Kirk Baily, Salute Your Shorts Actor Known for Counselor Ug, Dies at 59

Actor Kirk Baily best known for his role as Kevin "Ug" Lee on Nickelodeon's Salute Your Shorts has died at the age of 59. According to TMZ, Baily's death on February 28th came six months after the actor was diagnosed with lung cancer and was confirmed by friends on social media. TMZ also reports that his cause of death was lung cancer, as confirmed by family.

Running for two seasons on Nickelodeon in 1991-1992, Salute Your Shorts centered on the lives of campers at the fictional summer camp, Camp Anawanna. Baily's Ug Lee was a camp counselor who was frequently the butt of jokes and pranks. Though the series only lasted two seasons, it was a cult favorite and also starred Danny Cooksey, Erik MacArthur, and Blake Soper. The cast of the series, which by many reports remained close after the series' end, held a reunion in 2019 to celebrate the opening of Nickelodeon's Good Burger pop-up in Los Angeles. After Salute Your Shorts, Baily went on to appear in other television series, including an episode of Beverly Hills 90210, an episode of Star Trek: Voyager and episodes of Melrose Place and Felicity among many other credits.

Baily also had an extensive career as a voice actor with credits in numerous anime, including Cowboy Bebop. He also lent his voice to various characters in films such as Hotel Transylvania, Frozen, Big Hero 6, Minions, Despicable Me 2 and many more. He also lent his voice to various video games, including Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force, Xenosaga Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht, and Dead Space: Downfall.

Our thoughts are with Baily's family, friends, and fans at this time.