Rip Torn (born February 6, 1931) is an American
actor. His work includes the role of
Artie on
The Larry Sanders Show, for
which he was nominated for six Emmy awards, winning in 1996. Torn
also won an
American Comedy
Award for Funniest Supporting Male in a Series, and two
CableACE Awards for his work on
The Larry Sanders Show. He was also nominated for a
Satellite Award in 1997.
Early life
Torn was
born Elmore Rual Torn, Jr. in Temple, Texas
, the son of Thelma Mary (née Spacek) and Elmore Rual Torn,
an agriculturalist and economist. Being given the name "Rip" is a
family tradition of men in the Torn family for several generations.
It was given to him by his father, who was also called Rip;
although as a young child and teenager he was referred to as
"Skippy."
He graduated from Texas A&M
University
in 1952. Torn introduced his cousin, the Oscar-winning actress Sissy Spacek, to the entertainment business and
she was able to enroll in Lee
Strasberg's Actors
Studio
and then the Lee Strasberg Institute in New
York.
Movie career
Following graduation from Texas A&M, Torn relocated from his
native Texas to Hollywood , making his debut in the 1956 film
Baby Doll. Torn headed to New
York where he studied at the Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg ,
becoming a prolific stage actor, appearing in the original cast of
Tennessee Williams' play
Sweet Bird of Youth,
and reprising the role in the film and television adaptations. One
of his earliest roles was in the film
Pork Chop Hill, playing the
brother-in-law of
Gregory Peck's character. He also played an
uncredited role
A Face in the
Crowd as Barry Mills, touted as the down-home successor to
Andy Griffith's megalomaniacal TV star
Lonesome Rhodes. In 1957, Rip plays
an arrogant young thief on
Alfred Hitchcock Presents --
the episode is entitled, "Number Twenty-Two". Rip also played Judas
Iscariot in MGMs "King of Kings" released in 1961.
In 1963, he appeared as a graduate student with multiple degrees at
fictitious Channing College in the
ABC drama
Channing starring
Jason Evers and
Henry Jones. That same year, he appeared
as Roy Kendall in the episode "Millions of Faces" in the ABC
medical drama about
psychiatry,
Breaking Point with
Paul Richards. In 1964, Torn appeared
as Eddie Sanderson in the episode "The Secret in the Stone" of the
NBC psychiatric drama,
The Eleventh Hour
with
Ralph Bellamy and
Jack Ging.
That same year, he appeared in the premiere
of the short-lived CBS
drama The
Reporter, starring Harry
Guardino as a New York
City
journalist.
He has
been a character actor in numerous
films since then, such as, New Orleans
blackmailer Slade opposite Steve McQueen and Karl Malden in 1965's The
Cincinnati Kid or the gruff boss Agent Zed in Men in Black.
The part of lawyer George Hanson in the
Peter Fonda-
Dennis
Hopper road movie
Easy Rider
was written for Torn by
Terry
Southern (who was a close friend) but according to Southern's
biographer Lee Hill, Torn withdrew from the project after he and
co-director
Dennis Hopper got into a
bitter argument in a New York restaurant, ending with Dennis Hopper
pulling a knife on Torn. As a result, Torn was replaced by
Jack Nicholson, whose appearance in the film
catapulted him to stardom.
In
1972, he won rave reviews for his
portrayal of a
country &
western singer in the
cult film
Payday. In 1976 he
starred in the cult classic science fiction movie
The Man Who Fell to
Earth. He received an
Academy
Award nomination as
Best
Supporting Actor for his role in the
1983 film
Cross Creek.
In 1988, he made an venture into directing with the offbeat comedy
The Telephone, starring
Whoopi
Goldberg. The screenplay was written by
Terry Southern and
Harry Nilsson and the film was produced by
their company Hawkeye. The story, which focused on an unhinged,
out-of-work actor, had been written with
Robin Williams in mind. After he turned it
down, Goldberg expressed a strong interest, but when production
began Torn reportedly had to contend with Goldberg constantly
digressing and improvising, and he had to plead with her to perform
takes that stuck to the script. Goldberg was backed by the studio,
who also allowed her to replace Torn's chosen DP, veteran
cinematographer
John Alonzo, with her
then husband. As a result of the power struggle, Torn, Southern and
Nilsson cut their own version of the film, using the takes that
adhered to the script, and this was screened at the
Sundance Film Festival, but the
studio put together a rival version using other takes and it was
poorly reviewed when it premiered in January 1988. In 1990, he
played the ultra-hawkish Colonel Fargo in the cold war drama
By Dawn's Early
Light. In 1991, he portrayed Albert Brooks' defense
attorney in the comedy
Defending
Your Life. In 1993, Torn played the
OCP
CEO in the science fiction film,
Robocop
3.
The Larry Sanders Show
Torn was cast for a role in the HBO sitcom,
The Larry Sanders Show. For his
role as talk show producer and TV veteran Artie in
The Larry Sanders Show, Torn
received six consecutive
Emmy award nominations
as
Best Supporting Actor in a
Comedy Series and won the award once, in 1996. Torn is the only
actor on the show to win an Emmy Award. Other than the Emmys, Torn
has received two
American Comedy
Awards nominations for Funniest Male Performance in a Series,
winning one time, and two
CableACE
Awards for his work on the show.
