Tom Alter

Thomas Beach Alter (22 June 1950 – 29 September 2017)[1] was an Indian actor of American descent.[2] He was best known for his work in Hindi cinema[3][4] and Indian theatre.[5]

Tom Alter
Alter in 2013
Born	Thomas Beach Alter (1950-06-22)22 June 1950 Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, India
Died	29 September 2017(2017-09-29) (aged 67) Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Nationality	Indian
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1976–2017
Spouse(s)	Carol Evans ( m. 1977)
Children	2; including Jamie Alter
Relatives	Martha Chen (sister)

In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.[6][7]

Early life

Born in Mussoorie in present-day Uttarakhand,[8] Alter was the son of American Presbyterian missionaries of English, Scottish and Swiss German ancestry and lived for years in Mumbai and the Himalayan hill station of Landour. His grandparents migrated to Madras, India from Ohio, U.S., in November 1916.[9] From there, they moved to and settled in Lahore, in present-day Pakistan. His father was born in Sialkot.[9] After the Partition of India, Alter's family too split into two; his grandparents chose to stay in Pakistan while his parents moved to India. After living in Allahabad, Jabalpur and Saharanpur, in 1954 they finally settled in Rajpur, Uttarakhand, then a small town located between Dehradun and Mussoorie; Rajpur is now considered a suburb of Dehradun. Alter's siblings are older sister Martha Chen, who teaches at Harvard University[10] and brother John, a poet.[3]

As a child, Alter studied Hindi among other subjects in Mussoorie. Consequently, he came to be occasionally referred to as the "Blue-eyed saheb with impeccable Hindi."[11] He was educated in Mussoorie's Woodstock School. At 18, Alter left for the U.S. for higher education and studied at Yale University for a year before returning to India upon losing interest in studies. The following year, he obtained work as a teacher at St. Thomas School, Jagadhri, in Haryana. He worked there for six months, simultaneously coaching his students in cricket. Over the next two and a half years, Alter worked several jobs, teaching for a while at Woodstock School, Mussoorie, and working at a hospital in the U.S., and returning to India before continuing to work at Jagadhri. At Jagadhri, he began to watch Hindi films.[9] It was during this time that he saw the Hindi film Aradhana, which proved to be a turning point in his career and drifted towards a career in acting, inspired by the lead actor Rajesh Khanna.[12] He headed to Film and Television Institute of India (FTII) in Pune, where he studied acting from 1972 to 1974 under Roshan Taneja.[9] In a 2017 interview, he recalled, "I came to Mumbai to become Rajesh Khanna; didn't come to act on stage."[13]

Career

Film

After graduating from FTII, Alter headed straight to Bombay and soon got his first break in the Dev Anand starrer Saheb Bahadur (1977), directed by Chetan Anand. However, his first release was Ramanand Sagar's Charas. This was followed by roles in Ram Bharose, Hum Kisise Kum Nahin and Parvarish. He dubbed for actor Jeevan for the innocent person of the twin roles played by Jeevan in the film Amar Akbar Anthony.

Alter was fluent in Hindi and Urdu, and was knowledgeable about Indian culture. He could also read Urdu and was fond of Shayari.[9] He worked for noted filmmakers like Satyajit Ray in Shatranj Ke Khilari and is remembered for his role as a British officer in Kranti. He got the opportunity to act with his idol Rajesh Khanna in the film Naukri, directed by Hrishikesh Mukherjee in 1978 and later in Chetan Anand's Kudrat. In Sardar, the 1993 film biography of Indian leader Sardar Patel, which focused on the events surrounding the partition and independence of India, Alter portrayed Lord Mountbatten of Burma.[14] He also acted in the Hollywood movie One Night with the King with Peter O'Toole.

In 1996 he appeared in the Assamese film Adajya, and in 2007 acted in William Dalrymple's City of Djinns alongside Zohra Sehgal and Manish Joshi Bismil. He also appeared in the solo play Maulana and the film Ocean of An Old Man.

Alter played the role of a doctor in Bheja Fry, a comedy movie starring Rajat Kapoor.

In April 2011 he acted in a short film Yours, Maria directed by Chirag Vadgama, playing the lead role of Matthew Chacha in the movie.

