Thom Christopher, memorable One Life to Live villain, dies at 84
The actor won a Daytime Emmy for his powerful performance as the villainous mobster Carlo Hesser in 1991.
By
Emlyn Travis
Published on December 6, 2024 05:19PM EST
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Thom Christopher, the Daytime Emmy award-winning actor best known for starring as the cutthroat mob boss Carlo Hesser on
One Life to Live, has died. He was 84.
Anthony Crivello, who played Carlo’s son Johnny Dee on the long-running ABC sudser, confirmed the news in a
poignant Facebook post on Thursday. A cause of death was not revealed.
“My dear friend of many years, actor #ThomChristopher passed today,” he wrote. “He was always a gentleman, always supportive, and he and his wife Judith who proceeded him in death, where [sic] always gracious to me and welcoming.”
Thom Christopher as Carlo Hesser on 'One Life to Live'.
Kimberly Butler/ABC/Courtesy Everett
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Alongside his post, Crivello shared a pair of photos of himself, Christopher, and Audrey Landers, who played Charlotte Hesser. “It was a wonderful time, difficult hours and long days, but joyful each minute,” he said of his experience working with his fictional family on the series. “May Thom fly on Wings of Angels to be beside his beloved Judith, and may they enjoy each other’s company once again, beside the 'Pearly Gates’ of heaven.”
Tonja Walker, whose character Alex Olanov was married to Carlo for a spell on the series, also
mourned her costar’s passing on social media, remembering him as someone who always gave her “unconditional love and support” over the years.
“I trusted him and we worked together with an almost magic energy. I’ll never forget those moments those feelings when I would float down the stairs to the dressing room after our scenes,” she recalled. “I’m so grateful for the opportunity I had to experience that joy. I will miss him always. A great light has dimmed in my life. And for all who knew him.”
Christopher starred as Carlo — and, later, his quieter twin brother Mortimer Bern — in over 50 episodes of
One Life to Live from 1991 until 2008. His powerful onscreen presence as the no-nonsense mobster earned him a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor in 1992. He was nominated for a second time in 1993.
Born in Queens, N.Y., Christopher studied acting at the Neighborhood Playhouse before going on to land spotlight roles on television shows like
Movin’ On, Kojak, and
The Rookies throughout the 1970s. He also had a memorable turn as the silent half-man, half-bird person Hawk on season 2 of the popular sci-fi series
Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.
Christopher's other television credits include the ABC soap opera
Loving, for which he was also nominated for a Daytime Emmy in 1993, as well as stints on
Guiding Light, Murder, She Wrote, T.J. Hooker, and Law & Order.
