Actor Tom Long, best known from the original Seachange series and the film The Dish, has died at the age of 51.
Long was diagnosed with multiple myeloma in 2012. Last year he took part in an immunotherapy medical trial in Seattle last April, with 17 other patients. He was declared cancer free after several months.
His wife Rebecca Fleming told Nine newspapers that Long had died from encephalitis: “Over the seven years that Tom’s had cancer he’s fought hard and he’s tried all the different therapies as they’ve come out. The Car T-cell therapy that he took part in last year was the last hope for him. He achieved remission and he was so grateful.”
Born in the United States to Australian parents, Long grew up in country Victoria and studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA). His first TV credits included GP and The Leaving Of Liverpool, and his first major TV role was in the short-lived Network Ten soap Echo Point in 1995 (pictured with co-star Rebecca Murphy).
He then starred as court clerk Angus Kabiri in the top-rating ABC series Seachange in the late ’90s.
He played the lead role of notorious bank robber Brenden Abbott in the telemovie The Postcard Bandit in 2003.
He also starred in Young Lions, Blackjack, East Of Everything, Joanne Lees: Murder In The Outback, Two Twisted and Woodley.
The great Tom Long has left us. One of the finest actors Australia has ever been lucky to see. My heart goes out to his family. pic.twitter.com/MLkmnN7lCk
— The Curb (@TheCurbAU) January 4, 2020
Source: The Curb, Sydney Morning Herald, Sydney Morning Herald, IMDB, 10daily
I was very sad to read this yesterday. He was a great actor.