for him.

In National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), his wife Lorraine Furst did a cameo as the girl he asked for the 10,000 marbles.