After one year at Bucks County Community College, Thomas G. Waites received a full scholarship for acting at the Juilliard School in New York City, where he studied as a member of the Drama Division’s Group 7 (1974–1978). Some of his classmates included Robin Williams, Christopher Reeve, and Frances Conroy. He received a B.A. degree in Writing from The New School and a Master of Fine Arts in Playwriting from the University of Iowa. Tom originated the role of Oliver Treefe in Simon Gray’s world premiere of Molly, at the First Annual Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC. After his highly acclaimed performance, he returned to NYC to be cast as the lead in On the Yard (1978) co-starring with John Heard. After very strong critical notices, Tom played Fox in Walter Hill’s The Warriors (1979). Tom auditioned with Al Pacino and was cast as Jeff McCullough in the Norman Jewison film, …And Justice for All (1979), striking up a long relationship with Pacino. The two worked together again in Shakespeare’s Richard III in which Tom was cast as Richmond. Tom then originated the role of Mitchell in Alan Bowne’s Forty-Deuce Off-Broadway at the Perry Street Theatre. In 1982, Tom competed with actors such as Matt Dillon and Kevin Bacon to land the role of Bobby in David Mamet’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, American Buffalo. Subsequently, Kurt Russell and John Carpenter saw Tom’s performance and cast him as Windows in the film The Thing (1982). Tom was also cast in the Broadway premier of Trafford Tanzi, then as Steve in Pastorale, the Obie Award-winning play by Debra Eisenberg starring Judith Ivey and Christine Estabrook. Tom began writing music and formed a band, The Pushups, and now Thomas G. Waites Project; he draws inspiration from Bruce Springsteen, The Band, Bob Dylan, and various muses from his own life. He plays gigs around NYC in clubs such as CBGB’s, Limelight, Traxs, The Bitter End, and has opened for The Smithereens.
