The Higgins family hails from Fall River, Massachusetts. Thomas R. Higgins was with Special Services during World War II. His father, Thomas H., was a flyman during the 1920s and 30s working with such notable performers as Maurice Evans, the Marx Brothers, and Eddie Cantor. His brother, Robert, was a writer and an actor in the 1950s appearing on television in Omnibus, Lamp Unto My Feet, and Studio One, in the national company of Tea and Sympathy, and on Broadway in Auntie Mame .
From the guide to the Higgins Family papers, 1923-1971, (The New York Public Library. Billy Rose Theatre Division.)