Tom Alter succumbs to cancer, leaves behind an artistic legacy

Veteran film and theatre personality Tom Alter succumbed to skin cancer and breathed his last on the night of September 29 at his residence in Mumbai.
New Delhi: Veteran film and theatre personality Tom Alter succumbed to skin cancer and breathed his last on the night of September 29 at his residence in Mumbai.
The dashing American-Indian actor lived in Mumbai and Himalayan hill station of Landour for years. His grandparents migrated to India from Ohio, the United States in November 1916. They settled in Chennai and then moved to Lahore. His father was born in Sialkot, now in Pakistan.
Tom was well-versed in Hindi as he studied in Mussoorie, and was referred as ‘Blue-eyed saheb with impeccable Hindi’. He did his schooling from Mussoorie’s Woodstock School.
Tom moved to the States at the age of 18 for higher education and studied at Yale for a year. But returned after a year. He then worked as a teacher at St. Thomas School, Jagadhri, in Haryana while he was just 19. He worked here for six months, simultaneously coaching his students in cricket.
While still trying to figure out his profession of choice, Tom experimented a lot and tried doing several jobs which included teaching at Woodstock School, working at a hospital in the US, and finally returning to India before continuing to work at Jagadhri.
sides English. His way of reading Urdu Shayari was notable. He continued to work simultaneously in television and theatre as well.
Some of his best works include Kranti, Sardar, One Night with the King, Adajya, an Assamese film, Gandhi, Ram Teri Ganga Maili, Karma, Parinda, Aashiqui, Bheja Fry etc.
His work in television is equally noteworthy such as Shaktimaan, Zabaan Sambhalke, Hatim, Yahan Ke Hum Sikandar etc.
He even left a great impact on Indian theatre circles. He formed the Motley Productions along with Naseeruddin Shah and Benjamin Gilani in 1977. Samuel Beckett’s play Waiting for Godot was staged at Prithvi Theatre, Mumbai, on 29 July 1979 and it was their first production.
He played the Mirza Ghalib in the play Ghalib In Delhi. He was honoured with the Padma Shri by the Indian government in 2008.
Tom Alter has behind a legacy rich in art and fine craft. The void created by his demise can never be fulfilled.