Tom Tryon

For the English author of self-help books, see Thomas Tryon. For the American architect, see Thomas Tryon (architect).

Tom Tryon
From the film trailer for The Unholy Wife (1957)
Born	Thomas Tryon January 14, 1926(1926-01-14) Hartford, Connecticut, United States
Died	September 4, 1991(1991-09-04) (aged 65) Los Angeles, California, United States
Occupation	• Actor  • Writer
Years active	1955–1991
Spouse	Ann Noyes (1955–1958, divorced)
Partner	• Clive Clerk (1970s)  • Calvin Culver

Tom Tryon (January 14, 1926 – September 4, 1991) was an American film and television actor, best known for playing the title role in the film The Cardinal (1963) and the Walt Disney television character Texas John Slaughter (1958–1961). He later became a writer and authored several science fiction, horror and mystery novels.

Early life and education

He was born Thomas Tryon in Hartford, Connecticut.

Tom Tryon is often erroneously identified as the son of silent screen actor Glenn Tryon; his actual father was Arthur Lane Tryon, a clothier and owner of Stackpole, Moore & Tryon. He served in the U.S. Navy in the Pacific from 1943–1946 during World War II.

Career

Acting career

He then studied Acting at NYC's Neighborhood Playhouse under the tutelage of Sanford Meisner. Tryon appeared in the 1952 original Broadway production of Wish You Were Here, a long-running musical that starred Jack Cassidy, Patricia Marand and Sheila Bond.

He guest starred in 1955 as Antoine De More in the two-part episode "King of the Dakotas" of NBC's western anthology series Frontier. His other television roles included that of Texas John Slaughter, a part of ABC's Walt Disney Presents in the late 1950s. The role was based on actual historical figure John Slaughter. Tryon also had guest appearances on NBC's The Restless Gun (as "Sheriff Billy"), The Virginian and ABC's The Big Valley. He appeared in an episode of Wagon Train in the first season. He was part of a live television performance of The Fall of the House of Usher. He also co-wrote a song, "I Wish I Was," which appeared on an obscure record by Dick Kallman, star of the short-lived and now largely forgotten 1965 television sitcom, Hank. He appeared in the 1967 episode "Charade of Justice" of NBC's western series The Road West starring Barry Sullivan.

Tryon's film roles included comic horror and science fiction films, most notably I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958) and the Walt Disney romantic comedy film, Moon Pilot (1962). He also appeared in Westerns, including Three Violent People (1956), with Charlton Heston; The Glory Guys (1965); and a remake of Winchester '73 (1967).

In 1962, he was cast to play the role of Stephen Burkett ("Adam") in the unfinished Marilyn Monroe-Dean Martin comedy film, Something's Got to Give, directed by George Cukor, but lost that role after Monroe was fired from the movie. He was also considered but eventually passed over for the role of Janet Leigh's lover, Sam Loomis, in the classic thriller, Psycho (1960).

Tryon's greatest role was as an ambitious Catholic priest in The Cardinal (1963), for which he received a nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. However, that honor barely compensated for the trauma and abuse he suffered at the hands of director Otto Preminger. At one point during filming, Preminger fired Tryon in front of his parents when they visited the set, then rehired him after being satisfied that Tryon had been sufficiently humiliated.

He also appeared in two epic films about World War II, The Longest Day (1962) and In Harm's Way (1965).

Writing career

Disillusioned with acting, Tryon retired from the profession in 1969 and began writing horror and mystery novels. He was successful, overcoming skepticism about a classically handsome movie star suddenly turning novelist. His best-known work is The Other (1971), about a boy whose evil twin brother may or may not be responsible for a series of deaths in a small rural community in the 1930s. The novel was adapted as a film the following year, starring Diana Muldaur, Uta Hagen, and John Ritter. Harvest Home (1973), about the dark pagan rituals being practiced in a small New England town, was adapted as The Dark Secret of Harvest Home (1978), a television mini-series starring Bette Davis. An extensive critical analysis of Tryon's horror novels can be found in S. T. Joshi's book The Modern Weird Tale (2001).

His other novels include Crowned Heads, a collection of novellas inspired by the legends of Hollywood. The first of these novellas, Fedora, about a reclusive former film actress whose relationship with her plastic surgeon is similar to that between a drug addict and her pusher, was later filmed by Billy Wilder. Though the film was only moderately successful, it is considered by many to be a minor classic of the thriller and horror genres. Other novellas in the collection were based on the murder of former silent screen star Ramón Novarro, and the quasi-Oedipal relationship between actor Clifton Webb and his mother. Lady, written in 1975, concerns the friendship between an eight-year-old boy and a charming widow in 1930s New England and the secret he discovers about her. Many consider this to be Tryon's best work. His novel Night of the Moonbow (1989) tells the story of a boy driven to violent means by the constant harassment he receives at a summer boys camp. Night Magic, written in 1991, was posthumously published in 1995.

He is usually credited and listed as an author under his birth name. He promoted his books on TV also, with Merv Griffin, Johnny Carson, Joey Bishop, and Mike Douglas.

Personal life

Tryon married Ann Noyes in 1955; they divorced in 1958.

During the 1970s, he was in a romantic relationship with Clive Clerk, one of the original cast members of A Chorus Line and an interior designer who decorated Tryon's apartment on Central Park West in New York City, which was featured in Architectural Digest.

Tryon was also involved in a relationship with Calvin Culver, also known as Casey Donovan, a gay porn star.

He reportedly spoke of an unseen lover throughout his life, a lover he had dubbed "Patrick Norton". This Patrick resided in the dreams and imagination of Tryon and is the basis for many of his characters (all of whom, notably, die horrific deaths).

Death

Tryon died, age 65, from stomach cancer in Los Angeles, California.

Selected works as writer

Novels The Other (1971) Harvest Home (1973) Lady (1974) Wings of the Morning (1988) The Night of the Moonbow (1989) In the Fire of Spring (1991) The Adventures of Opal and Cupid (1992) Night Magic (1995)

Collections Crowned Heads (1976) All That Glitters (1986) Short stories and novellas Bobbitt (1976) Fedora (1976) Lorna (1976) Willie (1976)

Filmography and television work

• Screaming Eagles (1956)
• The Scarlet Hour (1956)
• Three Violent People (1957)
• The Unholy Wife (a.k.a. The Lady and the Prowler, 1957)
• Texas John Slaughter (television series, 1958)
• I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958)
• Gundown at Sandoval (1959)
• The Story of Ruth (1960)
• Marines, Let's Go (1961)
• Moon Pilot (1962)
• The Longest Day (1962)
• Something's Got to Give (1962)
• The Cardinal (1963)
• In Harm's Way (1965)
• The Glory Guys (1965)
• Winchester '73 (1967) (TV)
• Color Me Dead (1969)
• Persecución hasta Valencia (a.k.a. The Narco Men, 1970)
• The Horsemen (1971)

External links

• Tom Tryon at AllRovi
• Tom Tryon at the Internet Movie Database
• Tom Tryon at the TCM Movie Database