Tom McDermott

2 min read

Tom McDermott (July 20, 1912, McHenry, Illinois -- March 6, 1996, New York City) was an American stage, television, and film actor with a career spanning more than six decades.¹ He is best remembered for his extensive work on Broadway and for originating the television role of the alien Permes Lykos on Captain Video and His Video Rangers in the early 1950s, a character later described as a forerunner to Mr. Spock of Star Trek.¹ In film, he is known to Ghostbusters fans for portraying the Archbishop in the 1984 original.²

Tom McDermott - GBFans.com Wiki | GBFans.com

Early Life

McDermott was born on July 20, 1912, in McHenry, Illinois. He began his acting training as a student in Chicago, where he developed the stage craft that would define a 64-year professional career.¹

Career

McDermott built his reputation primarily in the theater, accumulating a substantial Broadway resume over several decades. Among his most notable stage credits:¹

Three Sisters (Chekhov): appeared alongside Katharine Cornell and Judith Anderson in one of the prestige productions of the era.
The Best Man: shared the stage with Melvyn Douglas in Gore Vidal's political drama.
Macbeth: appeared with Nicol Williamson.
Mastergate (1989): Larry Gelbart's political satire, in which McDermott played the harried Secretary of State.

Off-Broadway, he originated the role of Captain Vere in the first stage adaptation of Herman Melville's Billy Budd.¹

His television career began in the earliest days of broadcast television. From 1949 to 1955 he appeared in Captain Video and His Video Rangers, playing the recurring alien character Permes Lykos -- a role critics later recognized as an early precursor to the Vulcan science officer Mr. Spock in Star Trek.¹ His television work continued across more than four decades, including a 1973 production of Much Ado About Nothing.²

His film appearances include:²

Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986)
Liebestraum (1991)
The Crucible (1996), which was released posthumously the same year he died

Ghostbusters

McDermott appeared in Ghostbusters (1984) in the role of the Archbishop², seen during the Chapter 24 "Biblical" sequence. The scene features the Ghostbusters appearing before New York City officials, including the Archbishop among the assembled city and religious figures, as the Mayor decides how to respond to the supernatural threat gripping Manhattan.

Death

Tom McDermott died on March 6, 1996, in New York City, from prostate cancer. He was 83 years old. An obituary published in the Deseret News on March 17, 1996, noted that his career had lasted 64 years and that he had started out as a student in Chicago before rising to prominent roles on and off Broadway.¹

References

Some content on this page was researched using the Ghostbusters Wiki on Fandom.

Deseret News, "TOM MCDERMOTT DIES AT 83 AFTER 64-YEAR ACTING CAREER" (March 17, 1996), https://www.deseret.com/1996/3/17/19231098/tom-mcdermott-dies-at-83-after-64-year-acting-career/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷

IMDb, "Tom McDermott," accessed 2026-06-13, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0567582/ ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴

Tom McDermott

Report a bug

Tom McDermott

Sign up free to join the GBFans.com community.

Sign up free to join the GBFans.com community.

Early Life

Career

Ghostbusters

Death

References

Sign up free to join the GBFans.com community.

Sign up free to join the GBFans.com community.

Early Life

Career

Ghostbusters

Death

References

Footnotes