Theatre Stalwarts Makarand Deshpande, Lilette Dubey, Victor Bannerjee Recall Tom Alter
Makarand Despande: “I feel Tom is like Luigi Pirandello’s Henry IV,an actor who fell from the horse and remained Henry for rest of his life.Tom for me fell into being a good man,a great soul who just not only played this difficult part all his life with courage and simplicity but dissolved his existence like sugar in water.I loved him always,and will continue doing so as he will be around in the form of goodness.Thank you Tom for speaking to me and sharing sports,arts and language.”
Lilette Dubey: “A lovely, kind ,gentle man.. A passionate theatre enthusiast , an utterly natural actor ,with an incredible command over diction in several languages, an American with the soul of an Indian .. They don’t make many like him anymore .”
Victor Bannerjee: “We worked together in my very first film SatyajitRay’s only Hindi films Shatranj ke Khiladi. For years there was a comedy of errors amongst cinegoers who were about confused our parts and I often received accolades for his role, and he for mine. I now live in Mussoorie close to where Tom grew up and shall miss his presence in the Doon Valley. His memorial service will be held at St Paul’s Church in Landour and it’ll be a sad day for me and several friends and relatives on the hillside.”