THOMAS WILLIAM SCHUSTER

Thomas William Schuster BEAUFORT, S.C. -Thomas William Schuster, 57, of 6 Todd Drive, Beaufort, S. C., passed away on December 15th, 2012, at Beaufort Memorial Hospital. Born in Honolulu, Hawaii, he was the son of John T. and the late Mary Lou Iversen Schuster. He was a graduate of West Florence High School in Florence, S. C. and Cameron University in Lawton, OK, where he developed the theatre department for the University. Tom is survived by his father, John T. Schuster, of Beaufort, his fiance‚, Debbie Capuchino, of Beaufort, two sisters, Terry Schuster Nash (Mike) of Beaufort and Janet Schuster Ray (Alan) of Columbia, and three brothers, Dr. Jim Schuster (Helene) of Florence, Bob Schuster (Phyllis) of Anderson, and Bill Schuster (Jane) of Florence. He is also survived by ten nieces and nephews, one great nephew, and hundreds of friends. All do and will sincerely miss Tom. Tom was president of Broad Reach Productions and has appeared in over 100 theatrical productions throughout the United States. He began his acting career at the Florence Little Theatre where he received the Irving Award for his first performance in The King and I. Other credits to his name include Fool for Love, Greater Tuna, Terra Nova, A Street Car Named Desire, True West, The Lion in Winter and many more. Schuster's last New York Stage Production came in 1987 with Sam Shepard's The Tooth Of Crime. His Film credits include The Swamp Thing, American Outlaws, Florida City, Zoo Shallow Grave, the Unholy, Someone Has to Shoot the Picture, Two for Texas, Running Cool and Psycho 4, The Beginning, Grizzly Adams and the Legend of Dark Mountain. He guest starred on several television series including Sheena, Superboy, and Super Force. He worked with Chuck Norris on Walker, Texas Ranger until Norris' retirement. Tom was especially proud of his Key to the City of Florence presented to him by the late Cooper Tedder, Mayor of Florence, S. C., for his performance in Swamp Thing, and his performance of Stanley in A Street Car named Desire at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D. C. Tom's hobbies included football, baseball, horseback riding, martial arts (black belt), sailing, scuba diving, riding his Harley Davidson, debating, and drumming. He was also a long-tail cat wrangler. Memorial services will be held on Saturday, December 29th, 2012, at 1:00 pm in Carl Anderson Memorial Chapel, Beaufort, S. C. In lieu of flowers, Tom would appreciate donations be made to one of his favorites, The Wounded Warrior's Organization.



This obituary was originally published in the Morning News (Florence, SC).