Tom Tryon
Tryon inThe Unholy Wife (1957)
Born	Thomas Lester Tryon (1926-01-14)January 14, 1926 Hartford, Connecticut, U.S.
Died	September 4, 1991(1991-09-04) (aged 65) Los Angeles, California
Occupations	Actor novelist
Years active	1955–1991
Spouse	Ann Noyes ​ ​ (m. 1955; div. 1958)​
Partner(s)	Clive Clerk (1970–1972) Casey Donovan (1973–1977)

Thomas Lester Tryon (January 14, 1926 – September 4, 1991) was an American actor and novelist. As an actor, he wasbilled asTom Tryon and is best known for playing the title role in the filmThe Cardinal (1963), featured roles in the war filmsThe Longest Day (1962) andIn Harm's Way (1965), acting withJohn Wayne in both movies, and especially theWalt Disney television characterTexas John Slaughter (1958–1961). Tryon later turned to the writing of prose fiction and screenplays, and wrote several successful science fiction, horror andmystery novels asThomas Tryon.

Thomas Tryon was born on January 14, 1926, inHartford, Connecticut, the son of Arthur Lane Tryon, a clothier^[1] and owner of Stackpole, Moore & Tryon (he is often erroneously identified as the son of silent screen actorGlenn Tryon). He served in theUnited States Navy in thePacific from 1943 to 1946 during and afterWorld War II.^{[citation needed]}

Tryon began his acting career appearing on stage inWish You Were Here (1952),Cyrano de Bergerac (1953), andRichard III (1953).^[2]

He next found work in TV, appearing inThe Way of the World (1955) with Gloria Lewis, Leora Thatcher, and Sydney Smith. He also guest-starred in 1955 as Antoine De Mores in the two-part episode "King of the Dakotas" ofNBC'swesternanthology seriesFrontier.^{[citation needed]}

Tryon was signed to a long-term contract to Paramount in 1955. His film debut was inThe Scarlet Hour (1956) at Paramount, directed byMichael Curtiz, a crime drama about a man whose married lover persuades him to commit a robbery; Tryon received second billing. He was top billed in a low budget war film at Allied Artists,Screaming Eagles (1956), then supportedCharlton Heston andAnne Baxter inThree Violent People (1956) at Paramount. He was announced for, but did not end up appearing in,Short Cut to Hell.^[3] He had a support role in RKO'sThe Unholy Wife (1957) billed afterRod Steiger andDiana Dors. He had the lead in a low budget science fiction film at Paramount,I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958).

Tryon's work was mostly in TV, appearing in numerous roles such asJane Wyman Presents The Fireside Theatre,The 20th Century-Fox Hour,Playhouse 90 (an adaptation ofCharley's Aunt),Zane Grey Theater,Studio 57,Matinee Theatre, andLux Video Theatre,The Restless Gun withJohn Payne,General Electric Theater,The Millionaire, andThe Big Valley, (American Western series originally aired from 1964 to 1969) that he was a guest star in the 1966 episode "The Midas Man". Tryon appeared in the lead in "The Mark Hanford Story" (February 26, 1958) on NBC'sWagon Train withOnslow Stevens andKathleen Crowley.

Tryon played Texas John Slaughter in aseries of TV movies for Disney which ran from 1958 to 1961. The role was based on actual historical figureJohn Slaughter.^[4] He was considered but eventually passed over for the role ofJanet Leigh's lover, Sam Loomis, in the classic thrillerPsycho (1960); the role went toJohn Gavin.^[5]

Tryon starred inThe Story of Ruth (1960) at 20th Century Fox. For that studio he appeared inMarines, Let's Go (1961). Disney borrowed him to star in a satire about the space age,Moon Pilot (1962). He was one of many names inThe Longest Day (1962) at Fox. In 1962, Tryon was cast to play the role of Stephen Burkett ("Adam") in the unfinishedMarilyn Monroe-Dean Martin comedy film,Something's Got to Give, directed byGeorge Cukor, but lost that role after Monroe was fired from the movie; the picture was remade withDoris Day andJames Garner asMove Over, Darling (1963) withChuck Connors playing Tryon's part. Tryon guest starred onDr. Kildare andThe Virginian.^[6]

Tryon's greatest role was as an ambitious Catholic priest inThe Cardinal (1963). The film was a box office hit and Tryon received a nomination for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. He did not enjoy making the film, saying in 1986, "Finally, I was in a position of being able to pick my roles. But I didn't like the movie. I didn't like me in the movie. To this day, I cannot look at that film. It's because ofPreminger. He was a tyrant who ruled by terror. He tied me up in knots. He screamed at me. He called me names. He said I was lazy. He said I was a fool. He never cursed me. His insults were far more personal."^[7]

Tryon later guest-starred onKraft Suspense Theatre and then was reunited with Preminger inIn Harm's Way (1965) starringJohn Wayne andKirk Douglas. One of his final film roles was inThe Glory Guys (1965) withSenta Berger andJames Caan.

