Thomas William Babson (born July 15, 1945) is an American

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating rink with lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. In ice hockey, two opposing teams use ice hock ...

coach and actor.

Early life

Tom Babson graduated from Gloucester High School, where he was the captain of the

team in 1963. After graduating, he played one season at the Northwood School. He played college hockey at St. Lawrence University and the

University of Massachusetts The University of Massachusetts is the five-campus public university system and the only public research system in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The university system includes five campuses (Amherst, Boston, Dartmouth, Lowell, and a medica ...

. Babson earned a bachelor's degree in theatre from the University of Massachusetts and a Master of Fine Arts degree from

Smith College Smith College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts Women's colleges in the United States, women's college in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was chartered in 1871 by Sophia Smith (Smith College ...

Acting

Since the mid-1970s, Babson has been a "writer, teacher, actor and director of theatre, film and television". One of his first jobs in Hollywood was helping

Paul Newman Paul Leonard Newman (January 26, 1925 – September 26, 2008) was an American actor, film director, race car driver, philanthropist, and entrepreneur. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, three ...

learn to play hockey for the film ''

Slap Shot ''Slap Shot'' is a 1977 American sports film directed by George Roy Hill, written by Nancy Dowd and starring Paul Newman and Michael Ontkean. It depicts a minor league ice hockey team that resorts to violent play to gain popularity in a declin ...

''. Also, since the early 1980s, he has made appearances in more than 250 films and television series, such as portraying a recurring character Tom, an aspiring lawyer in the television sitcom ''

Cheers ''Cheers'' is an American sitcom television series that ran on NBC from September 30, 1982, to May 20, 1993, with a total of 275 half-hour episodes across 11 seasons. The show was produced by Charles/Burrows/Charles Productions in association w ...

''. He also wrote a book ''The Actor’s Choice'', published by Heinemann in 1996.

Coaching

He served as a training coach for the

United States women's national ice hockey team The United States women's national ice hockey team is controlled by USA Hockey. The U.S. has been one of the most successful women's ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an ice skating ...

, especially during

Olympics The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...

, from 1996 to 1998. He was a camp director for the United States National Women’s Hockey Festival from 1997 to 1999. He served the coach of the

Boston College Eagles women's ice hockey The Boston College Eagles women's ice hockey team represent Boston College in the NCAA and participate in Hockey East. The Eagles are coached by former Olympic gold medallist Katie King-Crowley and play their home games at Conte Forum. They have w ...

from 1999 to 2003, where he compiled a record of 33–84–9. He was a coach "for several junior Olympic Development Program teams in Lake Placid."

Personal life

He has a wife and a son. They reside in

Gloucester, Massachusetts Gloucester () is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, in the United States. It sits on Cape Ann and is a part of Massachusetts's North Shore. The population was 29,729 at the 2020 U.S. Census. An important center of the fishing industry and a ...

and the Beacon Hill section of

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Babson, Tom Living people American ice hockey coaches American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Massachusetts Boston College Eagles women's ice hockey coaches Ice hockey people from Boston Sportspeople from Gloucester, Massachusetts Smith College alumni University of Massachusetts Amherst alumni St. Lawrence Saints men's ice hockey players UMass Minutemen ice hockey players People from Beacon Hill, Boston 1945 births Ice hockey coaches from Massachusetts