Tom Aldredge

Tom Aldredge
Born (1928-02-28)February 28, 1928
Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
Died July 22, 2011(2011-07-22) (aged 83)
Tampa, Florida, U.S.
Resting place Davids Cemetery, Kettering, Ohio
Occupation Actor
Years active 1961–2011
Spouse(s) Theoni V. Aldredge (1953–January 21, 2011; her death)

Thomas Ernest Aldredge (February 28, 1928 – July 22, 2011) was an American television, film and stage actor, best known for various appearances in movies, theatre and television, with a notable role as Hugh De Angelis on The Sopranos. He also appeared in the television shows Damages as Uncle Pete and Ryan's Hope. He won a Daytime Emmy Award for playing the role of Shakespeare in Henry Winkler Meets William Shakespeare (1978). His last role was on the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, playing the father of Nucky Thompson (Steve Buscemi).

Life and career

Aldredge was born in Dayton, Ohio, the son of Lucienne Juliet (née Marcillat) and William Joseph Aldredge, a colonel in the United States Army Air Corps.[1] He originally planned to become a lawyer and was a Pre-Law student at the University of Dayton in the late 1940s. In 1947 he decided to pursue a career as an actor after attending a performance of the original Broadway production of A Streetcar Named Desire.[2]

Aldredge carved out a respected career on the Broadway stage that spanned five decades. He made his Broadway debut as Danny in the 1959 musical The Nervous Set. In 1972 he won a Drama Desk Award for his portrayal of Ozzie, the father of a blinded Vietnam veteran, in David Rabe's Sticks and Bones. He played Henry VIII's fool, Will Sommers, in Richard Rodgers' pentultimate musical, Rex in 1976. He originated the role of Norman Thayer Jr. in On Golden Pond in 1978, earning the first of three Tony Award nominations. His best-known role, however, was that of the Narrator/Mysterious Man in Stephen Sondheim and James Lapine's Into The Woods, a role he later repeated in the PBS Great Performances production. He also created the role of the doctor in another Sondheim/Lapine collaboration, Passion.

He was part of the 1997 all-star revival of Inherit the Wind produced by Tony Randall, playing Rev. Brown in an ensemble that also included George C. Scott, Charles Durning, and Anthony Heald.

In 1960 Theodore Flicker founded a professional Off-Broadway coffee house theater, The Premise at 154 Bleecker Street in Greenwich Village. He recruited Tom Aldredge along with Joan Darling, George Segal and Dolores Welber as the initial improvisational cast fielding and reacting to suggestions from their audience.[3]

He had a 50-year-long career working as a character actor on television and film. He won a Daytime Emmy Award in 1978 for his portrayal of William Shakespeare in the episode Henry Winkler Meets William Shakespeare on the program The CBS Festival of Lively Arts for Young People. His best-known television role was that of Tony Soprano's father-in-law, Hugh De Angelis on the HBO series The Sopranos.

Family

He was married to stage and screen costume designer Theoni V. Aldredge from 1953 until her death on January 21, 2011.[2]

Death

Aldredge died July 22, 2011 in a hospice in Tampa, Florida from lymphoma, aged 83.[2][4]

Filmography

Selected television appearances

  • Boardwalk Empire - Ethan Thompson (5 episodes, 2010–11)
  • Damages - Uncle Pete (11 episodes between 2007 and 2009)
  • Click and Clack's As the Wrench Turns - Professor (1 episode, 2008)
  • The Sopranos - Hugh DeAngelis (23 episodes between 2000 and 2007)
  • Line of Fire - Senator Glenn Boulder (1 episode, 2004)
  • Law & Order: Criminal Intent - Attorney George Knowles (1 episode, 2001)
  • Law & Order - Retired Props Clerk (1 episode, 2000)
  • Third Watch - (1 episode, 2000)
  • Now and Again - Mr Leflin (1 episode, 1999)
  • Earthly Possessions - Spry Old Man (1 episode, 1999)
  • Passion (1996) - Dr Tambourri
  • Harvest of Fire (1996) - Jacob Hostetler
  • Andersonville (1996) - Sgt Horace Trimble
  • New York News - (1 episode, 1995)
  • In the Best of Families: Marriage, Pride & Madness (1994)
  • Barbarians at the Gate (1993) - Charlie Hugel
  • O Pioneers! (1992) - Ivar
  • Lincoln and the War Within (1992)
  • Separate but Equal (1991)
  • Into the Woods (1991) - Narrator/Mysterious Man
  • American Playhouse - Older Edward (1 episode, 1990)
  • CBS Schoolbreak Special - Joseph Hauptmann (1 episode, 1989)
  • A Special Friendship (1987) - Jefferson Davis
  • Heartbreak House (1985) - Mazzini
  • Doubletake (1985) - Glendon Lane
  • Puddn'head Wilson (1984) - Judge Driscoll
  • The American Snitch (1983) - Captain Crackers
  • Ryan's Hope - Matt Pearse (34 episodes between 1979 and 1982)
  • CBS Library - Host/Washington Irving (1 episode, 1982)
  • Love, Sidney (1981)
  • The Gentleman Bandit (1981) - Monsignor
  • Nurse (1980) - Kelly O'Brien
  • The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg (1980) - Edward Richards
  • The Storyteller (1977) - Frank Eberhardt
  • The CBS Festival of Lively Arts for Young People - William Shakespeare (1 episode, 1977)
  • The Adams Chronicles (1976) - James McHenry
  • King Lear (1974) - Fool
  • Wide World Mystery - Nemith (1 episode, 1974)
  • Sticks and Bones (1973)
  • N.Y.P.D. - Mr Mahoney (1 episode, 1969)
  • Ten Blocks on the Camino Real (1966) - Baron de Charlus
  • The Seasons of Youth (1961) - Premise Player

Other works

  • Original Broadway Cast Album: Into the Woods (1991) - (performer: "Prologue: Into the Woods", "Ever After", "Act II Prologue: So Happy", "No More")
  • Self: The 58th Annual Tony Awards (2004) (TV) - Nominee: Best Featured Actor in a Play

Theatre

References

  1. ↑ "Tom Aldredge Biography (1928-)". FilmReference.com. Advameg, Inc. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  2. 1 2 3 Fox, Margalit (July 26, 2011). "Tom Aldredge, Character Actor, Dies at 83". The New York Times. The New York Times Company. p. A19. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  3. ↑ Talmer, Jerry (1 December 1960). "Theatre: The Premise". The Village Voice. p. 6. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  4. ↑ BWW News Desk (July 22, 2011). "Tony Nominee Tom Aldredge Passes Away at 83". Broadway World. Wisdom Digital Media. Retrieved 6 September 2018.
  5. ↑ http://catalog.lamama.org/index.php/Detail/Occurrence/Show/occurrence_id/426
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