Tom Griffith was born Thomas Boland Griffith in Baltimore, Maryland in 1945. He was a very typical street kid, raised by only his mother, his father dying when he was only 9 years of age. Griff (as he is known by most of his acquaintences) grew free of the negative neighborhood influences of his upbringing and went on to become a graphic artist and sometimes local voice over talent. When he was about 12 years old he would gather on the street corners near his home and sing DOOWOP songs with some of his friends. This led to him playing in several early rock and roll bands, generally fronting as the vocalist, but also playing tenor sax, keyboards and guitar along the way. After about 15 years, this interest waned and he tapped into his graphics abilities. After attempting several graphics businesses of his own, he found himself caught up in a college production of the Frank Loesser musical, They Knew What They Wanted, produced at Catonsville Community College in Baltimore. He played the singing postman and understudied for the lead. He was quickly bitten by the acting bug. Griff met and developed a friendship with the soon-to-be producer/director of The Alien Factor, Don Dohler, when they entered into a partnership to develop Cinemagic Magazine. Several other friends entered the core group and they soon found themselves deciding they could independently produce a feature film as easily as the next person. After considerable legal structuring and Dohler begging people for production investments, Griff became Sheriff Cinder in The Alien Factor. This was followed by the same character in Nightbeast and then a small part in Fiend. His Fiend involvement was more behind the camera. As is sometimes the case, the core group slowly drifted apart and the demise of Griff's B-Grade film career came to an end.
Baltimore filmaker Don Dohler does an update on his 1979 film "The Alien Factor" this time only a single alien(reptilian looking)crash landing near a small town and going on a rampage.