Biography for
Tom Tryon More at IMDbPro »

Date of Birth

14 January 1926, Hartford, Connecticut, USA

Date of Death

4 September 1991, Los Angeles, California, USA (stomach cancer)

Height

6' 3" (1.91 m)

Mini Biography

Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Tom Tryon - son of clothier Arthur Lane Tryon and not the actor Glenn Tryon as is usually stated - grew up in Wethersfield, Connecticut. In 1943 he enlisted in the U.S. Navy and served in the South Pacific until 1946. After his discharge he joined the Cape Playhouse in Dennis, Massachusetts, and did everything from designing sets to acting. He made his Broadway debut in 1952 in the musical "Wish You Were Here". He also worked in television as a production assistant. In 1955 he moved to California to try his hand at the movies, and the next year made his film debut in The Scarlet Hour (1956). He made a few more films, but in 1958 he appeared in the part that made him most famous: the title role in the Disney TV series "Texas John Slaughter" (1958), which made him a household name. He appeared with Marilyn Monroe in her final (and unfinished) film, Something's Got to Give (1962).

Sci-fi fans will remember Tryon in what is now considered one of the more literate (although you couldn't tell by its crackpot title) sci-fi films of the era, I Married a Monster from Outer Space (1958). Tryon worked steadily in television and films during this period. His big break was supposed to be Otto Preminger's The Cardinal (1963), but the film turned out to be one of the major failures of the 1960s. As Tryon's acting career waned (he wasn't happy with it, anyway), a viewing of the horror film Rosemary's Baby (1968) inspired him to write his own horror novel, and in 1971 "The Other" was published and became an almost instant best seller, being turned into a hit movie in 1972, which Tryon both wrote and produced. He left acting to concentrate solely on writing, and became a very successful novelist. In 1978 his book "Crowned Heads" was the basis for the Billy Wilder film Fedora (1978), and a successful miniseries, "The Dark Secret of Harvest Home" (1978), with Bette Davis, was made from his novel "Harvest Home". Tryon said that he got much more satisfaction (and made a lot more money) from his writing than he ever did from his acting. He died of cancer in 1991.

IMDb Mini Biography By: frankfob2@yahoo.com

Trivia

His last novel, "Night Magic", which deals with the supernatural, bears the following inscription: "Copyright 1995 by Tom Tryon." (Tryon died in 1991.)

Was cast in Something's Got to Give (1962) as the man stranded on a tropical island with Marilyn Monroe. Marilyn was fired and the film was subsequently made after her death with a new cast under the title Move Over, Darling (1963). Doris Day took over Marilyn's part and Chuck Connors replaced Tryon.

Alfred Hitchcock considered Tryon for the "Sam Loomis" role in Psycho (1960) (along with Cliff Robertson and Stuart Whitman), but the part went to John Gavin.

Graduate of Yale University.

Was inspired by the Ira Levin novel 'Rosemary's Baby' to write his own horror novel, The Other (1972), which became an immediate bestseller.

Was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1963 for his role in The Cardinal (1963), but suffered immensely under the dictatorial and abusive treatment of the film's 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. This was a big turning point for Tryon, who eventually retired from acting and turned to writing.

Was involved at one time with Clive Clerk, one of the original cast members of "A Chorus Line" and an interior designer, who decorated Tryon's Central Park West apartment, which was featured in "Architectural Digest". Tryon later had a relationship, albeit short-lived, with Calvin Culver (aka Casey Donovan), a well-known star of gay porn films. Donovan is often credited with helping Tryon finish his novel "Crowned Heads" on an extremely tight deadline by typing up revisions and offering suggestions.

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