Later career
Following
The Larry Sanders Show, he has since appeared in
many comedic roles in films such as
Dodgeball: A True Underdog
Story,
Freddy Got
Fingered,
Canadian
Bacon and
Rolling
Kansas, as well as dramatic roles in films such as
The Insider and
Marie
Antoinette. Torn is also known for his voice work, and has
done voice-overs for many animated films. He lent his voice to the
Jerry Seinfeld film
Bee Movie. In 2007 and 2008 Torn made five
guest appearances on the Emmy-award winning NBC comedy
30 Rock as the fictional head of the network,
Don Geiss. He was nominated for an Emmy Award in the category for
Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, but lost to
Tim Conway, who also guest
starred in the same sitcom.
Stage career
Broadway
Torn has
starred in ten Broadway
plays,
directing one. Torn made his feature Broadway debut in 1959,
when he played Chance Wayne in the Broadway play
Sweet Bird of Youth and won Theater
World Award for his performance in the play. He was also nominated
for a
Tony Award for his performance on
the play. He returned to theater next year in 1962 in the play
Daughter of Silence as Carlo. Two years later he returned
to theater in 1963 in the play
Strange Interlude. In 1964, he played
Lyle Britten in the Broadway play
Blues for Mister Charlie. Four
years later, he played Roberto in the Broadway play
The Cuban
Thing for its opening and closing performance on September 24,
1968. Three years later, in 1971, he played Edgar in the Broadway
play
Dance of Death. Two
years later, in 1973, he directed his first Broadway play,
Look Away. Two years later, in
1975, he played The Son on the Broadway revival play
The Glass Menagerie. Five years
later, in 1980, he played Don in another Broadway play
Mixed
Couples. Thirteen years later, in 1993, he played Chris
Christopherson in the play
Anna
Christie. In his final Broadway play, in 1997, he played
Will Kidder in the play
The Young Man from Atlanta.
Off-Broadway
Torn made his feature
off-Broadway
debut as an actor as Eben Cabot in the play
Desire Under the Elms. His second
off-Broadway play as an actor was in the 81st Street Theatre as
Peter in
The Kitchen. His third off-Broadway play as an
actor was as Marion-Faye-A-Pimp in the play
The Deer Park. He won the 1967 Obie Award
for Distinguished Performance for his performance in the play. His
off-Broadway debut as director was in the Evergreen Theater in the
play
The Beard. He won the 1968 Obie for Distinguished
Direction for the play. His second off-Broadway play as director
was in the Gramercy Arts Theater in the play
The Honest-to-God
Schnozzia. His fourth off-Broadway play as an actor was in the
Lucille Lortel Theater as an unknown character in the play
Dream of a Blacklisted Actor. His fifth off-Broadway play
as an actor was in the Joseph Papp Public Theater/Anspacher Theater
as William McLeod in the play
Barbary
Shore. His third off-Broadway credit as a director was in
the Joseph Papp Public Theater/Anspacher Theater in the play
Creditors/The Stronger. His sixth off-Broadway credit as an actor
was in the American Place Theater as Henry Hackamore in the play
Seduced.
Personal life
Torn was married to actress
Ann
Wedgeworth from 1956 to 1961, with whom he had a daughter,
Danae Torn. They divorced and he later married the
Oscar-winning actress
Geraldine Page. Page and Torn remained
married until her death in 1987. They had three children: Tony
Torn, Jon Torn and actress
Angelica
Torn. Torn apparently delighted in the fact that their country
estate was called Torn Page. He is married to actress
Amy Wright with whom he has two children, Katie
and Claire.
Katie Torn is an accomplished painter and video
artist.
In January 2004, Torn was arrested in New York City after his car
collided with a taxi. A video of his arrest in which he curses at
officers and angrily refuses a
breathalyzer test was aired on television news
outlets. In October 2004, a jury acquitted Torn of any wrongdoing.
In
December 2006, Torn was again arrested for drunk driving in
North Salem, New
York
after colliding with a tractor trailer. In April 2007, Torn
pleaded guilty and had his drivers license suspended for 90 days
and was required to pay a $380 fine.
On December 14, 2008, Torn was again arrested on suspicion of drunk
driving. A bartender at the White Hart Inn in Salisbury, CT
reportedly served Torn, but apparently noticed he appeared
intoxicated as he was leaving the establishment, according to a
police report. Torn reportedly refused a ride home and got into his
vehicle with a Christmas tree tied on top and drove away. He was
sentenced to probation in May, 2009.
On-set conflicts
While filming
Maidstone,
Torn, apparently unhappy with the film, struck director and star of
the film
Norman Mailer in the head
with a hammer. With the camera rolling, Mailer bit Torn's ear and
they wrestled to the ground. The fight continued until it was
broken up by cast and crew members as Mailer's children screamed in
the background. The fight is featured in the film.Although the
scene may have been planned by Torn, the blood shed by both actors
is real, and Torn was reportedly truly outraged by Mailer's
direction.
In 1999, Torn filed a
defamation lawsuit
against
Dennis Hopper over a story
Hopper told on
The
Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Hopper claimed that Torn
pulled a
knife on him during pre-production of
the film
Easy Rider. According
to Hopper, Torn was originally cast in the film but was replaced
with
Jack Nicholson after the
incident. According to Torn's suit, it was actually Hopper who
pulled the knife on him. A judge ruled in Torn's favor and Hopper
was ordered to pay $475,000 in damages. Hopper then
appealed but the judge again ruled in Torn's favor
and Hopper was required to pay another $475,000 in
punitive damages.
Selected filmography
References
- full episode available at hulu.com
- Actor Rip Torn gets probation in Conn. DUI
case
External links