Alter lent his voice for the authorised audio autobiography of Dr. Verghese Kurien, titled The Man Who Made The Elephant Dance, which was released in 2012.

Some of his most famous movie roles have been as Musa in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's acclaimed crime drama Parinda, Mahesh Bhatt's blockbuster romance Aashiqui, and Ketan Mehta's Sardar, in which Alter essayed the role of Lord Mountbatten.

His last film was Hamari Paltan (2018).[15]

Television

Alter appeared in many Indian television series, including Samvidhaan, all of which were praised by the audience for his acting. In Zabaan Sambhalke he played the role of a British writer, Charles Spencers, who lives in India and wants to learn the Hindi language. He acted in the TV series Khamosh Sa Afsana (as a Husain Baba), telecast on Doordarshan in 2014–15. In November 2014, he played Sahir Ludhianvi in a stage production based on the life and work of the famous Urdu poet and film lyricist. He also played a schoolteacher in Yahan Ke Hum Sikandar.[5] Alter has worked as the red robe guru in Mukesh Khanna's TV production Shaktimaan (1998–2002). He played Indian characters in Indian television series, such as the long-running Junoon, in which he was the sadistic mob lord Keshav Kalsi.[14]

Theatre

Alter was also a stage actor. In 1977, he, Naseeruddin Shah, and Benjamin Gilani formed a theatre group called Motley Productions. Their first play was Samuel Beckett's play Waiting for Godot, which was staged at Prithvi Theatre, Bombay, on 29 July 1979. He went on to appear in many other plays at the theatre, including an adaptation of Vaikom Muhammad Basheer's My Grandad Had an Elephant which was performed on 7 June 2011. He has also worked with the New Delhi theatre group Pierrot's Troupe.[5]

In the early 2000s, he played the Indian independence activist Maulana Azad in a one-man Urdu-language play.[16]

In Ghalib In Delhi, he played the role of Urdu poet Mirza Ghalib.[17]

He was the lead actor in "Once Upon A Time", a collection of five short stories presented as vignettes, directed by Sujata Soni Bali and co-starring prominent stage actor and TV personality Sunit Tandon. The production was last staged in Mumbai on 17 June 2017.

Writing and journalism

Alter has written books including The Longest Race, Rerun at Rialto, and The Best in the World. He was also a sports journalist with a special interest in cricket, a game on which he has written extensively in publications such as Sportsweek, Outlook, Cricket Talk, Sunday Observer, Firstpost, Citizen, and Debonair. He played cricket for a film industry team MCC (Match Cut Club), which includes Naseeruddin Shah, Satish Shah, Vishal Bhardwaj, Aamir Khan, Nana Patekar, Bhupinder Singh and Amarinder Sangha. He also wrote on cricket in Indian publications. In 1996, he was invited by friend Siraj Syed to Singapore, to do cricket commentary in Hindi, for Indian viewers, on the sports TV channel, ESPN. In addition to acting, Alter also ventured into direction - he directed a one-shot episode for the short-lived series Yule Love Stories in the mid-1990s - and was a sports journalist in the late 1980s to early 1990s. He has written three books, one non-fiction and two fiction. Before his sudden death, Alter had just announced his inaugural feature film as a director called Rerun at Rialto, which was based on the book written by him.

Personal life

Alter married Carol Evans, a fellow Woodstock School student, in 1977. The marriage produced two children: son Jamie and daughter Afshaan.[18] Jamie has worked as a cricket writer for ESPNcricinfo[19] and CricBuzz,[20] and was also the sports editor of The Times of India.[21] As a cricket enthusiast himself, Tom wrote columns for newspapers and journals for over ten years.[22] He also worked as a journalist during the time and was the first to video interview Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar in 1988.[23]

