Rip Torn was born Elmore Rual Torn, Jr. on February 6, 1931 in Temple, Texas. "Rip" is a family name, taken by generations of Torn men and bestowed on Elmore by his father, who was also called "Rip". Torn attended Texas A & M and the University of Texas, where he majored in animal husbandry. Extremely naive when he was young, Torn hitchhiked to ...
Angelica Page, Tony Torn, Danae Torn, John Torn, Claire Torn, Katie Torn
Parents
Elmore Rual Torn, Thelma Mary Torn
Awards
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series, Obie Award for Direction, Obie Award for Performance, Audie Award for Short Stories/Collections
Nominations
Academy Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Drama Series, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Movie, Tony Award for Best Featur...
Movies
Men in Black, Men in Black II, DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story, The Man Who Fell to Earth, Freddy Got Fingered, Marie Antoinette, Defending Your Life, The Beastmaster, Hercules, Cross Creek, Sweet Bird of Youth, Happy Tears, Bee Movie, King of Kings, Extreme Prejudice, Zoom, Beach Red, The Insider,...
There's always some kind of blacklist throughout history. But the difference is, in America they usually let you live.
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Everybody says, 'You impress me as a guy who never wanted to be a movie star.' I say, 'Everybody in the world wants to be a movie star.'
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Anything new is always considered the devil's tool.
4
I've never hit anybody who hasn't clocked me two or three times.
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I think most actors are shy. I really do. The greatest actors can disappear. I had friends call me the Blend-In Man.
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Let the other guys do the crybaby stuff. Go for the laughs.
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I've got two old Volvos, two old Subarus, and an old Ford Ranger. If you've got an old car, you've gotta have at least several old cars, 'cause one's always gonna be in the garage.
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When I grew up, people said, 'You'll never be the man your dad was.' And I said, 'Gee, I hope not.'
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Be your own politics, grow your own garden, and maybe you can help out more.
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Don't ever humiliate a man. If you're gonna have to dress him out, you take him aside and do it that way. That's the one thing I don't like about Hollywood: They go in for public humiliation. You shouldn't do that to a man.
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You can never turn your back on the ocean.
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If I could just get a piece of lemon, it'd be great.
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If you're lucky enough to have a pretty girl love you and share herself and sleep with you, make that your secret. The best way to spoil love is by talking to too many people about it.
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I used to be friends with Miles Davis. He didn't like many folks. I lived across the street from him.
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I honor religion except when it gets into shedding blood.
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Never think you're better than anyone else, but don't let anyone treat you like you're worse than they are.
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[on receiving his first Oscar nomination] People are finally realizing I'm one of the few actors who has never missed a performance. I've worked with broken legs, arms, ankles. I once passed a kidney stone during the opening night of a show.
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What do they say about all the guys that are tremendous actors? Don't they say they have a volatile temper and emotions? Yeah, sure they do! They're not saying they like a nice mild guy. Look at Sean Penn. [on being called volatile].
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Fact
1
His father was of Austrian and German descent. His mother was of three quarters Moravian (Czech) and one quarter German descent.
2
Has played three American presidents: Ulysses S. Grant, Lyndon Johnson, and Richard Nixon.
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Accused of breaking into a Connecticut bank with a gun [January 30, 2010].
Although he and Geraldine Page never got divorced, their relationship was already over in the mid-70s. Torn began a relationship with his third wife Amy Wright in 1976.
Attended the Republican National Convention in New York in 2004.
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In 1997, he appeared in Men in Black (1997) and Hercules (1997). In Men in Black (1997), he plays "Zed", the head of the MIB agency. Also in that film, Tommy Lee Jones's character, "Kay", is swallowed by a giant cockroach, and escapes by blowing the creature up from the inside. In Hercules (1997), he plays "Zeus", chief of the gods. In that film, Hercules is swallowed by the Hydra and escapes by cutting the creature's head off from inside.
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Is a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity.
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Was a close friend from boyhood of actor Larry Blyden. As boys, friends would refer to the two as "Torn and Bleedin'," Bleiden being the original spelling of the latter's name.
Was nominated for Broadway's 1960 Tony Award as Best Supporting or Featured Actor (Dramatic) for "Sweet Bird of Youth," a performance he recreated in the film version with the same title, Sweet Bird of Youth (1962).
Reported that he has won a $475,000 defamation suit against Dennis Hopper. The lawsuit came about after remarks made by Hopper on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno (1992) on 31 May 1994. [March 1997]
$10 million
