His death was a long time coming since his final days were spent in a coma which was a damned shame.
However, Jeff participated in three great franchises I enjoyed throughout my life. The first was being Travolta’s sidekick in Grease‘s film version (he played Zuko on stage though). This is the role I tend to forget the most often which I will get to later. During the transition of the Seventies turning into the Eighties, he was Bobby, an early character in Taxi (he quit before it was cancelled on NBC); still a great sitcom even though time, technology and NYC’s character has changed. Jeff may not have been the breakout character like Andy Kaufman’s Latka or Danny DeVito’s Louie but I think his struggling actor was vital. Other than LA, NYC is another city filled with people getting by on odd jobs until their dream gig comes through. Lastly, Jeff is immortalized in Sci-Fi circles as Security Chief Zack Allen (some instances it’s Allan) on Babylon 5. I think he supposed to just be a guest yet the role morphed into something more permanent when the actor who was playing Garibaldi’s second-in-command decided to leave. The audience like Zack enough that Jeff got promoted to being part of the show’s opening credits by the third season. I enjoyed his character too; so when Garibaldi quit the station’s staff to become a full-time dick (much like Jerry Doyle is now), Zack’s succession wasn’t a pity promotion.
Now I’m going to need Patton Oswalt’s time machine to get my Babylon 5 cast photo signed since too many members have died pre-maturely, compared to Star Trek‘s.