One of five children born in Michigan to Donald and Sofka Ohmer, Tom learned from a young age to appreciate being an American. His mother, born in Bulgaria and raised in Austria, was interned by the Nazis during World War II. When the Americans liberated her and her family, she moved to the United States where she met his dad Donald who was serving in the U.S. Army. Growing up in Carmel, Indiana, Tom graduated from Carmel High School in 1974 then followed his father's footsteps and joined the U.S. Army. Three years later he attended Indiana University where he became a member of Beta Theta Pi Fraternity. His first taste of show business came after being selected to participate as a model in the IU all campus "Little 500 Fashion Show". When the motion picture Breaking Away started to film on IU's campus that summer, he obtained a small ro...