A Denver, Colorado native, Tom was gunning for a career as an athlete but turned to acting instead. He moved to New York and enrolled in the American Academy Of Dramatic Arts before making his film debut in the 1957 John Cassavates film Shadows, but then gave up on his acting career to become a private investigator. He eventually returned to the screen in the 1970’s, playing a few minor roles on television until getting tapped for the recurring role of Dr. Curtis Willard on The Waltons in 1976. From then on he’d work steadily in film and TV for over forty years, with movies ranging from big budget action films like Die Hard II (1990) to acclaimed dramas like Nixon (1995) and Crazy Heart (2009). His television appearances run the gamut as well, popping into big name shows like The X-Files, Battlestar Galactica, It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia, The Office, Ray Donovan, even appearing in the Break Bad movie El Camino in 2019. It’s almost comical that, with such a long career, it wasn’t until the 2022 movie Raymond and Ray that we saw Tom’s tush. He shows his bare ass while lying face down naked in his coffin, mooning the world one last time when it’s opened up before being buried. It’s a ballsy move we definitely approve for all funerals going forward.
