Tall, gaunt and grizzled character player of film and TV who has also enjoyed a significant career on the New York stage as an actor-director. Tending to stand out even in the smallest bits, Blossom convinces with his portrayals of addled oldsters, creepy hicks and lovable eccentrics. Steven Spielberg took notice of Blossom's special qualities and deployed them to memorable effect in several projects: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND (1977) where he plays a seemingly crazy rustic UFO enthusiast who proclaims "I saw Bigfoot once!;" GHOST TRAIN (NBC, 1985), the lavish Spielberg-directed premiere episode of "Amazing Stories," in which he steadfastly maintains that an overdue spectral locomotive will run through the pleasant suburban ranch house of his son's family; and ALWAYS (1989), as a raving hermit who is able to see the ghost of Richard Dreyfuss.

Young audiences know Blossom best from the blockbuster kidpic HOME ALONE (1990), as the possibly sinister neighbor of Macaulay Culkin who wields a mean snow shovel. Horror cultists fondly recall him in a rare starring role in DERANGED (1974), an unsavory shocker about a mother-obsessed Ed Gein-like farmer who kills and stuffs his mom and other folks. Blossom's other credits include Jonathan Demme's HANDLE WITH CARE (1977)/CITIZENS BAND, Don Siegel's ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ (1979), John Carpenter's CHRISTINE (1983) and Martin Scorsese's THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST (1988).

Blossom has also lent his distinctive presence to various TV series in indelible guest spots: he was a menacing hitchhiker in a savvy adaptation of Ray Bradbury's short story, "The Burning Man" (CBS, 1985), on the revival of "The Twilight Zone;" he gave a moving firsthand account of the founding of Cicely on an outstanding episode of "Northern Exposure" (CBS, 1992); and he shone as a sickly landlocked farmer who dreams of going to sea in the Michael Apted-directed pilot of "Crossroads" (ABC, 1992).

Filmografie Roberts Blossom

1971   THE HOSPITAL        

1972   PLEASE STAND BY   

1972   SLAUGHTERHOUSE-FIVE     

1974   DERANGED    

1974   THE GREAT GATSBY 

1977   CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND 

1977   HANDLE WITH CARE/CITIZENS BAND       

1979   ESCAPE FROM ALCATRAZ   

1980   RESURRECTION       

1981   FAMILY REUNION     

1982   JOHNNY BELINDA     

1983   CHRISTINE    

1983   REUBEN, REUBEN     

1984   FLASHPOINT 

1985   VISION QUEST        

1987   CANDY MOUNTAIN   

1988   THE LAST TEMPTATION OF CHRIST         

1989   ALWAYS       

1990   HOME ALONE 

1991   DOC HOLLYWOOD    

1992   THE HABITATION OF DRAGONS     

1993   ARTHUR MILLER'S "THE AMERICAN CLOCK"

1993   MURDER IN THE HEARTLAND

1995   THE QUICK AND THE DEAD