Actor. Born Bartholomew Roberts Blossom, he was a versatile character performer best known for portraying old curmudgeons and oddballs. After serving in the US Army during World War II, he initially planned on being a therapist, but decided to become an actor instead. In 1955, he made his Off Broadway debut in the play “Village Wooing”, for which he received the first of three Obie Awards. He eventually hit his stride in motion pictures in his fifties with his performance as demented middle-aged lunatic Ezra Cobb in the horror film “Deranged” (1974). His other memorable film roles included an elderly patient in “The Hospital” (1971), a soldier in “Slaughterhouse Five” (1972), a farmer in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” (1977), old felon Doc in “Escape from Alcatraz” (1979), old neighbor Marley in “Home Alone” (1990) and as a grumpy judge in “Doc Hollywood” (1991). For television, he made many appearances on shows such as “Northern Exposure”, “The Twilight Zone”, “The Equalizer”, “Moonlighting”, “Amazing Stories” and “Naked City”. He retired from acting in the late 1990s, to pursue writing poetry and his works were published in several books. (bio by: John “J-Cat” Griffith)  Family links:  Parents:  John Theodore Blossom (1891 – 1946)  Beryl Scott Blossom (1891 – 1960)  Spouses:  Marylin Sally Orshan Blossom (1937 – 1982)*  Beverly Blossom (1926 – 2014)*  Sibling:  John Theodore Blossom (1917 – 1998)*  Roberts Scott Blossom (1924 – 2011) *Calculated relationship