Tom Hulce

American stage actor Tom Hulce made his film debut in September 30, 1955 (1977) -- the title referred to the day James Dean died -- and attained his first starring role as Larry Kroger in National Lampoon's Animal House (1978). The sincerity of his portrayal was somewhat lost in the enthusiasm over co-star John Belushi, but Hulce was impressive enough to be cast in Those Lips, Those Eyes (1980), a heartfelt tribute to summer theater actors. Four years later, Hulce was selected over several possible candidates to play Mozart in Amadeus (1984), earning an Oscar nomination for his virtuoso portrayal of the outrageous, immature musical genius. Again, however, the honors went to a co-star, in this case F. Murray Abraham, who won an Oscar for his performance as Mozart's vindictive nemesis Salieri. Few of Hulce's subsequent roles took as full advantage of his gifts as did Amadeus, though the actor had some good moments as a family "black sheep" in Ron Howard's Parenthood (1989) and a sleazy, ambulance-chasing lawyer in Peter Weir's Fearless (1993). Hulce has also occasionally shown up on television, notably in Murder in Mississippi, a 1990 TV movie about three martyred civil rights workers.

~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide