Rip Torn. The name, the man, the behaviour. He looked like he behaved. He didn’t care. Was it really him or just part of his mystique? You almost expected him to be living his life in a dumpster.
He was old school Hollywood. Equally at home with comedy, comple
x study characters and theatre roles. Unusually he started by heading West and acted in a few films before returning to the theatre in New York . He developed a reputation for erratic behaviour culminating in the hammer incident which kind of defined him in that era.
He was cast as the main character in Easy Rider but he could not get on with another wildman of Hollywood Dennis Hopper. Things become heated at a dinner and a knife was pulled. A Court hearing followed. Claims and counter claims. Great marketing for Hollywood careers. But Torn felt the story hurt his career. But he reclaimed it in the Larry Saunders Show and Men in Black. There was a vulnerability to his characters along with the threat and irrascability, which made him appealing to watch.
Rip Torn 1931-2019
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