The Only Major Actors Still Alive From The Original Tron Movie
A lot of sci-fi films helped shape the genre into what it is today, but perhaps none of them are as underrated as the 1982 film "Tron." The original entry into a franchise that would come to span several decades was studded with soon-to-be stars like the incomparable Jeff Bridges, who would go on to earn an Academy Award.
Bridges stars in the action-adventure as Kevin Flynn, a video game developer who gets trapped inside his own software and has to interact with the programs inside his computer's main frame to escape. Digital technology was still emerging in the 1980s, and computers were relegated to those with a proclivity for science. All that is to say, the public wasn't ready for a movie filled with symbolic computer metaphors, and the film was not a success.
However, as computers began to rise in popularity, so too did "Tron." Early web users looked back on the film fondly and saw it as a prescient commentary on a technology that would soon take over our lives. By 2010, computers were a part of everyday life, and it felt like the perfect time for a revival. Several actors from the original film reprised their roles for that year's legacy sequel, "Tron: Legacy," but not everyone survived long enough to see the original film's resurgence in popularity.
Thankfully, some of the actors who starred in the original "Tron" film are still alive and have thriving careers in 2024. Luckily for you, I did a bit of digging so you don't have to.
Jeff Bridges (Kevin Flynn)
Jeff Bridges was born into a family of actors. He joined his father Lloyd Bridges onscreen as an infant in the 1951 movie "The Company She Keeps" and again as a young child in his action series "Sea Hunt." A young Bridges continued acting into his young adulthood, snagging small roles in series like "Lassie" and renowned films like Peter Bogdanovich's "The Last Picture Show." Bridges' supporting role in the Bogdanovich film earned him his first Academy Award nomination in 1972. The actor soon earned another nomination in the same category for his work in "Thunderbolt and Lightfoot." It's safe to say his star was already on the rise when he landed the lead role in the 1982 sci-fi "Tron."
After "Tron," Bridges went on to star in acclaimed movies like the Coen Brothers' "The Big Lebowski" and "True Grit." The actor even won an Oscar in 2010 for his lead role in "Crazy Heart." The same year, he reprised his role as Kevin Flynn in "Tron: Legacy," although he was hesitant to revisit the franchise at first.
"I have hesitation making any kind of decision, really in my life," he told CinemaBlend in 2010. "I'm really slow at it. [...] I have difficulty making a decision. But I really resisted. With this one, I said, 'Oh God, are we going to pull it off?' I could see all the technology and everything, but are they going to be able to pull it off right? And Disney did a beautiful job of that."
"Tron: Legacy" wasn't exactly well-received, but the reboot's mixed reception hasn't stopped Bridges from booking more impressive roles. Most recently, he starred in the Emmy-nominated action series "The Old Man," which premiered in 2022. The actor is getting to be a bit of an old man himself these days at 74 years old but remains active.
Bruce Boxleitner (Tron, Alan Bradley)
Boxleitner got his start on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" as a single-episode guest star. Soon after, he had a recurring spot on "Hawaii Five-O" and became a series regular on the short-lived Emmy-nominated series "How the West Was Won." Although the young actor had previously played several roles in television series and made-for-TV movies, the 1982 film "Tron" was his very first time on the silver screen.
Soon after starring in "Tron," Boxleitner continued to work primarily in television. The same year that "Tron" was released," he starred in the single-season adventure series "Bring 'Em Back Alive." He has since continued to act in film and television and has appeared in shows like "Heroes," "Supergirl" and "NCIS." Most notably, he starred in the sci-fi show "Babylon 5" as John Sheridan.
Although Boxleitner went on to have a successful career, "Tron" didn't exactly launch him into stardom. It wasn't until later that the film started to develop a cult following.
"The original ['Tron'] movie is more popular now than it ever was in the 1980s, for many, many reasons," the actor said in a 2012 interview with Collider. The main reason, according to Boxleitner, is that "Tron" was simply ahead of its time. "I think 'Tron' came along at a time just before all of this gadgetry that we have now," he continued. "In its own naive, sweet way, it predicted a world unlike a lot of science fiction that took us places we would never actually experience."
Boxleitner appeared in "Tron: Legacy" alongside Bridges and voice-acted for several other entries in the "Tron" franchise, including the 2012 animated series "Tron: Uprising" and several videogames. Boxleitner also penned two science fiction novels, titled "Frontier Earth" and "Searcher." He recently reprised his "Babylon 5" role in the animated film "Babylon 5: The Road Home." The actor is 73 as of February 2024.
Dan Shor (Ram)
Shor is the actor behind Roy Kleinberg, an ENCOM employee, and close friend and ally of "Tron" main characters Troy and Flynn. Kleinberg develops a program to help his friends called Ram, which Shor also embodies. "Tron" was one of the earliest roles in Shor's career, but he had already been acting for a few years and had landed several small roles in TV movies and series.
He continued working in film and television through the '80s and even snagged the role of Billy the Kid in the 1989 comedy "Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure." Shor went on to have guest spots on major television series like "The X-Files" and "Star Trek: Voyager." He even reprised his role as Roy Kleinberg in the 2011 short film "Tron: The Next Day." Shor recently appeared in an episode of "Jessica Jones" in 2019 and an episode of "The Blacklist" in 2022. At age 67, he is clearly still landing roles on successful shows today.
Peter Jurasik (Crom)
Before he was Crom in the 1982 sci-fi "Tron," Jurasik got his start as a television actor. His very first role was a guest spot on the '70s sit-com "Family," and he quickly followed it up with single-episode appearances in acclaimed series like "Taxi" and "M*A*S*H." He went on to become a fixture of '80s television with small roles on shows like "MacGyver," "Night Court," and "Columbo."
In the '90s, Jurasik went on to appear in "Babylon 5" alongside his "Tron" co-star Boxleitner. His performance as Londo Mollari in the sci-fi series would become the defining role of his career, and he went on to reprise it in the 2023 animated movie "Babylon 5: The Road Home." This was Jurasik's most recent role, although he did guest star in the live-action period drama series "Mercy Street" in 2017. Although Jurasik has not publicly announced any upcoming projects, he may be still acting today.
Stuart Thomas (Sark Lieutenant, Peter)
Ed Dillinger's assistant Peter, as well as Sark's lieutenant, is played by the elusive Stuart Thomas. Thomas used to go by the stage name Tony Stephano, which is the name he is credited with for his work in "Trom." His filmography is short but spans several decades. After working in modeling, Thomas made his onscreen acting debut in "The Reincarnation of Peter Proud" as Jeff Curtis in 1975. He followed it up with a standout performance in "Tron" in 1982.
Years later, he reprised his acting career for just one small part in the 2006 crime film "Bristol Boys." Thomas plays a rehab counselor in the movie and is, again, credited as Tony Stephano. Thomas seemingly doesn't act anymore, and it's unknown what he's up to today. He never reprised his "Tron" role in any of the subsequent reboots or video games. However, his role was so small that it's unclear whether he turned down an offer to return or was simply never asked.