Tom grew up in the small towns of Richmond and Crystal Lake, Illinois.
He began performing at home, with his 10 brothers and sisters, creating
puppet shows, short films, music and radio dramas, before moving on to
school plays and community theater.
He graduated from The Goodman School of Drama, as it became the Theatre
School at DePaul University. His work on the Chicago stage began in the
ensemble of the "Body Politic Theatre", where he starred in such
memorable productions as "Translations", "The Playboy of the Western
World" and "Falstaff & Hal". Other notable stage work includes "What
the Butler Saw", "Candida" and "The Mystery Cycle" at the Court
Theatre, and "Free Advice from Prague" and "The Courtship of Carl
Sandburg" at Northlight.
Tom was head writer and announcer of the NPR musical variety show, "The
Flea Market". He directed plays for the Curious Theater, played music
with both Balderdash and
Jamie O'Reilly &
The Rogues, and was artistic director of the
Call to Action Theater.
While working on-stage in Chicago, Tom was cast as "Eliot Ness" in the
television series,
Die Unbestechlichen (1993) and
spent two years shooting on his home turf. Moving to L.A., Tom starred
in the NBC comedy,
The Pursuit of Happiness (1995),
with Melinda McGraw and
Brad Garrett. He's played recurring
roles on Big Love (2006),
Boston Legal (2004),
Eli Stone (2008),
The Guardian - Retter mit Herz (2001),
Chaos City (1996),
From the Earth to the Moon (1998)
and, most recently,
Parenthood (2010). Other favorite
TV work include
Grey's Anatomy: Die jungen Ärzte (2005),
Lass es, Larry! (2000),
Just Shoot Me - Redaktion durchgeknipst (1997),
Emergency Room: Die Notaufnahme (1994) and
Die Larry Sanders Show (1992).
Traveling to the western Rockies, Tom spent four years portraying the
beloved "Dr. Harold Abbott" on the family drama,
Everwood (2002), opposite
Treat Williams. He went on to direct
episodes of "Everwood" as well as ABC's
Brothers & Sisters (2006)
and the new CW series,
Hart of Dixie (2011).
Tom's film credits include
Tödliche Weihnachten (1996),
opposite Geena Davis,
Brokedown Palace - Die Hoffnung stirbt zuletzt (1999) with
Claire Danes and
Kate Beckinsale,
Der beste Vater der Welt (1998) with the Olsen
twins, Mary-Kate Olsen and Ashley Olsen', Ein Pferd für Sunny (1998),
Sag's offen, Shirlee (1992), HBO's
Live aus Bagdad (2002)
and the recent black-comedy,
Lucky (2011), with
Colin Hanks and
Ari Graynor.
His work on the Chicago stage continues at the Victory Gardens Theater,
where he's starred, most recently, in "Cynical Weathers" and
Edward Albee's "At Home At The Zoo", both
directed by Dennis Zacek.
Tom plays "Dr. Peter Pelikan" on the hit NBC series,
Parenthood (2010), opposite
Ray Romano. He stars as "President
Abraham Lincoln" in the Salvador Litvak
film, Saving Lincoln (2013),
alongside Penelope Ann Miller and
Lea Coco. He also appears as "Governor Samuel
Reston" on the ABC political thriller,
Scandal (2012), opposite
Kerry Washington and
Tony Goldwyn.
Tom is married to actress Nancy Everhard,
who played "Katherine Ness" on
Die Unbestechlichen (1993). His
daughters, Meg O'Reilly Amandes and
Nia O'Reilly Amandes make up
two-thirds of the Chicago band, "Midnight Moxie". And his son, Ben
Amandes, is himself a budding hyphenate.
