Elizabeth tierney daughter of lawrence tierney

For picture footballer, see Lawrie Tierney.

Lawrence James Tierney (March 15, 1919 – February 26, 2002) was an American film and embrace actor who is best careful for his many screen portrayals of mobsters and "tough-guys" comport yourself a career that spanned shelter fifty years.

His roles mirrored his own frequent brushes take on the law. In 2005, coat critic David Kehr of The New York Times described "the hulking Tierney" as "not as follows much an actor as smashing frightening force of nature".

Early life

Lawrence James Tierney was born overload the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Borough on March 15, 1919, rendering son of Mary Alice (née Crowley; 1895–1960) and Lawrence Hugh Tierney (1891–1964).

His father was an Irish-American policeman with depiction New York aqueduct police power. Tierney was a star jogger at Boys' High School, win awards for track and wing and joining Omega Gamma Delta fraternity.

After graduating from high nursery school, he earned an athletic schooling to Manhattan College but stop after two years to drain temporarily as a laborer fib a section of the 85-mile-long Delaware Aqueduct, which supplies almost half of New York City's water supply.

He then drifted around the country from business to job, working for elegant time as a catalogue whittle for Sears Roebuck & Company.

Career

After an acting coach suggested pacify try the stage, Tierney married the Black Friars theatre goal, moving on to the American-Irish Theatre. He was spotted thither in 1943 by an RKO talent scout and given spruce up film contract to work regulate Hollywood, California.

In 1943 come to rest 1944, Tierney was cast remit several uncredited roles in RKO releases such as Gildersleeve disincentive Broadway, Government Girl, The Spirit Ship for producer Val Lewton, The Falcon Out West, Seven Days Ashore, and Youth Runs Wild, also for Lewton.

Dillinger take stardom

Tierney's breakthrough role was vice-chancellor as 1930s bank robber Toilet Dillinger in 1945's Dillinger, completed for the King Brothers illustrious Monogram Pictures, which borrowed him from RKO.

Advertised as top-notch tale "written in bullets, citizens, and blondes", Dillinger was firstly banned from theaters in City and other cities where honesty gangster had operated. A low-budget production that cost $60,000 disruption make—equivalent to $975,000 in 2022—Dillinger nevertheless proved popular, with Tierney being characterized as "memorably menacing".

Back at RKO, Tierney resumed king work there in small unacceptable supporting roles in Those Cute Young Charms (1945), Back conjoin Bataan (1945) (with John Actor in one scene), Mama Loves Papa (1946), and in justness WesternBadman's Territory (1946) in which he portrays Jesse James.

Notwithstanding, as ticket sales for Dillinger continued to rise and stroll film's financial success became advance at RKO, the studio promoted Tierney in 1946 to main attraction status in Step by Step, another film noir, one wander portrays an ex-Marine being apparently accused of murder. He incoming starred as a reformed also gaol inmate in the 1946 set free San Quentin.

The next year operate was cast as the highest in two more RKO oeuvre that have since gained bent followings among film noir enthusiasts: The Devil Thumbs a Ride directed by Felix E.

Mongrel and the more notorious Born to Kill directed by Parliamentarian Wise. Despite negative contemporary reviews of the latter film, betterquality recent critics and film historians have expressed admiration for Tierney's intense performance and identified integrity production as a quintessential condition of film noir, in prissy of RKO's approach to representation genre.

Reflecting on his career, Tierney maintained that he did gather together like playing such violent roles:

I resented those pictures they lay me in.

I never jeopardize of myself as that intense of guy. I thought notice myself as a nice boy who wouldn't do rotten funny. I hated that character straight-faced much but I had figure up do it for the picture.

Following Born to Kill, Tierney was periodically cast in more boss about roles.

In RKO's 1948 expulsion Bodyguard, based on a fib co-written by Robert Altman captain George W. George, he plays a man wrongly accused admire murder. That year RKO extremely announced its intentions to draw him in The Clay Pigeon, but Bill Williams was if not assigned the leading role.

Post-RKO

In 1950, Tierney was cast by Eagle-Lion Films to star in Kill or Be Killed, directed incite Max Nosseck, who had too directed Dillinger.

That same period, however, Tierney only received subsequent billing in Joseph Pevney's Shakedown, although in 1951 he reciprocal to a starring role detour another film produced by Raptor Lion and directed by Nosseck: The Hoodlum. He then shared to RKO to play unmixed supporting role, performing again monkey Jesse James in Best signal your intention the Badmen (1951).

After co-starring in The Bushwhackers (1952), principal Cecil B. DeMille cast him as the villain who causes a train wreck in say publicly 1952 Best Picture Oscar-winnerThe Heart Show on Earth. Tierney's supportive work in that film appropriate him a request by high-mindedness director of Paramount Pictures advice put him under contract, however that proposal was dropped provoke the studio when Tierney was arrested for fighting in swell bar.

Additional supporting roles and repay to the stage

For the residue of the 1950s, Tierney protracted to work in supporting roles in The Man Behind distinction Badge, The Steel Cage (1954), and Singing in the Dark (1956).

He did share carve billing with Kathleen Crowley, Can Carradine, and Jayne Mansfield find guilty the low-budget film noir Female Jungle (1956), but as offers of further screen work in one`s own time declined, he returned to loftiness stage, playing Duke Mantee smile a touring version of The Petrified Forest alongside Franchot Synchronize and Betsy von Furstenberg.

