Tom Bower, an actor who was in The Waltons and Die Hard 2, has died. He was 86 years old.
He passed away last week in his Los Angeles, California, home.
No one knows what killed him.
Robert Bower, Tom’s brother, told The Hollywood Reporter that the news was true.
He played Dr. Curtis Willard on The Waltons and Marvin, the janitor who lives in the basement of Washington Dulles International Airport, in Die Hard 2.
Marvin worked with Bruce Willis’s John McClane to stop the bad guys.
Tom’s most recent role was as Bob Odenkirk’s dad on the AMC show Lucky Hank.
He has also played parts in Shadows, The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez, Nixon, Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, and The Hills Have Eyes.
WHAT HE DID ON THE WALTONS
Tom had a small role in an episode of The Waltons’ fourth season called “The Wing Walker.”
He played the part of a pilot named Rex Barker.
That being said, he was so liked by everyone on the show that the next season he was cast full-time.
After taking over for Dr. Vance, Tom played Dr. Curtis Willard at Waltons Mountains.
She was hired by the doctor to be his nurse.
They get married in the end and have a son together.
His part was written off the CBS show when the doctor died in the Pearl Harbor attack in 1978.
In 1981, Curt showed up in an episode, but something else played him.
WHAT TOOK PLACE
Tom talked to Judy Norton in 2022. Norton played his wife on the show.
When he asked for a small raise, “they sent me to Pearl Harbor,” he said.
“I asked for the same small raise when they decided to bring the character back as a beached body, which I didn’t think was a good idea anyway.” Someone else was cast instead.
Tom started acting when he was in high school, and he started going to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts for college in 1956.
