{{Infobox person | name = Tom Gilson | image = Cropped_Photo_of_Tom_Gilson.jpg | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date|1934|1|6}} | birth_place = New York City, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|1962|10|6|1934|1|6}} | death_place = Van Nuys, California, U.S. | occupation = Actor | years_active = 1952–1962 | spouse = | website = }} {{Short description|American actor (1934–1962)}} {{for|the American football player|Tom Gilson (American football)}} {{No footnotes|date=August 2024}} '''Tom Gilson''' (New York City; January 6, 1934 – Van Nuys, California; October 6, 1962) was an American actor in TV and occasional films from the 1950s.

==Biography== Born in New York City, the tall, powerfully built Gilson played roles in TV western series such as ''Maverick'', ''Lawman'', ''Tales of Wells Fargo'', ''Bat Masterson'' and ''Cheyenne'', but perhaps his best-remembered part was in an episode of the classic sitcom ''The Phil Silvers Show'', in which he played a variation on Elvis Presley named "Elvin Pelvin." In 1960 Gilson appeared as Deputy Sheriff Babe Riker on ''Cheyenne'' in the episode titled "Alibi for the Scalped Man."{{citation needed|date=October 2019}}

Gilson married Saundra Edwards (both appear in the film ''The Crowded Sky'', he a passenger and she a flight attendant) in 1961 and they had a son, Tom Jr, but the marriage was stormy and ill-fated, and Edwards left Gilson and moved to her sister's house in Van Nuys, California. After apparent drunken behavior and death threats, Gilson broke into the house, and Edwards shot him dead, fearing for the safety of herself, her son from a previous marriage, and her baby son. Although a coroner's jury later judged the killing as justifiable homicide, Edwards' own career never recovered, and she never appeared in another film or TV program.{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}}

==Television== {| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" |- ! scope="col" | Year ! scope="col" | Title ! scope="col" | Role ! scope="col" | Notes |- |1959|| ''Wanted Dead or Alive'' || Tooney || season 2 episode 11 (''desert seed'') || |- |1960|| ''Wanted Dead or Alive'' || Frank || season 3 episode 4 (''The looters'') || |- |}

==References== *[http://www.glamourgirlsofthesilverscreen.com/show/80/Saundra+Edwards/index.html Glamour Girls of the Silver Screen] Sandra Edwards biography

==External links== *{{IMDb name|id=0319712|name=Tom Gilson}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Gilson, Tom}} Category:1934 births Category:1962 deaths Category:20th-century American male actors Category:American male film actors Category:American male television actors Category:Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Glendale) Category:Deaths by firearm in California Category:Male actors from New York City