Tom Hulce

Thomas Edward Hulce was born in Detroit, Michigan, and raised in Plymouth, MI, with his two sisters and older brother. His mother, Joanna (Winkleman), was a professional singer, and his father, Raymond Albert Hulce, worked for Ford. Hulce has English, German, and Irish ancestry. Initially aspiring to be a singer, he shifted to acting after his voice changed. When asked why he chose acting, he once said, "Because someone told me I couldn't." This determination helped him establish a respected position in the acting community. After graduating school at 19, he gave himself ten years to succeed. He began working in Ann Arbor as an usher and ticket seller with a small theatrical company. It was during this time that he saw a performance by Christopher Walken in Stratford, Ontario, which inspired him to pursue acting. Despite his parents' initial reservations, Hulce pursued training at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, Booth Bay Harbor, Maine, Sarasota, Florida, and spent a summer in England before moving to New York City. Within a month of arriving, he was chosen to understudy the role in the Broadway play "Equus," originally performed by Peter Firth. Though initially hired to play one of the horses, he was instead given the understudy role. Nine months later, he took over the role when Firth left, delivering a performance that earned him recognition. "Equus" marked his first major role, his first Broadway role, and his first nude performance, which lasted nine minutes with co-star Roberta Maxwell. During the run, he turned down a television offer to focus on stage work. Other plays followed, including "Butter and Egg Man," "Memory of Two Mondays," "Julius Caesar," "Romeo and Juliet," "Candida," "The Sea Gull," and his Tony-nominated role in "A Few Good Men." He also directed the off-Broadway musical "Sleep Around Town" at Playwrights Horizon. Hulce's first film role was in the 1977 film September 30, 1955, about the day James Dean died. His next notable role was in National Lampoon's Animal House (1978), where he played "Pinto" alongside John Belushi, Tim Matheson, and Donald Sutherland. In 1984, he portrayed Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart in the Oscar-winning film Amadeus (1984), a role that significantly boosted the sales of Mozart's music by 30%. Filmed in Prague, the performance was a highlight of his career. He continued with period films such as Those Lips, Those Eyes (1980), Shadowman (1988), Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (1994), Wings of Courage (1995), and Disney's The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1996). He also starred in Echo Park (1985) with Susan Dey, a film that struggled to get released but which he considers one of his best performances. Another notable film was Dominick and Eugene (1988), where he played a mentally handicapped man alongside Ray Liotta and Jamie Lee Curtis. He studied extensively to portray the character's innocence and determination, earning the Best Actor award at the Seattle Fest. In 1990, he appeared in the television movie Murder in Mississippi, playing Michael Schwerner, a New York social worker murdered by K.K.K. members in 1964. He received an Emmy nomination and his third Golden Globe nomination for the role. His first television movie was Forget-Me-Not-Lane (1974) (also known as "Neli, Neli"), a Hallmark Hall of Fame production. He also starred in The Inner Circle (1991) (also known as "The Projectionist").