Tryon was part of a live television performance ofThe Fall of the House of Usher. He also co-wrote a song, "I Wish I Was", which appeared on an obscure record byDick Kallman, star of the short-lived 1965 television sitcomHank. Other television roles include episodes ofThe Big Valley,Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre, and the 1967 TV movie remakeWinchester '73 in which Tryon playedJames Stewart's original role with a supporting cast featuringDan Duryea,John Drew Barrymore,Joan Blondell,John Dehner andPaul Fix. Tryon went to Australia for his final screen performance as the lead inColor Me Dead (1969), a remake of the noir classicD.O.A. (1950), which had slipped into public domain.

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Disillusioned with acting, Tryon retired from the profession in 1969 and began writing horror andmystery novels. He also moved into film financing, serving as executive producer ofDalton Trumbo'sJohnny Got His Gun (1971).

His best-known work isThe 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. He adapted his novel intoa film released the following year that starredDiana Muldaur,Uta Hagen, andJohn Ritter.Harvest Home (1973), about the darkpagan rituals being practiced in a smallNew England town, was adapted asThe Dark Secret of Harvest Home (1978), a television miniseries starringBette Davis.

Tryon's other books includeCrowned Heads, a collection of novellas inspired by the legends ofHollywood. Tryon sold the film rights to Universal to make four films based on the novellas.^[8] 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 converted to a feature film directed byBilly Wilder.^[9]

Other novellas in the collection were based on the murder of former silent screen starRamón Novarro and on the complicated relationship between actorClifton Webb and his mother.Lady (1974) concerns the friendship between an eight-year-old boy and a charming widow in 1930s New England and the secret he discovers about her. His novelThe Night of the Moonbow (1989) tells the story of a boy driven to violent means by the constant harassment he receives at summer camp.Night Magic, written in 1991, was posthumously published in 1995.

In 1955, Tryon married Ann L. Noyes, the daughter of stockbroker Joseph Leo Lilienthal and his wife, the former Edna Arnstein. She was the former wife of Thomas Ewing Noyes, with whom she had been a theatrical producer.^[10][11] The Tryons divorced in 1958.^[1] Ann died in 1966.^[1][12] Tryon said that she committed suicide and that he kept a photograph of her in his apartment.^[13]

During the 1970s, he was in a romantic relationship with Clive Clerk, one of the original cast members ofA Chorus Line and an interior designer who decorated Tryon's apartment onCentral Park West in New York City, which was featured inArchitectural Digest.^{[citation needed]} From 1973 to 1977, Tryon was in a relationship with porn actorCasey Donovan.^[14]

Tryon died on September 4, 1991, at the age of 65 in Los Angeles, California.^[15] The announced cause of death was stomach cancer. Tryon's literary executor, C. Thomas Holloway, later stated Tryon's illness was related to hisHIV-positive status. Tryon asked to keep this information private. When Tryon's lover Clive Clerk explained, "Tom didn't want his readers or his relatives to know," Holloway disapproved, writing, "I see it as Tom's selfish silence helped the Dark Ages [of public acceptance ofHIV/AIDS] continue into the millennium."^[16]

• The Other (Knopf, 1971)ISBN 9780394436081
• Harvest Home (Knopf, 1973)ISBN 9780394485287
• Lady (Knopf, 1974)ISBN 9780394490939
• The Night of the Moonbow (Knopf, 1989)ISBN 9780394560069
• The Wings of the Morning (Knopf, 1990)ISBN 9780394523897
• In the Fire of Spring (Knopf, 1992)ISBN 9780394585888
• The Adventures of Opal and Cupid (Viking Press, 1992)ISBN 9780670822393
• Night Magic (Simon & Schuster, 1995)ISBN 9780684803937

• Crowned Heads (Knopf, 1976)ISBN 9780394404684
• All That Glitters (Knopf, 1986)ISBN 9780394550237

• Bobbitt (1976)
• Fedora (1976)
• Lorna (1976)
• Willie (1976)

Wikimedia Commons has media related toTom Tryon.

• Tom Tryon atIMDb
• Tom Tryon at theInternet Broadway Database
• Tom Tryon at theTCM Movie Database
• Tom Tryon at theInternet Speculative Fiction Database
• Tom Tryon discography atDiscogs

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