Anthony Jackovich of Round Pond, 101 years old, died Dec. 7 2024 in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

He was born Dec. 6, 1923 on a farm in Iowa near a coal mine, Tony experienced the brutal winters, the Depression, and life in a family torn apart by hard times.

Tony and his brother, Joe, were sent to the Minnesota State Public School for Dependent and Neglected Children in Owatonna. The experience taught him one thing: how to survive. He was encouraged by his teachers to pursue his dream of becoming a painter. At Owatonna, he became a welterweight boxing champion and a skilled artist. His early art earned him a place at the prestigious school of The Art Institute of Chicago. Many artists, including Georgia O’Keefe, studied there.

With the breakout of war, his art lessons were cut short, and Tony joined the U.S. Navy where he served honorably in the South Pacific. Back in Chicago after the war, he lived with his sister, drove a cab, tended bar on Rush Street, and then ran his own jazz club where Charlie Parker often played, all to help pay for lessons at the Art Institute.

With the new GI Bill, Tony went to Paris to study more traditional methods of French impressionist painting. First at the Ecole Superieur Nationale de Beaux Arts, and then at the Académie Julian and the Académie de la Grande Chaumiere. While in Paris, he formed life-long friendships with other American expat painters, writers, musicians, and actors. Tony also started acting while in France, many times under the name Tony Jarvis. He landed parts in French films, often as the tough guy. On his way as an American actor in France, he appeared in films with Kirk Douglas and in the 1953 French film noir, “Poison Ivy” (“La Môme vert de Gris”) with Eddie Constantine. His big break was a part in the film, “Beat the Devil,” being shot in Italy by John Huston and Humphrey Bogart. Missing his train connection in Rome, he finally arrived on the set but Bogart said it was too late. Due to their tight schedule, the script writer, Truman Capote, had to cut Tony’s part from the picture. “C’est la vie,” said Tony. “I really didn’t want to act. I wanted to paint.”

Undaunted, he continued his art studies in Paris. With the sale of his artworks, Tony began saving money to return to the States, and then signed on with the Merchant Marine to fully fund his trip home. The journey took him to Durban, South Africa where he met Sheila, the woman he claimed he had once seen in a dream. They were married and not long after moved to California. When their first child was born, they moved to London where Tony designed leather bags and shoes for fashion icon Mary Quant, known for inventing the miniskirt, hot pants and waterproof mascara.

They finally settled in New York City, home to many of Tony’s friends and old friends from Paris. This included actor, painter and author Jack Kennedy, American actor Jess Hahn, Black actress Hilda Simms, sculptor and Greenwich Village legend Jack Giasullo, sculptors Kosta Alex and George Spaventa, French clown and American actor Billy Beck, the writer Bill Welborne, author and actress Patience “Patsy” Cleveland, comedian Larry Eisler, and actor artist Anthony Quinn among many others. Once a month they gathered in Sheila and Tony’s apartment on the Lower East Side to talk about art, films and reminisce about the days in Paris.

With a growing family to support, and when painting sales were slow, he supplemented his income as an engineer and mariner with the Merchant Marine. In the early ’70s, now with their three children in tow, Tony drove the family up to Maine one summer where he wanted to paint the lighthouses that dot the coast. Passing through the small village of Round Pond, they saw a house that was once a hotel in the 1800s. They immediately fell in love with it. The door was open and the house was completely empty except for a box that had photos and brochures of Durban, South Africa where his wife Sheila had grown up. Call it destiny… it was a sign and they bought the house in 1971.

After spending several months renovating the house while preserving its old-world charm, Tony up and moved the family from New York City. He built a large art studio and this was now his family’s home and base to always go back to while traveling.

Not long after, Tony was invited to exhibit at the prestigious 147th annual Exhibition of the National Academy of Design in New York. Today, his paintings hang in museums and in many well-known collections. He exhibited in several important shows throughout America. Tony’s painting style has been called a melding of realist and impressionist techniques. Subjects include portraits, nudes, landscapes, seascapes, and, religious clergy. The paint is carefully layered to adjust warmth and specific areas through under painting. Glazing further alters the tone and gives a feeling of depth. Tony’s artwork was influenced by Rembrandt, Vermeer, Tiepolo and Boudin. He also worked in bronze, hand forging small sculptures in his studio. Over the past years, Tony continued to paint and travel abroad, spending winters in Thailand with his wife Sheila.

He is survived by his wife Sheila, and three children, Gina Perry, formerly of Boothbay, Ivan Jackovich, Tonia Gracie and four grandchildren.

A memoir of Tony’s life is in the works by local Round Pond writer, Mark Jespers