Tom Atkins (actor)

Tom Atkins (born November 13, 1935) is an American actor. He is known for his work in the horror and thriller film genres, having worked with writers and directors such as Shane Black, William Peter Blatty, John Carpenter, Fred Dekker, Richard Donner, Stephen King, and George A. Romero. He is also a familiar face to mainstream viewers, often playing police officers and tough authority figures and was best known for his role as Lt. Alex Diel in ''The Rockford Files'' (1974–1977).

Atkins has appeared in numerous films including ''The Fog'' (1980), ''The Ninth Configuration'' (1980), ''Escape from New York'' (1981), ''Creepshow'' (1982), '' Halloween III: Season of the Witch'' (1982), ''Night of the Creeps'' (1986), ''Lethal Weapon'' (1987), ''Maniac Cop'' (1988), ''Two Evil Eyes'' (1990), '' Bob Roberts'' (1992), ''Striking Distance'' (1993), ''My Bloody Valentine 3D'' (2009), ''Drive Angry'' (2011), ''Encounter'' (2018), ''Trick'' (2019) and the science fiction short film ''Polybius'' (2020) where he portrays the role of Sheriff Atkins.

Atkins has also appeared in numerous television series and films such as ''Hawaii Five-O'' (1975), '' Kojak: Flowers for Matty'' (1990), ''What She Doesn't Know'' (1992), ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' (1993), ''Fortune Hunter'' (1994), '' Xena: Warrior Princess'' (1996), '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' (1998), '' Oz'' (2003), ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' (2003), '' The Jury'' (2004), ''Horror's Hollowed Grounds'' (2016) and '' The Last-Drive In with Joe Bob Briggs'' (2019).

Biography

Early life

Atkins was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the son of Dorothy E. (née Williams) and George C. Atkins. During his childhood, Atkins was a fan of horror and science fiction, one of his best loved films being the Howard Hawks classic ''The Thing from Another World''. He initially had no desire to be an actor. His father worked in a Steel Mill in Pennsylvania and Atkins assumed that he would follow in his father's footsteps. He then enlisted in the United States Navy and "noticed that the officers lived great, but that was only because they had gone to college,"Fallows, Tom, Tom Atkins Interview (Night of the Creeps), Classic-Horror Web Zine 14 October 2009.
and so, after leaving the Navy, Atkins signed up for college where he met a girl who was involved in a theatre group. Tom studied at the Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and was a member of the Gamma Phi fraternity. He says: "I was in my 20s already when I got interested in acting and I liked it a lot."

Career

Atkins began his career in stage plays both on-and-off Broadway, before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television. His first movie role was in '' The Detective'', which starred Frank Sinatra. Talking of his experience working on his first feature film – and with Sinatra – Atkins says: "It was great! It was intimidating and frightening and scary but Frank was great. He was very easy to work with. He didn't like to do a lot of takes. But then it's not like we were doing Shakespeare."

After appearing in TV series and movies, including portraying Lt. Alex Diel in seasons 1 and 2 of ''The Rockford Files'', Atkins began working within the horror and science fiction genres. He appeared in two films directed by John Carpenter: the 1980 ghost story ''The Fog'' and the 1981 science fiction thriller ''Escape from New York''. His next role (this time a leading role) was the third instalment of the '' Halloween'' franchise, the Carpenter-produced '' Halloween III: Season of the Witch'' (1982).

He completed further work with George A. Romero, appearing in three of the director's projects: the anthology ''Creepshow'' (1982), written by Stephen King; the anthology ''Two Evil Eyes'' (1990), based on tales by Edgar Allan Poe; and '' Bruiser'' (2000).

He portrayed Detective Ray Cameron in the 1986 cult horror film ''Night of the Creeps'', a role Atkins calls his very favorite. He tells ''Classic-Horror'' magazine "It was the most fun film I've ever worked on. It was a pure giggle from beginning to end. The director Fred Dekker was very young and very talented and he went on to do ''The Monster Squad'' afterwards. I think he wrote a terrific film that was kind of a big put-on of '50s horror. And I had great lines in that movie!"

Atkins has continued to act in both the thriller and police procedural genre. He is well known to movie goers for his role as Michael Hunsaker in the Richard Donner film ''Lethal Weapon'' (1987), which stars Mel Gibson, Danny Glover, and Gary Busey. In 1993 he took a role in ''Striking Distance'' (1993) alongside Bruce Willis, Sarah Jessica Parker, and Tom Sizemore. In television, Atkins reprised his role of Commander Diehl for a series of ''Rockford Files'' movies during the 1990s.

Atkins is a frequent player in shows in the Pittsburgh theatre scene, most famously in the one-man show '' The Chief'' at Pittsburgh Public Theater, in which he depicted the late founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Art Rooney. Also at the Public, he played the title role in ''Macbeth'', opposite Jean Smart as Lady Macbeth and Keith Fowler as Macduff. He was the star of ''A Musical Christmas Carol'' at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, portraying the character of Ebenezer Scrooge. He appeared on Broadway in David Storey's ''The Changing Room'', for which he received the 1973 Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Performer.

In 2009, he had a supporting role as a retired sheriff in the remake ''My Bloody Valentine 3D'' and co-starred with Nicolas Cage in Todd Farmer's ''Drive Angry'', in 2011; both films are directed by Patrick Lussier.

In the scifi movie Encounter (2018), he was Professor Westlake, who studied the biology of the alien lifeform.

