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"Where is she?"
—Tom Rogan, threatening Kay McCall

Tom Rogan is a minor antagonist in the Stephen King 1986 horror novel IT, its miniseries adaptation, and the film adaptation IT: Chapter Two He is the abusive, violent, and sadistic ex-husband of Beverly Marsh. Ironically, Rogan is in many ways like Marsh's abusive father

He was portrayed by Ryan Michael in the 1990 miniseries and by Will Beinbrink in the 2019 sequel.

Background[]

After Beverly is called back to Maine to fight Pennywise again, she finally stands up to Tom and leaves him. Tom had refused to let Beverly leave to fulfill her promise and began to beat her with a leather belt. Beverly fights back more furiously than Tom expects and she finally hits him in the mouth and crotch with the belt after she seizes it from him.

In a rage, Tom tortures Beverly's best friend Kay into revealing where she went and follows her to Maine, bent on revenge. In the novel, he dies of shock after seeing Pennywise's true form, but in the film, he is not seen again after Beverly leaves him.

IT (Novel)[]

Tom has a very predatory view of women, and he thrives on the control he has over his vulnerable wife. He sees Beverly as a sexual object and uses Beverly's chain smoking as disgusting habit and an excuse to beat her. However, his abuse of her proves to be his undoing. When Beverly tries to leave for Derry to keep the promise she'd made in 1958, Tom, also on a bender after drinking too much while watching the Chicago White Sox lose a game earlier that evening, refuses to let her go, giving her a "whuppin" her with an old leather belt he keeps specifically for such incidents. Tom is surprised when the normally docile Beverly fights back violently, throwing bottles of perfume and other objects on her vanity. She manages to tip the heavy piece of furniture over on him, momentarily pinning him to the floor. While he is temporarily incapacitated, she is able to snatch the dropped belt and beats him viciously with it, finally hitting in both the mouth and his crotch, stopping him cold and leaving him in pain on the bedroom floor. Beverly quickly flees the house as he screams at her, suddenly realizing she'd forgotten to grab a single pair of shoes. 

Tom, desperate to find his wife, beats one of her friends until he finds out that Beverly is in Derry. Flying out of Chicago while obsessively handling one of Bill's novels, Tom arrives in Boston and tries to rent a car. Seeing his horrifically scarred face, car rental agents refuse to rent him a vehicle. Unfazed, Tom looks through the local want-ads and buys a clunker from a young teenager and steals the plates from another car in long-term parking. Tom drives to Derry with the intent of killing Beverly after making her eat a whole carton of cigarettes, and possibly her "writer friend" Bill Denbrough, whom Tom assumes she is sleeping with. But in Derry, he meets It who hypnotizes him.

When he gets there, It uses Tom to capture Audra Phillips and bring her to Its lair under the city. Upon seeing It in its true form, Tom drops dead in shock and is devoured by by the creature.

In the novel, King provides a brief history of both Tom's past and his history with Beverly: Tom himself had grown up fatherless with an abusive mother who invested Tom as a patriarch of the family at a very young age after his father suddenly abandoned his wife and kids. Consequently, Tom's mother would punish him harshly if he failed to perform any chores associated with his younger siblings, beatings she called "whuppings". He meets Beverly after she'd moved to Chicago; the two met at the party of a mutual friend and discovered they worked in the same building. Tom immediately sees that Beverly is both beautiful and very talented at designing fashionable clothes that appeal to college-aged students. When the two form their own company, they become quite successful and wealthy together. In the interim period, Tom becomes overweight, has budding heart trouble and became a heavy drinker, making him increasingly dangerous.

IT (Miniseries)[]

In the miniseries, he is portrayed by actor Ryan Michael.

In Chicago, Illinois, fashion designer Beverly Marsh receives word from her secretary that she has a call. Her partner, Tom Rogan, interrupts and says they're not to be interrupted. After a moment, Beverly agrees. After the secretary leaves, Tom notes that his girlfriend is scared, adjusts her hair, and tells her to get herself under control for a meeting with their Japanese investors. They kiss and start to go, and Tom tells Beverly never to contradict him again.

The meeting goes well and that night, Tom and Beverly celebrate in bed. Tom goes to get more champagne and the phone rings. It's Mike Hanlon, and he tells her to brace herself. A minute later, Tom comes in and asks who was on the phone and finds Beverly packing. She explains she has to go to Maine and mentions Mike. Thinking that Beverly is leaving him for "some old boyfriend", Tom immediately slaps her and tells her to shut up, and says that she's forgotten his lessons. He takes a belt out of the wardrobe and prepares to beat her, and Beverly tells him to put it down and that there is trouble in Maine. When he orders her to unpack, Beverly starts throwing things from the dresser at him and finally hits him in the head with a jar, closes the suitcase and tells him that if he ever comes after her like that again, she would kill him. He tells Beverly she needs him and screams "BEEEEV!!!!!" as she leaves, and is never seen again.

IT (Film)[]

In the film he is portrayed by actor Will Beinbrink. When Beverly receives Mike's call, he initially appears calm about her request to leave but swiftly accuses her of cheating on him with Mike without establishing or believing that she is doing anything with Mike. After Beverly fights him off and walks out of their house, he never appears again in the film, apart from a brief reference to the name of his and Beverly's design company.

Appearances[]

Trivia[]

  • In the novel and 2019 film, Tom and Beverly are married together; in the 1990 miniseries adaptation, Tom and Beverly are dating.
  • Richie comments that Beverly "married Henry Bowers," which she corrects in saying she married her father. Richie doesn't see the difference.
  • Despite Tom's death in the novel, he didn't die in the miniseries or the films.

Image Gallery[]

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