Steve Tracy

Steve Tracy
Born
Steven Crumrine

October 3, 1952
Canton, Ohio, US
DiedNovember 27, 1986(1986-11-27) (aged 34)
Tampa, Florida, US
OccupationActor
Years active1977–1986

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.

Biography

Life and education

Tracy 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

Tracy 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

Tracy 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

Film and television
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

  1. ^ "Biography". Steve Tracy. Archived from the original on June 19, 2019. Retrieved April 28, 2017.
  2. ^ Arngrim, Allison (2010). Confessions of a Prairie Bitch. New York: Harper-Collins. p. 260. ISBN 9780062000101.
  3. ^ Sandra Kreiswirth. "AIDS/US dramatizes crisis in unique way", Daily Breeze, 4 April 1986, page E24.
  4. ^ "How Nellie Oleson Became an AIDS Activist". The Advocate. June 16, 2010. Retrieved June 17, 2010.