Tom Urich, Actor and Older Brother of Robert Urich, Dies at 87

Mike Barnes
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Tom Urich, an actor on Broadway and soap operas who also showed up on TV shows opposite his younger brother, the late Robert Urich, has died. He was 87.

Urich died July 17 of complications from a stroke and diabetes at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank, his wife of 56 years, Judy, told The Hollywood Reporter.

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Urich was a regular on the 1997 ABC miniseries Murder One: Diary of a Serial Killer and guest-starred on shows including Kate & Allie, Jake and the Fatman, Matlock, In Living Color, Silk Stalkings, Beverly Hills, 90210, JAG and The Practice.

He appeared on Broadway in Applause, Seesaw, Musical Chairs and, as Georges, in La Cage Aux Folles and on such soap operas as The Doctors, The Edge of Night, Search for Tomorrow, Another Life and Passions.

Alongside his brother, he worked on two episodes of ABC’s Vega$ in 1979 and ’81; three installments of ABC’s Spenser: For Hire from 1986-88; and one episode of TNT’s The Lazarus Man in 1996.

Robert Urich, a popular actor who starred on more than a dozen TV series during his career, died in April 2002 after a battle with cancer at age 55.

Thomas John Urich was born on March 26, 1935, in Weirton, West Virginia, and raised in Toronto, Ohio. After a year at Ohio State, he enlisted in the U.S. Air Force and performed for his fellow servicemen on military bases during the Korean War.

“He fully embraced the safety of stage drama after a refueler jet crash ended his time in the service,” his family noted.

He studied acting at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, appeared off-Broadway in the 1960s in The Fantasticks, The Streets of New York and Shoemakers’ Holiday and first made it to Broadway in 1970 in Applause.

He was an accomplished baritone and loved playing the charismatic con man Harold Hill in The Music Man in dinner theater and local stages.

Urich served as commander at the American Legion’s Hollywood Post 43 and as a lector at St. Charles Borromeo Catholic Church in North Hollywood.

In addition to his wife, survivors include their sons, Christian and Justin; daughters-in-law Jessica and Barbara; and grandsons Jasper, Cyrus, Spencer, Thaddeus and Skyler.

His life will be celebrated at 1 p.m. on Friday at the Los Angeles National Cemetery columbarium, followed by a mass at 2:15 p.m. at St. Charles.

Donations in his memory can be made to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

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