In September 2017, Alter was diagnosed with Stage IV skin cancer (squamous cell carcinoma).[24] His thumb had been amputated a year earlier because of the condition.[25] He died on 29 September at his residence in Mumbai. A statement released on behalf of his family read: "It is with sadness we announce the death of our beloved Tom Alter, actor, writer, director, Padma Shri, and our dear husband and father. Tom passed away Friday night at home with his family and close family members in attendance. We ask for their privacy to be respected at this time."[26][27]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	Mrig Trishna	Colonel Lawrence
1976	Charas	Chief Custom Officer
1976	Laila Majnu
1977	Shatranj Ke Khilari	Capt. Weston
1977	Hum Kisise Kum Naheen	Jack
1977	Parvarish	Mr. Jackson, Supremo's 2nd in Command
1977	Saheb Bahadur
1977	Ram Bharose	Tom
1977	Kanneshwara Rama	British Superintendent of police	Kannada film
1977	Chani(Marathi Movie)
1978	Atyachaar
1978	Naukri	Mr. Anderson
1978	Des Pardes	Inspector Martin
1978	Kaala Aadmi
1979	Chamelee Memsaab
1979	Junoon	Priest
1979	Hum Tere Aashiq Hain	British Police Commissioner
1979	Salaam Memsaab	John
1980	Bharat Ki Santan
1980	Constans
1981	Kranti	British Officer
1981	Kudrat	Major Thomas Walters
1982	Meri Kahani
1982	Brij Bhoomi	Guest	Brajbhasha film
1982	Gandhi	Doctor at Aga Khan Palace	English film
1982	Vidhaata	David
1982	Swami Dada	Bob Simpson
1982	Jaanwar
1983	The Last Tiger
1983	Nastik	Mr. John
1983	Arpan	Tom
1983	Jaani Dost	Cobra's Goon
1983	Romance	Priest
1983	Gulami Ki Zaanjeerein
1984	Sharara
1984	Bad Aur Badnam	President of ringania	Uncredited
1985	Ram Teri Ganga Maili	Karam Singh (Ganga's Brother)
1985	Bond 303	Tom
1986	Shart	Alter
1986	Amma	British Officer
1986	Sultanat	Shah
1986	Karma	Rexson
1986	Chambal Ka Badshah
1986	Avinash	Tom
1986	Palay Khan
1986	Car Thief	John
1986	On Wings of Fire	Priest	English film
1987	Mr. X
1987	Jalwa	Voice of wrestler
1987	Woh Din Aayega	Somnath
1988	Etwa
1988	Commando	Hatcher
1988	Rukhsat	New York Police Capt. Morri
1988	Khoon Bhari Maang	Plastic Surgeon	Cameo appearance
1988	Janam Janam	DFO
1988	Sone Pe Suhaaga	Dr. Rex
1988	Ore Thooval Pakshikal
1989	Shagun
1989	Vardi	Tom
1989	Salim Langde Pe Mat Ro	Johan - (Jani Hippi)
1989	Daata	Pat
1989	Tridev	Dunhill
1989	Bye Bye Blues	Gilbert Wilson
1989	Parinda	Musa
1989	Swarn Trisha
1990	Aashiqui	Arnie Campbell
1990	Doodh Ka Karz	Frank
1990	Zimmedaaar	Mercus
1990	Atishbaz
1991	Farishtay	Guest Appearance
1991	Deshwasi
1991	Pahari Kanya	Doctor	Assamese language film
1991	Jab Pyar Kiya to Darna Kya
1992	Suryavanshi	Tom
1992	Tahalka	Dong's army captain
1992	Angaar	Public prosecutor	Uncredited
1992	Junoon	Harry
1993	Kala Coat	Alexander
1993	Gumrah	Insp. Phillip
1993	Sardar	Lord Mountbatten
1994	Insaniyat	British Intelligence
1994	Gajamukta
1994	Ekka Raja Rani	Mr. Rai	Uncredited
1995	Jai Vikraanta
1995	Oh Darling! Yeh Hai India!	Bidder
1995	Milan	Father Demello
1996	Kala Pani
1996	Adajya	Mark Sahib	Uncredited Assamese language film
1997	Adajya	Mark Sahib
1997	Divine Lovers	Dr. Taubman
1998	Hanuman	Tom's Father
1999	Kabhi Paas Kabhi Fail
2000	Driving Miss Palmen	George Basilitz
2000	Shaheed Uddham Singh: Alais Ram Mohammad Singh Azad	Brig. Gen. Edward Harry Dwyer
2000	Champion	Doctor
2001	Veer Savarkar
2001	On Wings of Fire
2002	What Happened Then... !!!	Allen McGirvan
2002	Dil Vil Pyar Vyar	Special Appearance
2002	Bharat Bhagya Vidhata	Mohammed Jalaudin Ghaznavi
2003	Love at Times Square	Mr. Gery
2003	Dhund: The Fog	Uncle Tom
2003	A.O.D.	Sanjeev Sarkar
2003	Hawayein	Stephen
2003	Yeh Hai Chakkad Bakkad Bumbe Bo
2004	Aetbaar	Dr. Freddie
2004	Asambhav	Brian
2004	Veer-Zaara	Doctor
2004	Silence Please... The Dressing Room	Cricket coach Ivan Rodrigues	English film
2004	Mitter Pyare Nu Haal Mureedan Da Kehna	Ghosht Khan
2004	Ghar Grihasti	Drug smuggler
2004	Loknayak	Abul Kalam Azad
2005	Mission Vande Mataram
2005	Subash Chandra Bose	Governor Jackson
2005	Viruddh... Family Comes First	Anderson (British Consultate)
2005	The Rising: Ballad of Mangal Pandey	Watson
2005	The Hangman	Father Mathew
2006	Hot Money
2006	Alag: He Is Different.... He Is Alone....	Dr. Richard Dyer
2006	One Night with the King	King Saul (prologue)	English film
2007	Foto
2007	I M IN LOVE	Church father
2007	Bheja Fry	Dr. Shepherd
2007	Kailashey Kelenkari	Sol Silverstein	Bengali film
2008	Ocean of an Old Man	Thomas - Teacher	English film
2008	Colours of Passion Rang Rasiya	Justice Richards
2009	Avatar	Adeitional Na'vi people	British-Australian-American film
2010	Muigwithania	Major David	English film
2010	Jaanleva	Mr. Malhotra
2011	With Love, Delhi!	Ajay
2011	Yours Maria	Matthew Chacha	Short
2011	Cycle Kick	Football Coach	English film
2011	Son of Flower	Major James Edwards	English film
2011	With Love, Delhi!	Historian (Kidnapper)	English film
2012	Jhansi Ki Rani Laxmibai
2012	Life Ki Toh Lag Gayi	Chicha
2012	Kevi Rite Jaish	Uncle Sam / Derek Thomas	Gujarati language film
2012	Son of Flower	Major James Edwards
2012	Jaanleva Black Blood
2013	Divana-e-Ishq
2013	The Corner Table	George Miller	English short film
2014	Daptar - The School Bag[28]	Magic Uncle	Marathi film
2014	M Cream	Mr. Bhardawaj	English / Hindi film
2014	Bhaangarh
2015	Bachpan Ek Dhokha
2015	Honour Killing	Mr. Smith
2015	Promise Dad	Raul
2015	Bangistan	The Imam
2015	The Path of Zarathustra	Mamwaji
2016	Anuragakarikkinvellam	Abhi's Boss	Malayalam film
2016	Life Flows On	Tom	English film
2017	Sargoshiyan	Alan Alter
2017	2016 The End
2018	Redrum	Eric Fernandez	Posthumously
2018	The Black Cat		English Film; Posthumously
2018	San' 75 Pachattar		Marathi film; Posthumously
2018	Hamari Paltan	Masterji	Posthumously

