RIP TORN
Name: Rip Torn
Birth name: Elmore Rual Torn, Jr.
Born: 6 February 1931 Temple, Texas, U.S.
Rip Torn (born February 6, 1931) is an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning
American television and film actor, who is perhaps best known for his role as
Artie on the HBO comedy series The Larry Sanders Show.
Torn was born Elmore Rual Torn, Jr. in Temple, Texas, the son of Thelma Mary (nee
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. 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.
Following graduation from university, Torn relocated from his native Texas to
give Hollywood a shot, making his debut in the 1956 film Baby Doll. Realizing
that the way to success was a hard one, Torn headed to New York where he studied
at the Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg and started 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 has been a distinctive character actor in numerous films since then, often
showing up well in roles like the rich, sleazy New Orleans blackmailer Slade
opposite Steve McQueen and Karl Malden in 1965's The Cincinnati Kid or the gruff
boss 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 Hopper pulling a knife on Torn. As a result, Torn had
to be 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. He received what many felt was a long-overdue Academy
Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1983 film Cross
Creek.
In 1988, he made an unsuccessful 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 focussed 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 DOP, 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 ultra-hawkish Colonel Fargo
in By Dawn's Early Light, which despite a modest budget is replete with major
name actors from the era when it was filmed.
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. He has since appeared
in many comedic roles in films such as Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,
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, the most notable being Hercules. He
lent his voice to the Jerry Seinfeld film Bee Movie. He has also made guest
appearances on 30 Rock. He will next be seen in a starring role in Turn the
River costarring Famke Janssen.
Rip Torn has played in several TV shows and movies over the years. He appeared
on television as early as 1956 (where he played the part of a dentist in Baby
Doll, as has continued to play a variety of roles in recent movies and
television shows, including the movies; Men in Black, Marie Antoinette, and the
award winning NBC show, 30 Rock. Torn appeared in an early "reality show", ABC's
The American Sportsman hosted by Grits Gresham, in which celebrities go to
exotic places to hunt, to fish, or to shoot.
Name: Rip Torn
Birth name: Elmore Rual Torn, Jr.
Born: 6 February 1931 Temple, Texas, U.S.
Rip Torn (born February 6, 1931) is an Academy Award-nominated and Emmy Award-winning
American television and film actor, who is perhaps best known for his role as
Artie on the HBO comedy series The Larry Sanders Show.
Torn was born Elmore Rual Torn, Jr. in Temple, Texas, the son of Thelma Mary (nee
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. 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.
Following graduation from university, Torn relocated from his native Texas to
give Hollywood a shot, making his debut in the 1956 film Baby Doll. Realizing
that the way to success was a hard one, Torn headed to New York where he studied
at the Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg and started 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 has been a distinctive character actor in numerous films since then, often
showing up well in roles like the rich, sleazy New Orleans blackmailer Slade
opposite Steve McQueen and Karl Malden in 1965's The Cincinnati Kid or the gruff
boss 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 Hopper pulling a knife on Torn. As a result, Torn had
to be 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. He received what many felt was a long-overdue Academy
Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1983 film Cross
Creek.
In 1988, he made an unsuccessful 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 focussed 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 DOP, 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 ultra-hawkish Colonel Fargo
in By Dawn's Early Light, which despite a modest budget is replete with major
name actors from the era when it was filmed.
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. He has since appeared
in many comedic roles in films such as Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story,
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, the most notable being Hercules. He
lent his voice to the Jerry Seinfeld film Bee Movie. He has also made guest
appearances on 30 Rock. He will next be seen in a starring role in Turn the
River costarring Famke Janssen.
Rip Torn has played in several TV shows and movies over the years. He appeared
on television as early as 1956 (where he played the part of a dentist in Baby
Doll, as has continued to play a variety of roles in recent movies and
television shows, including the movies; Men in Black, Marie Antoinette, and the
award winning NBC show, 30 Rock. Torn appeared in an early "reality show", ABC's
The American Sportsman hosted by Grits Gresham, in which celebrities go to
exotic places to hunt, to fish, or to shoot.