Tom Logan (born 1953) is an American director, writer, producer,

acting instructor An Acting Instructor is a person, usually well educated in theatrical arts, who teaches, or 'instructs', aspiring performers on various acting methods. One example is the French mime artist Jacques Lecoq, whose methodology has inspired several the ...

, and former actor. Based in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

, he has directed a multitude of feature films and television shows, and directed hundreds national and international commercials.

Early life

Logan was born in

Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Louisiana. It is the third most populous city in Louisiana after New Orleans and Baton Rouge, respectively. The Shreveport–Bossier City metropolitan area, with a population of 393,406 in 2020, is t ...

and attended the

University of Arkansas The University of Arkansas (U of A, UArk, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Fayetteville, Arkansas. It is the flagship campus of the University of Arkansas System and the largest university in the state. Founded as Arkansas ...

for two years before earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theatre Arts from

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

Career

One of his first assignments was directing/writing/producing many episodes of ''

Real Stories of the Highway Patrol ''Real Stories Of The Highway Patrol'' is a half-hour syndicated television series which ran in the United States for six seasons from March 22, 1993 to June 29, 1998, Started in the UK, it's produced by Mark Massari Productions and ITV2 on 2004 ...

''. His feature film directing credits include ''

Shakma ''Shakma'' is a 1990 American horror film directed by Tom Logan and Hugh Parks. It stars Christopher Atkins, Amanda Wyss, Ari Meyers and Roddy McDowall battling a baboon which has been driven insane by an experimental drug. Despite negative review ...

'', ''Dream Trap'', ''

The Night Brings Charlie ''The Night Brings Charlie'' is a 1990 American slasher film directed by Tom Logan, and written by Bruce Carson. A sequel, to be written and directed by Bruce Carson, was announced in 2017. Plot In the small town of Pakoe, Shannon Davis is b ...

'', ''King's Ransom'' and ''Escape from Cuba''. Logan has also held acting roles in ''

General Hospital ''General Hospital'' (often abbreviated as ''GH'') is an American daytime television soap opera. It is listed in ''Guinness World Records'' as the list of longest-running television shows by category, longest-running American soap opera in pro ...

'', playing Gary on-and-off for 13 years. He also starred in ''

Days of Our Lives ''Days of Our Lives'' (also stylized as ''Days of our Lives''; simply referred to as ''Days'' or ''DOOL'') is an American television soap opera that streams on the streaming service Peacock. The soap, which aired on the American television net ...

'' and other

soap opera A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...

Acting

In the eighties and nineties Logan appeared on dozens of TV shows including ''

CHiPs ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The serie ...

'', ''

What's Happening! ''What's Happening!!'' is an American sitcom television series that aired on ABC from August 5, 1976, until April 28, 1979, premiering as a summer series. Due to other shows being cancelled across the network, and good ratings and reviews from ...

'', ''

The Hardy Boys The Hardy Boys, brothers Frank and Joe Hardy, are fictional characters who appear in several mystery series for children and teens. The series revolves around teenagers who are amateur sleuths, solving cases that stumped their adult counterpa ...

'', and ''

James at 16 ''James at 15'' (later ''James at 16'') is an American drama series that aired on NBC during the 1977–1978 season. The series was preceded by the 1977 made-for-TV movie ''James at 15'', which aired on Monday September 5, 1977, and was intended ...

''. He has also starred in TV movies and commercials. Logan also starred in many feature films and over 70 stage productions. In New York he starred in ''

You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown ''You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown'' is a 1967 musical with music and lyrics by Clark Gesner and (in a 1999 revision) Andrew Lippa. It is based on the characters created by cartoonist Charles M. Schulz in his comic strip ''Peanuts''. The musical ...

'', ''

Mame MAME (formerly an acronym of Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator) is a free and open-source emulator designed to recreate the hardware of arcade game systems in software on modern personal computers and other platforms. Its intention is to preserve ...

'', and ''

Applause Applause (Latin ''applaudere,'' to strike upon, clap) is primarily a form of ovation or praise expressed by the act of clapping, or striking the palms of the hands together, in order to create noise. Audiences usually applaud after a performance ...

''.

Other work

Prior to his acting career, Logan was an acting coach. Logan headed the TV/Film & Commercial acting departments in Los Angeles at the

American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...

(1981–88), and the

American Academy of Dramatic Arts The American Academy of Dramatic Arts (AADA) is a private performing arts conservatory with two locations, one in Manhattan and one in Los Angeles. The academy offers an associate degree in occupational studies and teaches drama and related art ...

, West (1980–87). Logan has written four books about acting: ''How to Act and Eat at the Same Time'', ''Acting in the Million Dollar Minute'' and their respective sequels. Logan is also an aviation enthusiast and owner of a

Piper Arrow The Piper PA-28 Cherokee is a family of two-seat or four-seat light aircraft built by Piper Aircraft and designed for flight training, air taxi and personal use.Plane and Pilot: ''1978 Aircraft Directory'', pages 62–64. Werner & Werner Corp, ...

. Logan also dedicates time helping young people who are interested in the entertainment industry. He is a collaborator with the Los Angeles-based Young Performers Studio.

Accolades

* 1986 – Bronze Halo Award "Outstanding Contributions to the Entertainment Industry" For authoring his three (now 4) best-selling books for actors. Given annually by the Southern California Motion Picture Council. http://www.tomlogan.com/Director.htm * 1995 – Producers' Choice Award "Outstanding Direction of a Television Variety Program", 1995 Miss North America Pageant. http://www.tomlogan.com/Director.htm * 1999 – Best Director "Outstanding Achievement in Direction", ''Escape From Cuba'' New Star Discovery Awards. http://www.tomlogan.com/Director.htm Logan is a member of the

Directors Guild of America The Directors Guild of America (DGA) is an entertainment guild that represents the interests of film and television directors in the United States motion picture industry and abroad. Founded as the Screen Directors Guild in 1936, the group merge ...

, the

Screen Actors Guild The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) was an American labor union which represented over 100,000 film and television principal and background performers worldwide. On March 30, 2012, the union leadership announced that the SAG membership voted to m ...

American Federation of Television and Radio Artists The American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA) was a performers' union that represented a wide variety of talent, including actors in radio and television, radio and television announcers and newspersons, singers and recording ar ...

, and

Actors' Equity Association The Actors' Equity Association (AEA), commonly referred to as Actors' Equity or simply Equity, is an American labor union representing those who work in live theatrical performance. Performers appearing in live stage productions without a boo ...

Bibliography

* *

External links

Official Website
*

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Logan, Tom 1953 births Writers from Shreveport, Louisiana American television directors Living people University of Arkansas alumni California State University, Northridge alumni American aviators Actors from Shreveport, Louisiana Film directors from Louisiana