TV Series

Period	Name	Role	Genre	Channel	Notes
1993-1997	Zabaan Sambhalke	Charles Spencers	Sitcom	DD Metro Home TV
1994	The Great Maratha	Robert Clive	Historical drama	DD National	Hindi
1994-1998	Junoon	Keshav Kalsi	Drama	DD Metro
1997-1998	Betaal Pachisi	Harry	Fantasy	DD National
1998-1999	Captain Vyom	Vishwapramukh	Science-fiction, Action	DD National
1998-2005	Shaktiman	Mahaguru		DD National
2003-2004	Hatim	King of Paristan	Action, Adventure, Drama, Thriller	STAR Plus	Hindi, Urdu, Tamil languages
2011	Shama		Drama	DD National	Hindi
2011-2013	Yahan Ke Hum Sikandar[29]	Samuel	Drama	DD National
2014	Samvidhaan	Abul Kalam Azad	Constitutional Drama	Rajya Sabha TV
2014-15	Khamosh Sa Afsana	Hussain Baba	Drama	DD National
2017	Rishton Ka Chakravyuh	Somdev Guruji	Soap-opera, Drama	STAR Plus
2018	Wilderness Days	Anchor	Wildlife TV Series	Epic TV	Hindi Language
2018	Smoke	Moshe Barak	Web series	Eros Now	Hindi Language

