Rip Torn 1931-2019
Elmore Rual "Rip" Torn Jr. (February 6, 1931 – July 9, 2019) was an American actor, voice artist, and comedian.
Born in Temple, Texas, Torn graduated from Taylor High School in Taylor, Texas, in 1948. He graduated from the University of Texas where he studied acting under Shakespearean professor B. Iden Payne. After graduation, he served in the Military Police in the United States Army.
After moving to Hollywood, Torn made his film debut in the 1956 film Baby Doll. Torn then studied at the Actors Studio in New York 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. While in New York, Torn introduced his cousin Sissy Spacek to the entertainment business, and helped her enroll in the Actors Studio.
One of Torn's earliest roles was in Pork Chop Hill, portraying the brother-in-law of Gregory Peck's character. The part of George Hanson in Easy Rider was written for Torn by Terry Southern, 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.In 1972, Torn won rave reviews for his portrayal of a country & western singer in the cult film Payday. He co-starred with singer David Bowie in the 1976 science-fiction film, The Man Who Fell to Earth. Torn received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in 1983's Cross Creek as a poor neighbor of Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings in the orange groves of Florida. In 1990, he portrayed Colonel Fargo in By Dawn's Early Light, a film from HBO about a fictional world war. From 1992 to 1998, Torn portrayed Artie in The Larry Sanders Show. For his work, Torn received six consecutive Emmy award nominations as Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series and won the award once (1996). Torn played agency boss Zed in Men in Black, a 1997 hit film, starring Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, a role he reprised in 2002's sequel Men in Black II. In 2007 and 2008, he made five guest appearances on 30 Rock as the fictional Chief Executive Officer of General Electric, Don Geiss. In 2015, he reprised his role as Zed in a Men in Black safety video for Air New Zealand.
Torn was married three times and had six children.
Torn passed away at his home in Lakeville, Connecticut on July 9, 2019, at the age of 88.
Music for this video:
Mesmerize by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...)
Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-...
Artist: http://incompetech.com/