THomAS G. Waites
Tom originated the roll of Oliver Treefe in Simon Gray's world premiere of Molly, at the First Annual Spoleto Festival in Charleston, SC. After this highly acclaimed performance he returned to NYC to be cast as the lead in the Joan Micklin Silver produced, On the Yard (1978) co-starring John Heard. After very strong critical notices Tom auditioned for and got the lead in Walter Hill's, The Warriors (1979) playing the character Fox. After disputes with the director, Tom was fired from this film. He has since reconciled with Walter Hill. Three weeks after being fired from The Warriors Tom auditioned with Al Pacino, and was cast as Jeff McCullough in the Norman Jewison film, ...And Justice for All (1979). 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. Kurt Russell and John Carpenter saw Tom's performance and cast him as Windows in the film The Thing (1982). Tom was cast in the Broadway premier of Trafford Tanzi, a musical where Tom sang with Deborah Harry of Blondie fame.
Tom was then cast in the lead role of Broud in The Clan of the Cave Bear (1986) with Daryl Hannah and James Remar. Tom next played Otis the baby-stealer in ABC's All My Children. Tom also made guest appearances in such popular television shows as Kojak (with Telly Savalas), Miami Vice and two episodes of The Equalizer. He appeared as Smittie in the film Light of Day (1987) opposite Michael J. Fox and Joan Jett, and was then cast as Al Capone, competing with actors like Harvey Keitel, for the film Gangland (1987) with Scott Glenn.
Tom next relocated to Los Angeles where he started the theatre company, TomCats. This is where he began his directing career. After two guest star appearances on NYPD Blue and some minor roles in small independent films and television shows, including a guest star in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Mike Hammer, Private Eye and Slither.
Since returning to New York City he has landed guest roles in Law & Order (four times), Law & Order: Criminal Intent (two times) and starred in the soap opera One Life to Live as Decker. Waites played Henry Stanton in Oz for four seasons.