Thomas Andrew Long (3 August 1968 – 4 January 2020) was an Australian film and television actor. He played court official and avid surfer Angus in the late 1990s TV series ''

SeaChange ''SeaChange'' is an Australian television program that ran from 1998 to 2000 on the ABC and in 2019 on the Nine Network. It was created by Andrew Knight and Deborah Cox and starred Sigrid Thornton, David Wenham, William McInnes, John Howard ...

'' and Brenden Abbott in the 2003 Australian TV movie '' The Postcard Bandit''.

Early life

Long was born on 3 August 1968 in

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, as his Australian parents were visiting there at the time. On their return to Australia he grew up on a farm near

Benalla Benalla is a small city in the Hume (region), Hume region of Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The town sits on the Broken River (Victoria), Broken River, about north east of the state capital Melbourne. As of the , the population wa ...

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. He worked as a jackaroo and shearer after attending Geelong Grammar School, before going abroad, travelling to

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

, the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

, and

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

. After returning to Australia, Long successfully auditioned for a place at the

National Institute of Dramatic Art The National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) is an Australian educational institution for the performing arts based in Sydney, New South Wales. Founded in 1958, it offers bachelor's, master's and vocational degrees in subjects including acting ...

, graduating in 1994.

Career

Long appeared in several Australian television series, most notably the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is Australia’s principal public service broadcaster. It is funded primarily by grants from the federal government and is administered by a government-appointed board of directors. The ABC is ...

(ABC) hit ''

'' (1998–2000) and the

Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...

police drama '' Young Lions'' (2002). He appeared in the Australian films '' Two Hands'' (1999) and ''

The Dish ''The Dish'' is a 2000 Australian historical drama, historical comedy-drama film that tells the story of the Parkes Observatory's role in relaying live television of humanity's first steps on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. It wa ...

'' (2000). Long played

Brenden Abbott Brenden James Abbott (born 8 May 1962) is a convicted Australian bank robber. He is reported to have stolen and hidden millions of dollars, and was dubbed "the postcard bandit" by police seeking media coverage.Nyst, Chris (defence lawyer"The ...

in the 2003 telemovie '' The Postcard Bandit'' and appeared in the film ''

The Book of Revelation The Book of Revelation, also known as the Book of the Apocalypse or the Apocalypse of John, is the final book of the New Testament, and therefore the final book of the Christian Bible. Written in Greek, its title is derived from the first w ...

''. He also appeared in '' The Last of the Ryans'', ''

Doing Time for Patsy Cline Do, DO or D.O. may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Music * ''Do'' (Do album), 2004 * ''Do'' (Psychostick album), 2018 * "Do", a song by the White Stripes from the 1999 album ''The White Stripes'' * C (musical note), or Do ** fixed do and ...

'', '' Do or Die'', ''

Risk In simple terms, risk is the possibility of something bad happening. Risk involves uncertainty about the effects/implications of an activity with respect to something that humans value (such as health, well-being, wealth, property or the environ ...

'', '' Heroes' Mountain: The Thredbo Story'', '' Black Jack: Ghosts'', '' Joanne Lees: Murder in the Outback'', and ''

East of Everything East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth. Etymology As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that eas ...

'', and '' Woodley.'' Long stopped acting after he collapsed on stage during a performance of the play ''Coranderrk: We Will Show the Country'' at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

in July 2012.

Personal life

Long was in a long-term relationship with actress

Rachael Maza Rachael Zoa Maza , also credited as Rachael Maza Long, is an Indigenous Australian television and film actress, and stage director. She is known for her role in the 1998 film ''Radiance'', and worked with Company B and Wesley Enoch in Sydney fo ...

, breaking up in 1998 just before the birth of their son, Ariel. The couple reunited in 2005, after Maza and Ariel survived a deadly car accident, albeit with serious injuries. Long married Rebecca Fleming in February 2019. Long was diagnosed in 2012 with

multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibody, antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone ...

, an incurable blood cancer. He underwent

chemotherapy Chemotherapy (often abbreviated chemo, sometimes CTX and CTx) is the type of cancer treatment that uses one or more anti-cancer drugs (list of chemotherapeutic agents, chemotherapeutic agents or alkylating agents) in a standard chemotherapy re ...

and received a

stem cell transplant Hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation (HSCT) is the transplantation of multipotent hematopoietic stem cells, usually derived from bone marrow, peripheral blood, or umbilical cord blood, in order to replicate inside a patient and produce a ...

to treat the disease. In December 2018, Long was given an updated prognosis of 3–12 months to live. In March 2019, Long travelled to

Seattle, Washington Seattle ( ) is the List of municipalities in Washington, most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the List of Unit ...

, to undergo a medical trial, after which he was pronounced "cancer free". On 4 January 2020, Long died of

encephalitis Encephalitis is inflammation of the Human brain, brain. The severity can be variable with symptoms including reduction or alteration in consciousness, aphasia, headache, fever, confusion, a stiff neck, and vomiting. Complications may include se ...

at age 51.

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

*
Interview : Web Wombat Movie Channel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Long, Tom Australian male film actors Australian male television actors Male actors from Victoria (state) National Institute of Dramatic Art alumni Male actors from Boston People from Benalla 1968 births 2020 deaths People with multiple myeloma Deaths from encephalitis