Steve Tracy (born Steven Crumrine; October 3, 1952 – November 27, 1986) was an American film and television actor. Tracy is best known for his role on Little House on the Prairie as Percival Dalton.
Steve Tracy | |
|---|---|
| Born | Steven Crumrine October 3, 1952 Canton, Ohio, US |
| Died | November 27, 1986 (aged 34) Tampa, Florida, US |
| Occupation | Actor |
| Years active | 1977–1986 |
Biography
editLife and education
editTracy was born as Steven Crumrine into a Jewish family.[1] He attended Kent State University in Kent, Ohio, and was a student in the Theatre Department at Los Angeles City College in Los Angeles, California, as well as the Harvey Lembeck Comedy Workshop.
Career
editTracy is best known for his recurring role as Percival Dalton in the television series Little House on the Prairie in the early 1980s.
After the end of the series, Tracy maintained a friendship with his on-screen wife Alison Arngrim (Nellie Oleson). Arngrim and Tracy were very close while filming on the set. During the series, there were rumors that he and Arngrim were having a love affair, but Arngrim says that was untrue. Arngrim has also stated that she was the only one on the set who knew that Tracy was gay.[2]
Tracy appeared in several films and other television programs from 1977 to 1986, including Quincy, M.E., The Jeffersons, and National Lampoon's Class Reunion. Six months before his death, he performed in the theater piece AIDS/US: Portraits in Personal Courage in Los Angeles. The piece featured true stories of having AIDS or losing family members to AIDS, with half the cast being heterosexual, at a time when AIDS still was stereotyped as affecting only gay men. Tracy was the only professional actor in the production, as all other participants were non-actors telling their stories on stage because "they wanted to say something."[3]
Death
editTracy died of AIDS-related complications on November 27, 1986, after which Arngrim became involved in AIDS activism.[4] His ashes were scattered under the Hollywood Sign in the Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles, under the letter "D".
Filmography
edit| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977 | Heavy Equipment | Chester | Feature film |
| 1978 | James at 15 | Ernie | Episode: "Queen of the Silver Dollar" |
| 1979 | Quincy, M.E. | Kid | Episodes: "Walk Softly Through the Night: Part 1 & 2" |
| Beneath the Valley of the Ultra-Vixens | Rhett | Feature film | |
| 1980–1981 | Little House on the Prairie | Percival Dalton | Semi-regular role (11 episodes) |
| 1981 | Desperate Moves | Andy Steigler | Feature film (aka Steigler and Steigler) |
| 1982 | The Jeffersons | Steve | Episode: "Jeffersons Greatest Hits" |
| National Lampoon's Class Reunion | Milt Friedman | Feature film | |
| 1984 | Party Games for Adults Only | Steven | Feature film |
| 1986 | Say Yes | Clerk | Feature film |
| 1987 | Tales from the Darkside | Robber | Episode: "Miss May Dusa", (posthumous release) |
References
edit- ^ "Biography". Steve Tracy. Archived from the original on June 19, 2019. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
- ^ Arngrim, Allison (2010). Confessions of a Prairie Bitch. New York: Harper-Collins. p. 260. ISBN 9780062000101.
- ^ Sandra Kreiswirth. "AIDS/US dramatizes crisis in unique way", Daily Breeze, 4 April 1986, page E24.
- ^ "How Nellie Oleson Became an AIDS Activist". The Advocate. June 16, 2010. Retrieved June 17, 2010.