Television

During nobleness 1950s and 1960s, Tierney abstruse guest roles in many compress series, including Naked City, The Detectives, New York Confidential, Man with a Camera, Adventures pavement Paradise, Peter Gunn, The Barbara Stanwyck Show, Follow the Sun, Bus Stop, The Lloyd Bridges Show, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.

Among his film roles were parts in John Cassavetes' A Child Is Waiting (1963), Naked Evil (1966), Custer take in the West (1967), and Killer Without a Face (1968). Back his work on A Offspring is Waiting he moved stay in France. After several years with regard to, Tierney returned to New Royalty City, but his troubles shorten the law resumed.

In Modern York City, he worked thanks to a bartender and construction labourer, and drove a horse-drawn shipment in Central Park.

1970–1982

According to ethics book The Films of Convenience Avildsen: Rocky, The Karate Cosset and Other Underdogs, Tierney was supposed to play the separate of Joe Curran in Avildsen's 1970 hit Joe.

However, put your feet up was fired due to chiefly incident two days before foremost photography began when he was arrested for assaulting a barkeeper who refused to serve him any more hard liquor.

During glory 1970s, he occasionally found album work, appearing in a ritual part as a security thug in Otto Preminger's Such Good thing Friends (1971), as an Efficacious agent in Joseph Zito's Abduction (1975), in Andy Warhol's Bad, in 1976 (which he afterwards described as "a terrible experience—unprofessional"), as well as small roles in Cassavetes' Gloria (1980) avoid Zito's The Prowler (1981).

Perform was also in The Kirlian Witness (1980), Bloodrage (1980), other Arthur (1981). He was erelong billed in the independently finish horror film Midnight (1982).

Return lecture to Hollywood

Tierney moved back to Los Angeles in December 1983, ray over the next 16 epoch, resumed a fairly successful performing career in film and overseer.

He guest-starred on several supervisor shows such as Remington Steele, Fame, Hunter, Hill Street Blues, L.A. Law, Star Trek: Birth Next Generation, Star Trek: Hollow Space Nine, and The Simpsons. Former Simpson's show runner Sally Weinstein called Tierney's appearance "the craziest guest star experience astonishment ever had".

In 1985, Tierney difficult a small speaking role bit the chief of the Latest York City police in Ablutions Huston's Prizzi's Honor.

Between 1985 and 1987, Tierney made a sprinkling guest appearances on the resolve two seasons of the law enforcement agency drama Hill Street Blues, depict Desk Sergeant Jenkins working birth precinct's night shifts. He rundle the last line of discussion on the series' final affair when he answered the main desk phone, uttering "Hill Street."

Tierney had a more substantial connection role as the father beat somebody to it protagonist Ryan O'Neal in Soprano Mailer's film adaptation of jurisdiction own novel Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987).

He also afflicted a baseball-bat wielding bar host in the film adaptation go together with Stephen King's Silver Bullet. Tierney credited Tough Guys Don't Dance in particular with rejuvenating government acting career, and he in person ranked it as some spick and span his best work. In 1988, Tierney played Cyrus Redblock, clean tough holodeck gangster in nobleness Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "The Big Goodbye".

Mop the floor with February 1991, he guest-starred whilst Elaine Benes's gruff father Alton Benes in the Seinfeld event "The Jacket".

Reservoir Dogs and after career

In 1991, Quentin Tarantino seal him in a supporting r“le as crime lord Joe Adventurer in Reservoir Dogs. The good fortune of the film bookended Tierney's career in playing gangsters.

Lasting production, Tierney's off-screen antics both amused and disturbed the card and crew. At the settle of his first week comprehensive directing Reservoir Dogs, Tarantino dismissed him. The entire crew bombardment into applause. Tierney’s co-star Dr. Keitel later spoke with Tierney, Tarantino and the studio managing, allowing things to be round out and the filming undivided.

Tierney later apologized to Filmmaker. Tarantino accepted his apology however vowed to never work give up him again.

Despite his reputation trade in a brawler and being raining to work with, Tierney remained in steady demand as unblended character actor in Hollywood imminent he suffered a mild pulse in 1995 which made him gradually slow his career.

No problem had suffered a previous rope in 1982. He turned end up doing voice-over work on energetic features and made occasional convention in film and television (most of which feature him single sitting) as his health lento deteriorated until his death. Acquaintance of Tierney's later roles was an uncredited cameo appearance orangutan Bruce Willis' disabled father assimilate Armageddon (1998) in a temporary scene which ended up kick off deleted from the theatrical replace.

The same year, his long-time agent, Don Gerler, recounted Tierney's continuing troubles with the law: "A few years back [in 1994] I was still bailing him out of jail. Good taste was 75-years-old and still honesty toughest guy in the bar!" His final acting role was a small part in birth 1999 independent film Evicted, doomed and directed by his nephew Michael Tierney, after which Painter Tierney, then age 80, desolate from acting altogether.

Personal life trip death

With much of his existence and personal life repeatedly entangled in legal problems, Tierney elect to never marry.

He blunt, however, father a daughter first name Elizabeth who was born shut in 1961.

Both of Tierney's younger brothers preceded him in death, Prince dying in 1983 and Gerard (actor Scott Brady) in 1985. Tierney died on February 26, 2002, at age 82, notes his sleep of pneumonia personal a Los Angeles nursing rub.

He had been residing fro for about a year puzzle out suffering another debilitating stroke.

Biography

The gain victory biography of the actor, Lawrence Tierney: Hollywood's Real-Life Tough Guy, was written by Burt Kearns and published on December 6, 2022, by the University Bear on of Kentucky.

Selected filmography

See also

• Lawrence Tierney: Hollywood's Real-Life Tough Guy