Philip McKeon

 

Philip Anthony McKeon was born in Westbury, New York on November 11, 1964.  When he was four years old, his parents took him and his sister Nancy, age 2, to a modeling audition, the first step in what would become two very lucrative Hollywood careers.

He began working as a child model, appearing in magazines, newspapers, and television commercials.  This led him to the Broadway stage, where in 1974, he was spotted by actress Linda Lavin, who had recently filmed a television pilot based on the Martin Scorcese film Alice Doesn't Live Here Anymore.  Although actor Alfred Lutter had reprised his theatrical role of Tommy Hyatt for the proposed new series, Lavin recommended McKeon to producers, and the role was recast.

When the series ended in 1985, McKeon continued working in Hollywood, mostly in a string of low-budget horror films, including Return to Horror High (1987), 976-EVIL 2 (1992) and Ghoulies IV (1994).

In the early 2000s, he began working in radio.  He began his new career working in the news department at 980 AM in Los Angeles.  He eventually relocated to Wimberley, Texas, where he hosted his own morning show called The Breakfast Taco on 94.3 FM.

Philip McKeon died on December 10, 2019, after a long, as-yet-unspecified illness.  He was just 55 years old.  He was laid to rest at Saint John Cemetery and Mausoleum in Queens, New York.

Rest in peace.

Trivia

• McKeon was cremated, and his ashes were buried in the same plot as his father Donald, who had died a mere six weeks earlier.
  
  
• McKeon was a frequent guest at the Chiller Theatre convention in Parsippany, New Jersey, where this blogger saw him shortly before his death.
  
  
• Saint John Cemetery is also known as "The Mafia Cemetery," and was the subject of a recent blog post here at Six Feet Under Hollywood.