Tom Finnegan(I)

Born in Framingham, Massachusetts, and raised in the Roxbury, South Boston and Dorchester sections of Boston, Tom left home at the age of 18 and served 21 years in the US Army, 12 of them as a Paratrooper, including two tours of duty in Vietnam; 1965-66 with the famed First Cavalry Division and also in 1969-70 with the First Infantry Division. He worked his way through the enlisted grades to the rank of Sergeant First Class, then received an appointment as a Warrant Officer, and retiring as a Chief Warrant Officer in 1973. A latecomer to acting, he started his stage career after retiring while attending Ohio Dominican College in Columbus, Ohio under the G.I. Bill. He was cast in The Sound of Music, starred in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, Hogan's Goat, fell in love with acting and performed in many other Community Theatre Productions in Ohio. He moved to Los Angeles in 1980 seeking an acting career in film and television. Within 6 months he was a member of SAG, AFTRA and AEA. His most notable film performance was as Oly, the repo yard owner in the cult classic "Repo Man." In 1992 Tom distinguished himself as the principal performer in a Fedex commercial titled "Secretary" that was selected as the best commercial of 1992 by Entertainment weekly, and the runner up for best commercial of 1992 by Time magazine. His one burning desire now is to portray Willy Loman in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman" on stage. In 2013, Tom received his Masters Degree in Theatre Arts from California State University, San Bernardino. Presently retired from SAG/AFTRA, Tom now lives a quiet life on Washington's Olympic Peninsula, writing plays, poetry and his memoirs.