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Tom Tryon
(January 14, 1926 - September 4, 1991) U.S.A.

Tom Tryon

Film and TV actor, and author

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He was born Thomas Tryon in Hartford, Connecticut, the son of silent screen actor Glen Tryon. Thomas' film roles were mostly in B-horror and science fiction films, most notably I Married A Monster From Outer Space (1958) and Moon Pilot (1962), and in westerns, especially Three Violent People (1956), with Charlton Heston, and Winchester '73 (1967).

His best role, however, is considered by many to have been in the 1965 film, In Harm's Way, which is itself considered one of the best films set in the period of World War II.

Thomas was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1963 for his role in The Cardinal, but the honor barely compensated for the trauma and abuse he suffered at the hands of director Otto Preminger. At one point during filming, Preminger actually fired Thomas in front of his parents when they visited the set, then rehired him after being satisfied that Thomas had been sufficiently humiliated.

Disillusioned with acting, Thomas retired from the profession in 1969 and began writing science-fiction, horror, and mystery novels. His most well-known work is The Other (1971). The novel was adapted as a film the following yearr. His novel Harvest Home, about the dark pagan rituals being practiced in a small New England town, was adapted as The Dark Secret of Harvest Home, a television mini-series starring Bette Davis, in 1978.

His other novels include Crowned Heads, a collection of novellas inspired by the legends of Hollywood. His 1989 novel Night of the Moonbow tells the story of a boy driven to violent means by the constant harassment he receives at a summer boys camp, in situations with which many gay men who suffered harassment as youths may doubtless identify. Night Magic, written in 1991 and posthumously published in 1995, is currenlty slated for a screen adaptation.

During the 1970s, Thomas was in a romantic relationship with Clive Clerk, one of the original cast members of "A Chorus Line" and an interior designer who decorated Thomas' Central Park West apartment, which was featured in Architectural Digest. Thomas was also involved with Casey Donovan/Cal Culver while still maintaining his relationship with Clerk.

Cal is credited with helping Thomas finish Crowned Heads on an extremely tight deadline by typing up the revisions and offering suggestions. Their relationship was short-lived, for while Thomas had no problems with Cal's porn career, the attention and publicity his lover received made the closeted Thomas fearful of being outted, which he felt could destroy his career as a popular writer. Thomas and Cal parted ways in the summer of 1977.

Thomas continued writing through the 1980s and 90s, before dying at age 65, from a metastasized stomach cancer which had originated in his spine.

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Source: http://outcyclopedia.0catch.com/tomtryon.html

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