Roberts Scott Blossom (March 25, 1924July 8, 2011) was an American poet and character actor of theatre, film, and television. He is best known for his roles as Old Man Marley in Home Alone (1990) and as Ezra Cobb in the horror film Deranged (1974). Blossom is also remembered for his supporting roles in films such as The Great Gatsby (1974), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977), Escape from Alcatraz (1979), Christine (1983), and The Last Temptation of Christ (1988).
Early life
Roberts Scott Blossom was born on March 25, 1924, in New Haven, Connecticut, to John Blossom, an athletic director at Yale University. He was raised in Cleveland, but later moved to Shaker Heights, Ohio. Blossom attended Hawken School and graduated from Asheville School in 1941 and attended Harvard University for a year until he joined the United States Army and served in World War II in Europe.
Career
Blossom began acting on stage during the 1950s. He won three Obie Awards for his performances in the off-Broadway plays Village Wooing (1955), which was his debut, Do Not Pass Go (1965) and The Ice Age (1976).
Blossom is remembered for his role as Ezra Cobb in the 1974 horror film Deranged based on American murderer Ed Gein. According to the 2014 book Mad as Hell: The Making of Network and the Fateful Vision of the Angriest Man in Movies by David Itzkoff, the cast of Chayefsky's multiple Oscar-winning film Network originally included Blossom as media mogul Arthur Jensen. However, he was replaced in pre-production by Ned Beatty.
Blossom is also known for starring in the 1983 horror film Christine, a film directed by John Carpenter which is an adaptation of the book by Stephen King. Blossom is best known for his role in the 1990 film Home Alone, where he played Old Man Marley alongside Macaulay Culkin. He appeared in his final film role in 1995 alongside Sharon Stone and Leonardo DiCaprio in The Quick and The Dead (1995). Blossom's other film credits include Doc Hollywood (1991) starring Michael J. Fox; Reuben, Reuben (1983); Resurrection (1980) starring Ellen Burstyn; Flashpoint (1984); Vision Quest (1985) starring Matthew Modine and Linda Fiorentino; and Always (1989).
In 1958, Blossom made his first television appearance in the television series Naked City. From 1976 to 1978, Blossom starred on the television soap opera Another World, for which he won a Soapy Award for Best Villain. Blossom's other television credits include Moonlighting, with Cybill Shepherd and Bruce Willis, Tales from the Darkside, The Equalizer, the revived 1980s version of The Twilight Zone and Chicago Hope. His television films include Family Reunion, with Bette Davis, the 1985 version of Noon Wine, Murder in the Heartland and Disney's Balloon Farm, which was his final role as an actor.
In 2000, Blossom appeared in the biography documentary Full Blossom: The Life of Poet/Actor Roberts Blossom, Blossom was later married to Marylin Orshan Blossom until her death in 1982, with whom he had a daughter.
After Blossom retired from acting in the late 1990s, he moved to Berkeley, California, and spent his time writing poetry.
Death
Blossom later moved to Santa Monica, where he died from cerebrovascular disease on July 8, 2011, at age 87. Blossom was residing in a nursing home at the time of his death.
Filmography
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Film
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Role
! scope="col" | Director
|-
! scope="row" | Echo of an Era <small>(short)</small>
| 1959
| Unnamed/unknown
|
|-
! scope="row" | The Sins of Jesus <small>(short)</small>
| 1961
| Unnamed/unknown
|
|-
! scope="row" | The Hospital
| 1971
| Guernsey
|
|-
! scope="row" | The Witches of Salem: The Horror and the Hope <small>(short)</small>
| 1972
| Gov. Phips
|
|-
! scope="row" | Slaughterhouse-Five
| 1972
| Wild Bob Cody
|
|-
! scope="row" | Please Stand by
| 1972
| Judge Nott
|
|-
! scope="row" | Deranged
| 1974
| Ezra Cobb
|
|-
! scope="row" | The Great Gatsby
| 1974
| Mr. Gatz
|
|-
! scope="row" | Handle with Care
| 1977
| Papa Thermodyne
|
|-
! scope="row" | Close Encounters of the Third Kind
| 1977
| Farmer
|
|-
! scope="row" | Escape from Alcatraz
| 1979
| Chester 'Doc' Dalton
|
|-
! scope="row" | Resurrection
| 1980
| John Harper
|
|-
! scope="row" | Christine
| 1983
| George LeBay
|
|-
! scope="row" | Reuben, Reuben
| 1983
| Frank Spofford
|
|-
! scope="row" | Flashpoint
| 1984
| Amarillo
|
|-
! scope="row" | Vision Quest
| 1985
