Tony Thomas (film historian)
Tony Thomas (July 31, 1927 – July 8, 1997) was a British-American
Biography
Anthony William George Thomas was born on July 31, 1927, near Portsmouth, England, the son of a bandmaster in the Royal Marines.[1] At the age of eighteen, he moved to Canada, where he became an announcer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1948.[1][2] He went on to become a writer and producer of programs about Hollywood and the film industry for CBC Radio.[1] He was also the writer and host of the CBS television series As Time Goes By and was a panelist on the quiz show television series Flashback.[2]
In 1966, Thomas moved to Los Angeles and began a new career as a film historian and author, being particularly active from the late 1960s to early 1990s.[1][3] In 1972, Thomas was one of the founders of The Film Music Society and served on its advisory board for many years.[1][2] Considered an expert on film music, he produced albums of classic film scores and wrote the well-received book Music for the Movies (1973), an introduction to important film composers.[2] From 1979 to 1984, he wrote for the Academy Awards shows, and beginning in the late 1970s, was a segment producer for the Oscars.[1] As an independent film writer and producer, he produced three PBS documentaries: Hollywood and the American Image, Back to the Stage Door Canteen, and The West That Never Was.[1] His distinguished voice was heard for years as the announcer on the televised Kennedy Center Honors and American Film Institute Salutes.[4]
Thomas died on July 8, 1997, at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, California, of complications from pneumonia, at the age of 69.[1][2] He was survived by his son, David, his daughter, Andrea, and his companion, Lorna Grenadier.[1] He is considered one of Hollywood's preeminent film historians.[2]
Bibliography
- The Films of Errol Flynn (1969), with Rudy Behlmer and Clifford McCarty
- Ustinov in Focus (1971)
- The Films of Kirk Douglas (1972)
- Cads and Cavaliers: The Gentlemen Adventurers of the Movies (1973)
- Music for the Movies (1973)
- The Busby Berkeley Book (1973)
- The Films of Marlon Brando (1973)
- The Films of Gene Kelly (1974)
- The Films of the Forties (1975)
- Hollywood's Hollywood: The Movies About the Movies (1975), with Rudy Behlmer
- Harry Warren and the Hollywood Musical (1975)
- Burt Lancaster (1975)
- The Great Adventure Films (1976)
- Gregory Peck (1977)
- Film Score: The View from the Podium (1979)
- Film Score: The Art and Craft of Movie Music (1979)
- The Films of 20th Century-Fox: A Pictorial History (1979)
- The Films of Ronald Reagan (1980)
- From a Life of Adventure: The Writings of Errol Flynn (1980)
- Hollywood and the American Image (1981)
- The Films of Olivia de Havilland (1983)
- That's Dancing! (1984)
- Howard Hughes in Hollywood (1985)
- The Films of 20th Century-Fox: A Pictorial History (1985)
- Ronald Reagan: The Hollywood Years (1986)
- George Gershwin Remembered (1987)
- A Wonderful Life: The Films and Career of James Stewart (1988)
- The Cinema of the Sea: A Critical Survey and Filmography, 1925–1986 (1988)
- The West that Never Was (1989)
- Errol Flynn: The Spy Who Never Was (1990)
- The Films of Henry Fonda (1990)
- The Best of Universal (1990)
- Joel McCrea: Riding the High Country (1991)
- The Dick Powell Story (1992)[3]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Galloway, Doug (11 July 1997). "Tony Thomas". Variety. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f "Tony Thomas; Film Historian, Author, Producer". Los Angeles Times. 10 July 1997. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
- ^ a b "Tony Thomas 1927-1997". WorldCat Identities. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
- ^ Burlingame, Jon (July 1997). "Tony Thomas". Film Score Monthly. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
External links
- Tony Thomas at IMDb
- Tony Thomas discography at Discogs
- Tony Thomas: Film Historian, Author, Producer