Tom Alter
American–Indian actor (1950–2017)
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Key Takeaways
- Thomas Beach Alter (22 June 1950 – 29 September 2017) was an Indian actor.
- In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.
- His grandparents migrated to Madras, India from Ohio, U.
- From there, they moved to and settled in Lahore, in present-day Pakistan.
- After the Partition of India, Alter's family split into two; his grandparents chose to stay in Pakistan while his parents moved to India.
Thomas Beach Alter (22 June 1950 – 29 September 2017) was an Indian actor. He was best known for his works in Hindi cinema, and Indian theatre. In 2008, he was awarded the Padma Shri by the Government of India.
Early life
Born in Mussoorie in present-day Uttarakhand, Alter was the son of American Presbyterian missionaries of English, Scottish and Swiss German ancestry and lived for years in Mumbai and the Himalayan hill station of Landour. His grandparents migrated to Madras, India from Ohio, U.S., in November 1916. From there, they moved to and settled in Lahore, in present-day Pakistan. His father was born in Sialkot. After the Partition of India, Alter's family split into two; his grandparents chose to stay in Pakistan while his parents moved to India. After living in Allahabad, Jabalpur and Saharanpur, in 1954 they finally settled in Rajpur, Uttarakhand, then a small town located between Dehradun and Mussoorie; Rajpur is now considered a suburb of Dehradun. Alter's siblings are older sister Martha Chen, who teaches at Harvard University and brother John, a poet. Author Stephen Alter is a first cousin.
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