Rip Torn

Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn Jr. was born on February 6, 1931, in Temple, Texas, and died on July 9, 2019. His father, Elmore Rual "Tiger" Torn Sr., was an agriculturalist and economist who worked to promote the consumption of black-eyed peas. His mother, Thelma Mary Torn, was an aunt of actress Sissy Spacek. The family is of German, Austrian, and Czech/Moravian ancestry. The nickname "Rip" followed a tradition among the men in the Torn family, having been used by his father, uncle, and a cousin. Torn graduated from Taylor High School in Taylor, Texas, in 1948.

He was a member of the Texas A&M University Corps of Cadets before transferring to the University of Texas, where he studied acting under Shakespeare professor B. Iden Payne and joined the Alpha Nu chapter of the Sigma Chi fraternity. Following graduation, he served with the 2nd Infantry Division of the United States Army military police during the Korean War. After relocating to Hollywood, Torn made his film debut in the 1956 production Baby Doll, then moved to New York to study at the Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg. He later helped his younger cousin Sissy Spacek gain admission to the Actors Studio as well.

Torn's Broadway career extended from 1955 to 1997 and encompassed a range of productions. He appeared in Blues for Mister Charlie, the first production of the play by his friend James Baldwin, with whom he was also active in the Civil Rights movement from the 1950s onward, as documented by Baldwin's biographer David Leeming. Additional Broadway credits include The Young Man from Atlanta, Anna Christie, Mixed Couples, and The Glass Menagerie. He received the Theatre World Award in 1959.

On screen, Torn built a career across decades and genres. Among his earliest film appearances was a role in Pork Chop Hill as the brother-in-law of Gregory Peck's character, as well as an uncredited part in A Face in the Crowd. In 1961, he portrayed Judas Iscariot in the epic film King of Kings, and the following year he played Thomas J. Finley Jr. in Sweet Bird of Youth, a role he had originated on Broadway and reprised in both the film and television adaptations. In 1965, he appeared in The Cincinnati Kid as Slade, a corrupt New Orleans millionaire who pressures Steve McQueen's character during a high-stakes poker game.

The part of George Hanson in Easy Rider was written for Torn by Terry Southern, but Torn withdrew from the project following a bitter argument with co-director Dennis Hopper, and the role went to Jack Nicholson. In 1972, Torn earned strong notices for his portrayal of a country and western singer in the cult film Payday. He co-starred with David Bowie in the 1976 science-fiction film The Man Who Fell to Earth, playing Dr. Nathan Bryce. A role opposite Alan Alda and Meryl Streep followed in 1979's The Seduction of Joe Tynan, in which he played a Southern senator, and he appeared as a music producer in Paul Simon's 1980 film One-Trick Pony.

Torn received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Cross Creek (1983), in which he played Marsh Turner, a poor neighbor of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings in the orange groves of Florida. That same period brought a CableACE Award nomination for his portrayal of Big Daddy in the 1984 Showtime production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. In 1988, he moved behind the camera to direct The Telephone, a film with a screenplay by Terry Southern and Harry Nilsson. The production was marked by a conflict with star Whoopi Goldberg over improvisation and creative control; Torn, Southern, and Nilsson assembled their own cut of the film using takes that adhered to the script, which screened at the Sundance Film Festival, while the studio released a separate version that received poor reviews upon its January 1988 premiere.

In 1991, Torn played Bob Diamond, a celestial defense attorney, in Defending Your Life alongside Albert Brooks. He voiced the god Zeus in the 1997 Disney animated film Hercules and that same year took on the role of Zed, the head of the MIB agency, in Men in Black opposite Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, a role he returned to in the 2002 sequel Men in Black II. Also in 1997, he appeared in The Young Man from Atlanta on Broadway, extending his stage career into the final decade of his life.

Torn's television work brought him his most sustained recognition in the medium. His portrayal of Artie, the producer on The Larry Sanders Show from 1992 to 1998, earned six Emmy Award nominations and a win in 1996. His screen career spanned roughly sixty years in total, encompassing film, television, and the stage.