Tom O'Rion

Tom O'Rion was born Thomas Richard Ryan in Brooklyn, N.Y. His mother had been a coloratura soprano and his father a stand-up comedian before raising four children necessitated a career change for them. Their love for the performing arts was instilled in Tom, though he gravitated towards writing in his early years, studying Communication Arts at Fordham University. However, he had actor friends like Ed Dennehy, Brian's younger brother, and became fascinated by theater, studying with Uta Hagen and Herbert Berghof in New York City. Tom appeared in dozens of off-and off-off-Broadway plays in the 70's and 80's, and was a founding member of the Actors/Writers Company which produced original dramas and comedies on Manhattan Cable Television. He appeared in independent films as well as soap operas, notably "One Life to Live" but continued with his first love, the stage, playing Hoederer in :Dirty Hands" by Jean-Paul Sartre, and Jimmy Porter in John Osborne's "Look Back in Anger", which won him