Hit-run victim an 'actor's actor,' devout Joyce fan

THERE WASN'T a lot of information available last night on the scumbag who ran down Michael Toner early yesterday and kept driving.

But there was plenty of information available on Toner, a talented actor whose love of James Joyce is well-known - he had even carried a copy of Ulysses with him as a young soldier trekking through the jungles of Vietnam.

Last night, Toner, 68, was in critical condition at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, hours after someone hit him as he tried to cross a rain-soaked street in Center City.

The damage was so severe, doctors had to amputate his right leg, police said.

He was unresponsive, unable to tell the police and his loved ones what had happened.

"We have no description of a vehicle and no witnesses, making things very difficult," Capt. John Wilczynski, head of police's Accident Investigation Division, said yesterday.

"Our officers are canvassing that area, going up and down to find some kind of video footage."

A passer-by saw Toner, a Mayfair native now living in Holmesburg, laying in the middle of Market Street near 11th at about 1 a.m. and called 9-1-1, according to Wilczynski. Medics at the scene were unable to rouse Toner, but found that his injuries "were consistent" with a hit-and-run crash, he said.

Aside from that, and until the Vietnam War veteran is healthy enough to speak with investigators, police have little to go on - there was no physical evidence left behind from the car after it sped away.

But detectives weren't the only ones desperate for answers. Members of the city's tight-knit fraternity of actors and performers were distraught last night, hearing that one of their own was so grievously injured.

"We've all been in shock all day; it's hard to know what to say or do," said Mimi Kenney Smith, the director of the Amaryllis Theatre Company.

Toner is a mainstay with the tiny troupe - he's starred in six of its productions, specializing in plays penned by Irish scribes, Kenney Smith said.

"He's a warm, loving, kind person," she added. "And he's an actor's actor, someone who's very committed to his work."

He's had turns as Vladimir in "Waiting for Godot" and Knacker in "Rock Doves." More recently, Toner had taken up the role of David Simpson, a blind playwright, in his autobiographical "Crossing the Threshold into the House of Bach."

Simpson and Toner worked together in the past, and Toner jumped at the chance to play Simpson, Kenney Smith said.

She last saw Toner a few hours before the crash, as they were wrapping up rehearsal for "Crossing the Threshold," which has been canceled.

They said goodbye and chatted about the next day's technical run-through, with the added benefit of stage lights and sound. She awoke not long after to the news of the crash.

Last night, at a private gathering inside the Rosenbach Museum and Library, on Delancey Place near 20th Street in Center City, Toner's friends raised a glass for him.

Derick Dreher, the museum's director, had coincidentally planned a small gathering for his "Bloomsday" readers - a group of performers who volunteer to recite passages of Joyce's Ulysses during the annual event, held June 16, the day that the epic novel is set.

Toner had been one of the "more popular readers" for almost 23 years, Dreher told the Daily News last night.

"He's the utility infielder who you can give an extra passage to in a moment's notice because someone didn't show up," Dreher said.

"He has a special gift for sharing the humanity of the book."

Dreher had planned on inviting Toner to read a few passages at last night's gathering, only to learn the hard way that his colleague was unavailable.

"I'm hoping someway, somehow, we can bring a little bit of Bloomsday to his hospital bed next week," he said.

"Nobody deserves it more."