| Harry Swain
|
|-
! scope="row" | Candy Mountain
| 1987
| Archie
|
|-
! scope="row" | The Last Temptation of Christ
| 1988
| Aged Master
|
|-
! scope="row" | Always
| 1989
| Dave
|
|-
! scope="row" | Home Alone
| 1990
| Old Man Marley
|
|-
! scope="row" | Doc Hollywood
| 1991
| Judge Evans
|
|-
! scope="row" | Death Falls
| 1991
| Hals Johnson
|
|-
! scope="row" | The Quick and the Dead
| 1995
| Doc Walter Wallace
|
|-
! scope="row" | Full Blossom: The Life of Poet/Actor Roberts Blossom
| 2000
| Himself <small>(documentary)</small>
|
|}
Television
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders sortable"
|-
! scope="col" | Title
! scope="col" | Year
! scope="col" | Role
! scope="col" class="unsortable" | Notes
|-
! scope="row" | Studio One
| 1957
| First Refugee
| Season 10, episode 11
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="row" | Naked City
| rowspan="2"|1958
| Brissen
| Season 1, episode 5
|-
| Quint Butcher
| Season 1, episode 13
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="row" | The DuPont Show of the Month
| rowspan="2"|1959–1961
| Billy Budd
| Season 2, episode 9
|-
| Gustav
| Season 4, episode 5
|-
! scope="row" | The Art Carney Show
| 1959
| Simon Stimson
| Season 1, episode 2
|-
! scope="row" | Camera Three
| 1959
| Himself
| Season 4, episode 46
|-
! scope="row" | John Brown's Raid
| 1960
| Stevens
| Television film
|-
! scope="row" | The Robert Herridge Theater
| 1960
|
| Season 1, episode 26
|-
! scope="row" | The Eleventh Hour
| 1962
| Schizophrenic
| Season 1, episode 1
|-
! scope="row" | Brenner
| 1964
| Reader
| Season 2, episode 10
|-
! scope="row" | The Defenders
| 1964
| Thomas Riggs
| Season 4, episode 4
|-
! scope="row" | Great Performances
| 1972
| Judge / Preacher
| New York Playhouse (episode 2)
|-
! scope="row" | Beacon Hill
| 1975
| D.W. Griffith
| Season 1, episode 10
|-
! scope="row" | The Adams Chronicles
| 1976
| Carver
| Miniseries (episode 4)
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="row" | Another World
| rowspan="2"|1976–1978
| Bert Ordway
|
|-
| Sven Petersen
| Soapy Award for Best Villain <small>(1978)</small>
|-
! scope="row" | Mourning Becomes Electra
| 1978
| Seth
| Part of Great Performances (Season 6)
|-
! scope="row" | ABC Weekend Special
| 1980
| Mr. LeGrand
| Season 3, episodes 9 & 10
|-
! scope="row" | Family Reunion
| 1981
| Phil King
| Television film
|-
! scope="row" | The Wall
| 1982
| Kuchaski
| Television film
|-
! scope="row" | Johnny Belinda
| 1982
| John McAdam
| Television film
|-
! scope="row" | Airwolf
| 1984
| Old Nan with Dog
| Season 2, episode 11
|-
! scope="row" | American Playhouse
| 1985
| Mr. McClellan
| Season 4, episode 6
|-
! scope="row" | Amazing Stories
| 1985
| Opa Globe
| Season 1, episode 1
|-
! rowspan="2" scope="row" | The Twilight Zone
| rowspan="2"|1985–1987
| The Man
| Season 1, episode 8 (segment b)
|-
| Mordecai Hawkline
| Season 2, episode 11 (segment a)
|-
! scope="row" | Moonlighting
| 1986
| Lawrence Everette
| Season 2, episode 15
|-
! scope="row" | Tales from the Darkside
| 1986
| Inquisitor
| Season 3, episode 7
|-
! scope="row" | The Equalizer
| 1986
| Oscar Peabody
| Season 2, episode 9 "Tip on a Sure Thing"
|-
! scope="row" | At Mother's Request
| 1987
| Doug Steele
| Miniseries (2 episodes)
|-
! scope="row" | Stingray
| 1987
| Uncle Pat 'The Cat' Morel
| Season 2, episode 4
|-
! scope="row" | In the Heat of the Night
| 1989
| Dr. Harris Pendleton
| Season 2, episode 10
|-
! scope="row" | Northern Exposure
| 1992
| Ned Svenborg
| Season 3, episode 23 "Cicely"
|-
! scope="row" | The Habitation of Dragons
| 1992
| Mr. Charlie
| Television film
|-
! scope="row" | Crossroads
| 1992
| Oscar Poland
| Season 1, episode 1
|-
! scope="row" | The American Clock
| 1993
| Old Wayne Taylor
| Television film
|-
! scope="row" | Murder in the Heartland
| 1993
| Gus Meyer
| Miniseries (2 episodes)
|-
! scope="row" | Chicago Hope
| 1997
| William Kronk
| Season 3, episode 26
|-
! scope="row" | Balloon Farm
| 1999
| 'Weasel' Mayfield
|
|}
Theater credits
- 1955: Village Wooing
- 1958: The Infernal Machine (Anubis)
- 1961: A Cook for Mr. General (Kroy)
- 1963: The Ballad of the Sad Cafe (Merlie Ryan)
- 1964: The Physicists
- 1965: Do Not Pass Go
- 1970: Operation Sidewinder
- 1973: Statis Quo Vadis (Mr.Elgin)
- 1988: The Cherry Orchard
- 1989: The Chairs (Old Man)
Bibliography
- J O & Y Bookies (2001).
- Poetic Philosophy in the 21st Century (2002).
- River of Wine (2002).
- How It Is We (2002).