Emmy-winning acting legend Rip Torn has died at age 88

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

In a sad bit of news to break last night, industry legend Rip Torn passed away at the age of 88. According to a report from The Hollywood Reporter, he died peacefully in his home in Lakeville, Connecticut with his wife, actress Amy Wright, and daughters Katie and Angelica by his side.

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A veteran of stage and screen with a career going back to the mid-50s, Torn will perhaps be remembered most for roles such as Arthur, known as "Artie", on HBO’s THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW alongside Garry Shandling (who died in 2016), his work as Zed in MEN IN BLACK and its sequel, and even comedies like DODGEBALL as sports legend Patches O’Houlihan. He was nominated for an Oscar in 1984 for Best Supporting Actor for his work in CROSS CREEK and would later earn a total of nine Emmy nominations, six for each season of SANDERS and winning in 1996.

Born Elmore Rual Torn Jr. in Temple, Texas in 1931, Torn (nicknamed "Rip") would go on to graduate from the University of Texas, where after he started to study agriculture found himself in the drama department, studying under Shakespearean professor B. Iden Payne. He would later serve in the Military Police in the U.S. Army for two years before heading out to become an actor. He would eventually move to New York and study at the Actor’s Studio under Lee Strasberg, where he got the attention of legendary director Elia Kazan (ON THE WATERFRONT), who got him small roles in movies like BABY DOLL and A FACE IN THE CROWD.

From there he would go on to have roles on stage and in TV shows for the next few years before making a bigger leap to film, having parts in PORK CHOP HILL with Gregory Peck, KING OF KINGS, and SWEET BIRD OF YOUTH alongside Paul Newman and future wife Geraldine Page, all three of which had reprised their roles from the 1959 play by Tennessee Williams.

As well as an actor Torn was an outspoken advocate during the Civil Rights era, speaking with Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in 1963 in an attempt to desegregate the national theater, and would later speak out against the Vietnam War.

He continued to act across stage and screen for years, leaving his mark on the industry for both his work and his off-screen personality. He once attacked Norman Mailer with a tack hammer on the set of the movie MAIDSTONE during an improvised fight scene, and was at one point up for a role in the movie EASY RIDER before word got out Torn pulled a knife on writer-director-star Dennis Hopper. Torn later claimed it was Hopper who pulled the knife, and later sued for libel and won over $400,00 in damages. The role in EASY RIDER eventually went to Jack Nicholson in what would be a breakout role.

Torn, Shandling and Jeffrey Tambor in THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW

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His credits across the years included shows like THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E and BONANZA, and moves like THE CINCINNATI KID, THE BEASTMASTER and many more. In the movie CROSS CREEK, he would earn himself his first and only Oscar nomination playing Marsh Turner.

After a slew of theatrically released and television movies in the 80s, Torn would land perhaps his most famous role in 1992 on THE LARRY SANDERS SHOW as Artie, the producer on the late-night show played by Shandling’s Larry Sanders. The show ran for six seasons and Torn was nominated for Emmys for each one. Shandling recalled years later that Torn originally didn’t want to read for the part, but after talking together for a little bit he picked up the script and they began reading together. "It's like trying to describe a good date to a friend the next day,” Shandling said. “I had to say to HBO and everybody else, 'Honestly, this is the best sex I have had.’” (via THR)

In the 90s he would experience some of the biggest success of his whole career, springboarding off SANDERS to land roles in movies like MEN IN BLACK as the head of the agency, Zed, and as the voice of the mighty Zeus in the Disney animated movie, HERCULES. He would move into the 2000s with roles in MEN IN BLACK II, ZOOM and MARIE ANTOINETTE. Younger audiences likely were introduced to Torn through these roles, especially his recurring guest spot as Don Geiss on 30 ROCK (landing him another Emmy nom) and as Patches O’Houlihan in 2004’s DODGEBALL with Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller.

A legend in the industry for decades, Torn left his mark across countless films and television shows, and projects viewers across several generations can recognize and love. His legacy is one for the books, and his unique, powerful presence will certainly be missed.