Padma Shri awarded actor Tom Alter dies of cancer at 67

Mumbai: Veteran theatre and film actor, Tom Alter died at his Mumbai residence on Friday. The 67-year-old Alter was battling with cancer.

A statement released on behalf of his family said, “It is with sadness we announce the death of Tom Alter, actor, writer, director, Padma Shri, and our dear husband and father.”

Mr Alter was taken to Saifee Hospital earlier this month with stage four skin cancer. He had been treated earlier but it had reoccurred. He was taken home on Thursday, where he died on Friday night, news agency IANS reports.

Condolences, on hearing the sad news, poured on Twitter.

“It is what is called a squamous cell carcinoma (a type of skin cancer). It is a relapse of the same thing which had happened last year and unfortunately, for various reasons, it was not detected at that time and has come back,” Alter’s son Jamie told IANS.

Tom Alter was born in 1950 in Mussoorie, the son of American missionaries. He studied at Woodstock School in Mussoorie and later at Pune’s Film and Television Institute.

The vetaran actor appeared in over 300 films which included the acclaimed Shatranj Ke Khiladi, Sardar and Parinda. His credits include Aashiqui, Junoon, Ram Teri Ganga Maili and Gandhi. He also worked on small screen, ranged from Bharat Ek Khoj to Shaktimaan.

A cricket enthusiast, he also wrote for several sporting journals and was a published author.
Tom Alter, who received the Padma Shri in 2008, was last seen in Sargoshiyan this year with Alok Nath and Farida Jalal. He is survived by his wife Carol, son Jamie and daughter Afshaan.