Elmore Rual " Rip " Torn Jr. February 6, β July 9, was an American actor whose career spanned roughly 60 years. Finley, Jr. Elmore Rual Torn Jr. After moving to Hollywood, Torn made his film debut in the 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.
Torn later helped his younger cousin Sissy Spacek enroll in the Actors Studio. Along with Baldwin and numerous mutual friends he was active in the Civil Rights movement from the '50s forward, as Baldwin's biographer David Leeming relates. More military roles followed, as a Marine drill instructor in an episode of The Lieutenant in and as a GI in an episode of Combat! Following these roles, he had turns as a character actor in numerous subsequent films.
Jack Nicholson played Hanson, instead, in a career-launching performance. In , Torn won rave reviews for his portrayal of a country and western singer in the cult film Payday. In , Torn played a role as a black magic cult leader in the sword-and-sorcery movie The Beastmaster. He also co-starred in Jinxed! He co-starred with John Candy as a man who helps a tourist win a sailboat race in the comedy Summer Rental.
In , he ventured into directing with The Telephone. The screenplay was written by Terry Southern and Harry Nilsson , and the film was produced by their company, Hawkeye. The story, which concerned an unhinged, out-of-work actor, had been written with Robin Williams in mind.
After he turned it down, Whoopi 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, which also allowed her to replace Torn's chosen DP, veteran cinematographer John A.
