Tom Ligon, the veteran stage and screen actor known for his six-decade career on Broadway, television, and film, has died in New York City at the age of 85. The actors' union SAG-AFTRA confirmed his death but did not provide a cause or further details, according to Deadline.
A career spanning stage and screen
Born on September 10, 1940, in New Orleans, Ligon began his career in the mid-1960s with guest roles on television. He landed a supporting part in the 1969 musical film Paint Your Wagon, alongside Lee Marvin and Clint Eastwood. That same year, he appeared on Broadway in Angela opposite Geraldine Page and Love Is a Time of Day with Sandy Duncan. He went on to perform in numerous New York stage productions during the 1960s.
Ligon's film credits included The Last American Hero, Bang the Drum Slowly — where he sang 'Streets of Laredo' — Joyride, Young Doctors in Love, and Serial. On television, he guest-starred in popular series such as Medical Center, Starsky and Hutch, Police Woman, Baretta, Dallas, and Law & Order: SVU. He also appeared in daytime soaps including The Young and the Restless, Loving, Santa Barbara, Another World, and All My Children. In 1996, he served as an understudy in Broadway's Tartuffe.
Union leadership and advocacy
A SAG-AFTRA member for six decades, Ligon was deeply involved in union leadership. He served on the New York Local's board and multiple committees, chairing the National Seniors Committee and co-chairing the NY Seniors Committee. He was also a strong advocate for the merger of SAG and AFTRA, which was finalised in 2012. 'Tom was a dedicated advocate for performers and a passionate voice for seniors in our union,' SAG-AFTRA said in a statement.
Ligon married fellow actor K.C. Ligon (née Crawford) in 1976, and the couple remained together until her death in 2009.
Remembering Hollywood's Golden Age
In related news, Legit.ng earlier reported that Ann Blyth, one of the last surviving stars from Hollywood's Golden Age, died at the age of 98. ABC's George Pennacchio reported her passing on Thursday, June 25, noting that she died the previous day from natural causes. Born Anne Blythe in Mount Kisco, New York, in 1928, she dropped the 'e' from her name as her career blossomed. After her father left the family, Blyth's mother moved her and her sister to New York City, where Blyth began acting on the radio at just five years old. By nine, she had joined the New York Children's Opera Company.
'Life was one big struggle then, but mother managed somehow to keep me in parochial school and later in professional school,' Blyth recalled in a 1952 interview with The New York Times. 'She provided me with singing and dramatic lessons besides.' Her Broadway debut came in 1941's Watch on the Rhine, which toured nationally and even performed for President Franklin D. Roosevelt and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt.
That tour brought her to Los Angeles, where she signed with Universal and made her film debut in 1944's Chip Off the Old Block, The Hollywood Reporter reports. The following year, Blyth was loaned to Warner Bros. for Mildred Pierce, starring opposite Joan Crawford. At just 16 years old, she played Veda, the manipulative daughter whose performance earned her an Academy Award nomination. 'She just blew everybody away,' film noir historian Alan Rode told the Los Angeles Times in 2013. 'It's certainly Joan Crawford's movie, but she is really the spine of the movie. She is the epitome of the film noir daughter from hell. It's just an amazing performance that stands the test of time.' Blyth herself once explained her approach: 'I always had a terrific imagination and the ability to be somebody else.'
Though a back injury briefly slowed her career, Blyth went on to star in more than two dozen films over the next decade, including The Great Caruso (1951), Rose Marie (1954), and Kismet (1955). She also charmed audiences in Mr Peabody and the Mermaid (1948), playing the mute mermaid.
Other recent losses in Hollywood
Legit.ng earlier reported that renowned actor James Handy was announced dead after a frightening incident in his home. Handy was known for his iconic appearances on Top Gun: Maverick, Logan, Jumanji, The Rocketeer, and Arachnophobia. Details surrounding the death of the veteran star left both fans and celebrities in shock as they mourned him.
