Tom Neal As A Handsome Second Feature Lead Star Tom Neal And Was Born Into A Wealthy Family In Evanston, Illinois In January 1914. The well Educated Neal Attended Northwestern University Where He Excelled On The Boxing Team And Graduated From Harvard Law School At The Age Of 24. Neal Never Intended To Practice Law But Wanted To Be An Actor Overall. After Doing Some Work In Summer Stock He Made His Broadway Debut In The Mid 1930s Right Before Starting Law School.

Tom Neil In The 1930s Went To Hollywood Was Put Under Contract To MGM. But The Studio Didn't Give Him A Big Build Up And Loaning Him Out Instead To Other Smaller Studios. After His Contract Ended In 1942 Neal Freelanced With Great Success Appearing In Films With Beautiful B Movie Queen Ann Savage. The war Years Proved To Be The Best Of Tom Neal's Film Career.

Tom Neal's Career Began To Sag A Bit After The End Of World War II Yet He Kept Getting Roles. What Ended Tom Neal Film Career Was A Scandal Surrounding His Involvement With Actress Barbara Payton. Barbara Payton Was Engaged To Actor Franchot Tone But Had A Roving Eye. She Began Seeing Tom Neal On The Sly Which Frankchot Tone Quickly Learned And There Was A Confrontation In September 1951 and Both Men Brawled Over Her Affections. Tone Caught The Worst Of The Fight And Was Hospitalized For Several Days And Required Plastic Surgery. Payton and Tone Married A Couple Of Weeks After The Altercation But Their Marriage Ended Anyway. Afterward Tom Neal And Barbara Payton Married But Did Not Last That Long.

Tom Neal's Acting Career Was Finished By The 1950s So He Moved To Palm Springs And Started A Successful Landscaping Business. Tom Neal Remarried In 1956 And Welcomed The Birth Of His Only Child A Son In 1957. Sadly, Tom Neal's Wife Passed Away The Following Year From Cancer. After His Wife's Death Tom Neal Attempted To Resume His Acting Career But Was Only Able To Land A Small Film Role And A Little Television Work.