Personal life

Atkins' first wife was actress Garn Stephens, who appeared in ''Halloween III: Season of the Witch''. Following the couple's divorce, he married Janis Lee Rodgers on March 15, 1986, with whom he has one child, Taylor Atkins.

Filmography

Film

Television

* 1963 '' The Doctors'' as Dylan Levein
* 1964 ''Look Up and Live'' as Doctor
* 1974 ''Get Christie Love!'' as Peterson
* 1974 ''Rhoda'' as Vic Rhodes
* 1974 ''Harry O'' as Sergeant Frank Cole (5 episodes)
* 1975 ''Miles to Go Before I Sleep'' as O'Dell TV Movie
* 1975 ''The Rookies'' as Brad Gifford
* 1975 ''Hawaii Five-O: Season 8 episode 8, Sing a Song of Suspense'' as Koko Apaleka
* 1976 ''Visions'' as Robert Dayka
* 1976-1977 ''Serpico'' - Lieutenant Tom Sullivan (16 episodes)
* 1974-1977 ''The Rockford Files'' as Lieutenant Alex Diel (8 episodes)
* 1977 ''Baretta'' as Vic
* 1977 '' Tarantulas: The Deadly Cargo'' as Buddy TV Movie
* 1978 ''A Death in Canaan'' as Dr. Moscone Pilot
* 1980 ''Power'' as Buck Buchanan TV Movie''
* 1981 ''Sherlock Holmes'' as Craigin TV Movie
* 1979-1981 ''Lou Grant'' as Dr. Sorenson / Jim Bronsky / Frank Durning (3 episodes)
* 1982 ''M*A*S*H'' as Major Lawrence Weems
* 1982 ''Desperate Lives'' as John Cameron TV Movie
* 1982 ''Quincy, M.E.'' as Commander Gene Butler / John Todd (2 episodes)
* 1982 ''Skeezer'' as Dr. Chanless TV Movie
* 1983 '' St. Elsewhere'' as Bob Lonnicker
* 1983 '' Murder Me, Murder You'' as Jack Vance TV Movie
* 1984 ''T.J. Hooker'' as Phil Parker / Tommy D'Amico
* 1985 ''The Fall Guy'' as George Spiros
* 1986 ''Alfred Hitchcock Presents'' as Police Lieutenant
* 1986 '' Blind Justice'' as Kramer TV Movie
* 1986 ''Stingray'' as Donald Dixon
* 1986 '' Spenser: For Hire'' as Hatch
* 1987 ''A Stranger Waits'' as Sheriff Collier TV Movie
* 1986-1987 '' The Equalizer'' as Detective Frank Standish (3 episodes)
* 1988 ''Lemon Sky'' as Douglas TV Series
* 1989 '' Dead Man Out'' as Burger TV Movie
* 1989 '' The Heist'' as Detective Leland TV Movie
* 1990 '' Against the Law'' as Walter Littlefield
* 1991 '' Cry in the Wild: The Taking of Peggy Ann'' as Jamieson TV Movie
* 1992 ''What She Doesn't Know'' as Roy TV Movie
* 1993 ''Sworn to Vengeance'' as Ed Barry TV Movie
* 1993 ''Walker, Texas Ranger'' as Wade Cantrell
* 1994 ''Fortune Hunter'' as Richard Bennett
* 1996 ''The Rockford Files: If the Frame Fits'' as Commander Alex Diehl TV Movie
* 1996 '' Xena: Warrior Princess'' as Atrius
* 1996 ''Dying to be Perfect: The Ellen Hart Pena Story'' as Henry Hart TV Movie
* 1998 '' Homicide: Life on the Street'' as Grenville Rawlins
* 1999 ''The Rockford Files: If It Bleeds ... It Leads'' as Commander Alex Diehl TV Movie
* 2003 '' Oz'' as Mayor Wilson Lowen (2 episodes)
* 2003 ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' as Mr. Monahan
* 2004 '' The Jury'' as Boyd Kingman
* 2016 ''Horror's Hallowed Grounds'' as Himself
* 2019 ''The Last Drive-In with Joe Bob Briggs'' as Himself

Self

* 2006 ''Halloween: 25 years of Terror'' - Video Documentary
* 2007 ''Just Desserts: The Making of Creepshow'' - Video Documentary
* 2009 ''My Bloody Valentine: Sex, Blood and Screams - The Make-Up Effects - Video Documentary Short
* 2009 ''Thrill Me!: The Making of Night of the Creeps'' - Video Documentary
* 2009 ''Night of the Creeps: Tom Atkins, Man of Action'' - Video Documentary Short
* 2011 ''Doomed Detective: Tom Atkins on Maniac Cop'' - Video Documentary
* 2012 ''Stand Alone: The Making of Halloween III: Season of the Witch'' Video Short
* 2016 ''Creepshow Days with Michael Gornick'' Video Short
* 2019 '' In Search of Darkness'' - Documentary
* 2020 '' In Search of Darkness: Part II'' - Documentary

Archive footage

* 2011-2014 '' Cinemassacre's Monster Madness'' as Ray Cameron / Dr. Dan Challis
* 2014-2019 ''Welcome to the Basement'' as Ray Cameron / Sergeant Krebs

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Atkins, Tom
1935 births
Living people
American male film actors
American male television actors
Male actors from Pittsburgh
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors