Tom Troupe, Stage and Screen Actor Who Appeared in ‘Star Trek’ and ‘Cagney & Lacey,’ Dies at 97

Tom Troupe, a stage and screen actor who appeared in dozens of projects in the late 1990s, such as My Own Private Idaho, Star Trek, Cagney & Lacey and Mission: Impossible, has died. He was 97.

He died five days after his birthday at his Beverly Hills home due to natural causes, a family spokesperson announced.

Born on July 15, 1928, in Kansas City, Missouri, Troupe began his acting career in local theater productions before moving to New York City in 1948. He went on to study at the acting school, Herbert Berghof Studio, after receiving a scholarship from legendary actress and teacher Uta Hagen.

After serving in the Korean War, where he was awarded a Bronze Star, Troupe returned to NYC and made his Broadway debut in 1957 as Peter van Daan in The Diary of Ann Frank, also starring Joseph Schildkraut.

The following year, he moved to Los Angeles, where he went on to appear in dozens of films and TV shows throughout the 1960s, ’70s, ’80s and ’90s. His acting credits included The Fugitive, Mission: Impossible, The Wild, Wild West, Star Trek, Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman, Cagney & Lacey, CHiPs, Knots Landing, Murder, She Wrote, Cheers, The Big Fisherman, The Devil’s Brigade, Kelly’s Heroes, Summer School and My Own Private Idaho.

As for other stage performances, he also co-starred alongside his wife, Carole Cook, in The Lion in Winter, Fathers Day and The Gin Game. Elsewhere, Troupe appeared in the national tour of Same Time Next Year, co-starring Barbara Rush, the Broadway production of Romantic Comedy, starring Mia Farrow, and his one-actor play The Diary of a Madman, which he co-wrote.

Survivors include his son, Christopher Troupe, and daughter-in-law Becky Coulter, granddaughter Ashley Troupe and several nieces and nephews. His wife, Cook, died in 2023.

In lieu of flowers, requests for donations have been made to either the Entertainment Community Fund or the Pasadena Humane Society.