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 GraceAnne
Registered User
Registered:
5/20/2004
From:
New York, NY | posted: 7/13/2004 at 4:51:54 PM ET
Thomas Hammond, a Broadway producer, entertainment lawyer and manager who represented Bette Davis and Bernadette Peters, has died at the age of 80, it was announced today. Hammond died July 1 after a long illness, according to New York-based publicist Kristin Tillman. The Wenatchee, Wash., native was 80. "Tom has been such a remarkable guiding light in my career and in my life. I will miss him terribly," Peters said. Hammond had managed the Broadway star's career since she was 17. He met her nearly 40 years ago when she was appearing in a 1965 Off-Broadway musical. "He was the kind of person who followed his heart and believed in making a difference in the world," Peters said. "He often told me, 'No matter what job, you always leave a place better than when you arrived.' "He wasn't referring to climbing the proverbial ladder of success or making outrageous amounts of money," the singer-actress said. "He meant always learn from your experiences and always give back to the world." Hammond produced a number of successful Broadway shows in the 1950s and '60s, becoming the youngest producer on Broadway with the 1950 production of "The Liar," starring and directed by Alfred Drake, according to Tillman. His other general manager and Broadway producing credits included "Candida," starring Olivia de Havilland; "The Gambler" with E.G. Marshall; "The Rainmaker" featuring Geraldine Page; "The Wooden Dish" with Louis Calhern; and the original Broadway production of "Candide" starring Robert Rounseville and Barbara Cook. He also extended his reach into the worlds of cabaret and television, as general manager for "Plaza 9," a series of satiric cabaret revnues directed by Julius Monk, and as a producer on a 1967 TV series starring Peters. Hammond helped engineer Davis' comeback in the 1980s, encouraging her to star in the cult favorites "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" and "Hush ... Hush Sweet Charlotte," Tillman said. Memorial contributions in Hammond's name can be made to Sts. Cyril & Methody E.O. Church, 4770 Maryville Road, Granite City, Ill., 62040.
|  Mandy
Registered User
Registered:
8/14/2003 | posted: 7/13/2004 at 4:55:44 PM ET
That is so sad. I can only imagine how close they were since he's known her since she was a teenager! I remember her Tony speech when she, I believe, thanked him first and foremost for her success. From her quotes, he sounded like a wonderful man.
~Mandy
"I've been fortunate in my career to have performed in revivals of great musicals and to have originated roles in musicals that have in turn been revived. And I'm not dead!" BP
|  cuteoperaboi
Registered User
Registered:
1/3/2004
From:
Ohio | posted: 7/13/2004 at 5:22:14 PM ET
That's incredibly sad. What a loss. In her liner notes in "I'll be your baby tonight" this is what she says to him...
"I want to thank Tom Hammond for being my friend and mentor and my artistic collaborator all these many years. We're a team you and I. I love you."
"Take off your jacket!"--Joan Rivers to Bernadette
"TAKE OFF YOUR DRESS!!"--Bernadette's reply.
| Karen
Registered User
Registered:
5/3/2002 | posted: 7/13/2004 at 7:07:31 PM ET
Yes, that is really sad, but thanks for providing the information, GraceAnne. Hammond also produced William Roy's 1966-67 off-broadway musical The Penny Friend, which was one of Bernadette's earliest major roles. These days performers switch managers so frequently that it's quite remarkable when a professional relationship lasts for decades, as that one did.
| Mandy
Registered User
Registered:
8/14/2003 | posted: 7/20/2004 at 12:10:51 PM ET
Playbill just posted the same article GraceAnne posted...a little late...but I am sure there were/are a lot of people that didn't know:
http://www.playbill.com/news/article/87435.html
~Mandy
"I've been fortunate in my career to have performed in revivals of great musicals and to have originated roles in musicals that have in turn been revived. And I'm not dead!" BP
| Karen
Registered User
Registered:
5/3/2002 | posted: 7/20/2004 at 1:09:05 PM ET
Thanks for posting that. I wonder what he was doing in Granite City, which is across the river from St Louis, and not what I consider a "destination" type place. Maybe he had family there.
| BPfan11
Registered User
Registered:
5/18/2004
From:
Rhode Island | posted: 7/20/2004 at 1:39:44 PM ET
This thread reminds me that on the Actors Studio Bernadette mentioned him as being the biggest influence on her career and her best friend. He does sound like he was a great man and that they had a wonderful relationship. That does seem kind of strange that he would settle in Granite City, maybe he was just a very modest guy and wanted to get away from it all. Who knows!
| Mandy
Registered User
Registered:
8/14/2003 | posted: 7/20/2004 at 1:45:53 PM ET
Hmm...I will actually be visiting friends near Granite City next week. I'll have to ask if there is some kind of "claim to fame" for that city.
~Mandy
"I've been fortunate in my career to have performed in revivals of great musicals and to have originated roles in musicals that have in turn been revived. And I'm not dead!" BP
| Peppermint
Registered User
Registered:
5/4/2005
From:
Southern California | posted: 5/4/2005 at 2:50:59 PM ET
Thomas Hammond was my uncle. I was doing a Goggle search today, trying to catch up with him. I am in shock. As far as I know we do not have family in Granite City. His home is located in Hollywood. His two brothers and one sisters have already passed on the latest one was 10 years ago. I will miss him. He and my father [his brother] had a falling out, but I have always cherished him.
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