References

1. "Actor Tom Alter Dies Of Cancer At 67". NDTV. 30 September 2017. Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
2. "Tom Alter (1950-2017): The on-screen 'firangi' who remained forever Indian". Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
3. "No 'Alter'native". Screen. 9 May 2008. Archived from the original on 1 March 2010.
4. Hazarika, Sanjoy (6 July 1989). "An American Star Of the Hindi Screen". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 6 February 2010. Retrieved 25 May 2010.
5. "Features / Metro Plus: Tom Tom". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 9 August 2008. Archived from the original on 3 December 2013. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
6. "Multifaceted actor Tom Alter to receive Padma Shri". India eNews. 25 January 2008. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2010.
7. "Woodstock School News". Woodstock School India. 2 January 2008. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011.
8. "Tom Alter". Paritosh Uttam. Archived from the original on 22 May 2006. Retrieved 7 August 2011.
9. Guftagoo with Tom Alter (in Hindi). Rajya Sabha TV. 23 August 2016. Archived from the original on 9 June 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
10. "Curriculum Vitae of Marty Chen" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 25 August 2014. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
11. Zaman, Rana Siddiqui (13 October 2014). "Delhi is my second home: Tom Alter". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 13 October 2014. Retrieved 13 October 2014.
12. "A Haryana town friend recalls the night show that led Tom Alter the teacher to show biz". Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 1 October 2017.
13. "Tom Alter: I came to Mumbai to become Rajesh Khanna; didn't come to act on stage". Hindustan Times. 18 April 2017. Archived from the original on 10 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
14. "The Hindu : Metro Plus Delhi / Personality : Tom, unaltered". www.thehindu.com. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
15. "Hamari Paltan: The last film of veteran actor, to release on April 27". United News of India. 23 April 2018. Archived from the original on 12 April 2020. Retrieved 12 April 2020.
16. Padnani, Amisha (6 October 2017). "Tom Alter, Blue-Eyed Star of Bollywood Films, Dies at 67". The New York Times.
17. "Actor Tom Alter as Mirza Ghalib". Little Black Book. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 29 September 2017.
18. "Tom Alter". Times of India. 30 April 2012. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 12 August 2012.
19. "Author: Jamie Alter". espncricinfo.com. Archived from the original on 28 April 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
20. "News Articles by Jamie Alter". cricbuzz.com. Archived from the original on 15 September 2017. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
21. "Jamie Alter: Times of India Reporter". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 30 September 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
22. "Tom Alter - Back In The News". informationmadness.com. 4 May 2011. Archived from the original on 8 May 2011. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
23. Chandawarkar, Rahul (28 August 2005). "Telling a story in different ways". The Hindu. Retrieved 4 May 2017.
24. "Tom Alter diagnosed with skin cancer". The Hindu. 11 September 2017. Archived from the original on 13 September 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
25. "Tom Alter Battling Stage 4 Skin Cancer, Confirms Son Jamie". NDTV. 11 September 2017. Archived from the original on 1 October 2017. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
26. "Actor Tom Alter dies of skin cancer at 67". Hindustan Times. 30 September 2017. Archived from the original on 30 March 2019. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
27. "Tom Alter, Padma Shri actor and writer, dies aged 67". Times of India. 30 September 2017. Archived from the original on 14 September 2018. Retrieved 30 September 2017.
28. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 20 June 2014.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
29. http://www.in.com/tv/shows/dd-national-174/yahan-ke-hum-sikandar

External links

• Tom Alter on IMDb