Celebrity Nooz: Tom Atkins

Tom Atkins (Actor) - Night of the Creeps

Updated: 6/05/23

Name: Tom Atkins

Birth Name: Tom Atkins

Born: November 13, 1935 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA

Claim To Fame: Tom Atkins is an American actor best known for his work, often playing police officers, in the genre films like The Fog (1980), Creepshow (1982), Halloween III: Season of the Witch (1982), Night of the Creeps (1986), and Lethal Weapon (1987).

Family Life: He was first married to actress Garn Stephens, who appeared in Halloween III: Season of the Witch. After they divorced, he married Janis Lee Rodgers in 1986, with whom he has one child, Taylor.

Info: His father worked in a steel mill in Pennsylvania.

As a childhood, he was a huge fan of science fiction and horror films.

Enlisted in the United States Navy.

After leaving the Navy, Atkins enrolled in college where he met a girl who was involved in a theatre group.

Studied at the Duquesne University in Pittsburgh and was a member of the Gamma Phi fraternity.

Alumnus of the AADA (American Academy of Dramatic Arts), Class of 1967.

Trivia: Atkins began his career in stage plays both on-and-off Broadway, before moving to Los Angeles to pursue a career in film and television.

His first movie role was in The Detective, which starred Frank Sinatra.

He portrayed Lt. Alex Diel in the popular TV series The Rockford Files. Atkins reprised his role of Commander Diehl for a series of Rockford Files movies during the 1990s.

He appeared on Broadway in David Storey's The Changing Room, for which he received the 1973 Drama Desk Award for Most Promising Performer.

Worked with writers and directors such as Shane Black, William Peter Blatty, John Carpenter, Fred Dekker, Richard Donner, Stephen King, and George A. Romero.

He portrayed Detective Ray Cameron in the 1986 cult horror film Night of the Creeps, a role Atkins calls his very favorite.

Atkins is a frequent player in shows in the Pittsburgh theatre scene, most famously in the one-man show The Chief at Pittsburgh Public Theater, in which he depicted the late founder of the Pittsburgh Steelers, Art Rooney.

Also at the Public, he played the title role in Macbeth, opposite Jean Smart as Lady Macbeth and Keith Fowler as Macduff.

He was the star of A Musical Christmas Carol at the Pittsburgh Civic Light Opera, portraying the character of Ebenezer Scrooge.

Where Are They Now: Atkins has two projects in the works: the sci-fi short Polybius and the horror sequel The Collected; which is part 3 of The Collector film series.

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