...Babylon 5's unknown soldier

I decided it was high time Corwin had a web page all to himself ! David Corwin is played by the fabulous JOSHUA COX. NEWS NEWSThe official Joshua Cox website is now up and running.

EPISODES Corwin has appeared in over 25 episodes of Babylon 5. At first the character was billed only as Tech 1 or Tech 2. Finally, in his fourteenth episode, "And Now For A Word", he was named as Lieutenant (Junior Grade) David Corwin !

Corwin 'all alone in the night' in C&C (the station is safe in his hands ;-)

At his console in C&C, monitoring B5 space and all communications traffic

HIGHLIGHTS

The first is in "And Now For A Word", where Corwin is interviewed as part of an ISN report on Babylon 5. He is asked about life on the Command and Control deck, and if his commanding officer (Ivanova) is ever difficult to work with...he decides discretion is the better part of valour and lies ! Of course this is the episode where we are told his name and rank for the first time.

The essential Corwin showcase episode was "Exogenesis" in Season Three. The time is immediately prior to Babylon 5's secession from the Earth Alliance, and the Conspiracy of Light need to know the loyalties of key staff in the chain of command. Corwin, being Ivanova's deputy, is fairly highly-placed and has just earned his promotion to full Lieutenant.
	Ivanova is assigned to find out where Corwin's loyalties lie. Unfortunately, Corwin misinterprets her questions, and when she asks him to drop by her quarters in the evening, he thinks that she is attracted to him ! Not knowing quite what to do, he eventually decides to buy flowers - roses in fact, and pretty expensive on Babylon 5.

He realises his mistake as soon as he enters Ivanova's quarters, and tells her that he found the roses left outside her door. She is rather pleased to receive them :

"...and terribly romantic. Don't tell anybody, but I have always had a weakness for roses. This is a very sweet gesture."

Corwin just doesn't know what is going on in this episode, finding Ivanova's behaviour rather confusing at least ! We do find out though that his loyalties would be with Babylon 5 and not just to Earth itself, a welcome revelation - we wouldn't want to have lost him right after his promotion ;-) He accepts orders from Sheridan even though they ask him to effectively turn against the forces from Earth. This is one of the rarer B5 episodes, where we see the situation from the perspective of a minor character, one whose job is to keep the station running smoothly but doesn't get to go fight the shadows in the WhiteStars, for example. His job is essential though, and it his he and his peers who are the vital backbone of the station. Their reactions to B5's secession from Earth determine whether the station will carry on functioning, or grind to a halt if there was a groundswell against that decision. Thankfully, the likes of Corwin are incredibly loyal to their command staff, you get the feeling that he would follow them anywhere as he trusts them implicitly. He isn't a pushover by any means, they have earned his trust and he is more part of the station than he is Earthforce personnel from this point on.

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In season four's No Surrender, No Retreat, Corwin is seen in the episode preamble, checking the starfuries out as they go on patrol. This shot is interposed with scenes of Sheridan addressing the Council, telling them of his plans to rid Earth of President Clark and to free the colonies that are suffering under Clark's tyranny. In the first act, we see Corwin at the C&C observation window, watching the starfuries manuevre round on their defensive duties. Ivanova is explaining policy to Corwin about the patrols, and broadcasts a message to all pilots, urging them to only fire if fired upon, and to disregard any orders not carrying the special B5 command code. Earth has voice records of the command staff and would doubtless try to use them. After she is done the following exchange occurs :

Corwin : "So from now on I guess the operational phrase is 'trust no one' ? "

Ivanova : "No. Trust Ivanova, trust yourself, anybody else, shoot them."

A passing tech looks shocked at her words, probably not quite sure if he heard it right. The shot moves to Corwin, who gives the man a serious look - he knows Ivanova well enough by now to know that she means every word she says. This episode establishes Corwin as Ivanova's second - she specifically states " ... you'll check in with Lt. Corwin or myself for the code of the day". If anyone has any Corwin screen captures from this episode I would love to hear from you - especially the closeup shots and the scene from the preamble, and the rather elegant shot taken from outside the ObDome window.

In season five, Corwin is finally seen in the main title sequence ! This has to be the most awesome of them all, being a montage of scenes and sounds from previous seasons. We see an image of Corwin from No Compromises, the season opener, as he stands with his back to us looking out over the vast docking bay. This is the scene where he is meeting Captain Lochley off her shuttle. He isn't credited in the main titles, the image is one of those interposed between the regular cast credit shots. However he does receive guest billing in No Compromises.

The scene between Captain Lochley and Corwin is rather good, he tries to explain that the station is unique in the way it needs to be run. Trouble is always around the corner, in fact it comes looking for them ! She won't have any of this, believing the station to be like any other command... Corwin is mildly exasperated at this but lets her find out for herself ;-).

Coming soon (hopefully) sound-bites from this episode and others, and more quotes. However, Lynne's Corwin Homage Page has a great collection of Corwin quotes, episode by episode, check this site out (yes we are both Corwin fans, geographically half a world apart but with the wonders of the internet we got yacking !). The remaining season 5 episodes will be added at some point soon (we hope).

Corwin has guest star status in episode 505 (the fourth season five episode), A View from the Gallery. We see him in C&C, in the midst of a massive alien attack on the station. Here are two scanned photos from this episode, which focuses on B5 as seen by two maintenance men, Mack and Bo. Click on the pictures to see the larger versions of these images.

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OTHER ROLES AND BIO

Recent rôles :

• Sliders - The Electric Twister Acid Test - playing a sociopathic Amish guy !
  The Burning Zone - The St. Michael's Nightmare - playing a guy who blows his brains out
  

Other credits :

• One Life to Live - his first big break came in this soap opera
  21 Jump Street (1987) - Swallowed Alive
  The Runestone (1990) - as Crossley
  The People Under the Stairs (1992) (aka Wes Craven's The People Under the Stairs) - as young cop
  Hideous Mutant Freekz (1994) (aka Freaked) - zygrot machine propmaker
  Quantum Leap - Star Light, Star Bright - as Office Milardi

Joshua Cox was born and raised in New York City. In his spare time he likes to surf, snowboard and other extreme sports. He also loves playing the guitar and would love to be in a band someday.

I was thrilled to meet Josh Cox at the Wolf359 - The Alliance convention in July 1997 in Blackpool, UK. He was one of the most pleasant and friendly people you could hope to meet, happily signing autographs and posing for photos. He seemed almost overwhelmed that people wanted to meet him !

Please be sure to check out Lynne's Corwin Homage Page, the other Corwin page on the net !! (now with tons of convention photos and reports). Also see Lonegungrrl's Shrine to Lt. David Corwin, the third Corwin page online.

Corwin with Lochley in Season 5
click for larger image

Babylon 5 was created by J. Michael Straczynski (the great maker), and is a trademark of Warner Brothers.
All copyrights and trademarks are implied and acknowledged.
Original site created by & © starriders.net / shipofdreams.net.
Some information on these pages gleaned from TV Zone Winter Special no. 24.