Actor Tom Alter dies of skin cancer at 67

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KalingaTV News Network

Actor Tom Alter dies of skin cancer at 67
Pic credit cdn.pinkvilla.com

Mumbai: Veteran theatre and film personality Tom Alter passed away after losing his battle against stage four skin cancer here on Friday. He was 67 and is survived by his wife Carol, son Jamie and daughter Afshaan.

The Padma Shri awardee actor was born to American parents in Mussoorie and studied at Woodstock School and Yale University. With a gold medal in acting from Pune’s Film and Television Institute, Alter debuted in Bollywood with director Ramanand Sagar’s ‘Charas’ in 1976. He played Dharmendra’s boss in the film. Later, he went on to work in films like Satyajit Ray’s ‘Shatranj Ke Khiladi’ and Manoj Kumar’s ‘Kranti’.

Tom worked with renowned directors such as V Shantaram, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Subhash Ghai and Manmohan Desai.

Tom Alter was also famously known for playing the gangster Keshav Kalsi in the hit soap opera ‘Junoon’, which ran for a record five years during the 1990s. His other popular television shows included Bharat Ek Khoj, Zabaan Sambhalke and Betaal Pachisi.

He later acted in several foreign films too, notably Richard Attenborough’s ‘Gandhi’ and ‘One Night with the King’.

Alter had a flourishing stage career, and was among the most respected names in the Indian theatre circuit. His portrayal of Mirza Ghalib and Maulana Azad won him accolades from all quarters. His other important plays include ‘Babur ke Aulaad’, ‘Lal Qile ka Aakhri Mushaira’, ‘Ghalib ke Khat’, ‘Trisanga’, ‘Teesveen Shatabdi’, Copenhagen’ and the theatrical reproduction of William Dalrymple’s ‘City of Djinns’.

In 2008, he was bestowed with the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian honour of India, for his service in the field of arts and cinema.

Apart from acting in over 300 movies and numerous TV shows, Alter was a sports journalist for a brief while at the start of his career. He was the first person to interview Sachin Tendulkar for TV when the cricketer was yet to debut for India.

His sudden death came as a shock to the film fraternity.

With input from from hindustantimes.com

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