Lawrence Tierney
He appeared in 80 films, many times playing tough guys or gangsters. He is probably best known for the title role in the 1945 B-movie classic Dillinger and bald-headed criminal Joe Cabot in Quentin Tarantino's 1992 crime drama Reservoir Dogs.
The actor was arrested numerous times on charges stemming from fighting in drunken brawls at bars and Hollywood parties. Tierney was such a regular in the Los Angeles jail that cops assured fellow RKO star Robert Mitchum after his well publicised 1948 drug arrest, "We're keeping Lawrence Tierney's cell warm for ya." By the mid 50s, Tierney's roles were becoming smaller and scarcer. Tierney moved to Europe but he continued to get in trouble with the police. After he returned to New York in the late '60s, Tierney supported himself with a variety of jobs, including bartending and driving a Hansom cab in Central Park. Tierney was stabbed in a brawl in 1973 and questioned in connection with a woman's suicide in 1975.
Tierney was born in Brooklyn March 15, 1919. He earned an athletic (track) scholarship to Manhattan College but he dropped out to travel around the country bouncing from job to job. In 1943, RKO studios signed Tierney to a contract when a talent scout spotted him among members of the American-Irish Theater.
Early in his career, he appeared in sporting roles in films including The Ghost Ship and The Falcon Out West.
His starring role in the popular Dillinger led him to play other tough guy characters in such movies such as the prison escape movie San Quentin, a hitch-hiking killer in The Devil Thumbs a Ride, and the dark noir classic Born to Kill.
He also played the villian in Cecil B. DeMille's 1952 best-picture Oscar-winner, The Greatest Show on Earth.
But Tierney's run-ins with the law in real life took a toll on his career. Throughout the 1960s and '70s, he was only able to get small parts in movies. He returned to Hollywood in late 1983 and tried to rekindle his acting career by guest-starring on 80s television shows such as Star Trek: The Next Generation, Remington Steele, Fame and Hunter. He also had a recurring role on Hill Street Blues. Tierney had the last line on the long-running series saying "Hello Hill Street..." while answering the phone in the burnt out police station.
Elder brother of actor Scott Brady.
When he guest-starred on Seinfeld in "The Jacket" episode as Elaine's father, he scared the cast so badly that they never had him back on. "He stole a butcher knife from Jerry's TV kitchen & hid it under his jacket. When Seinfeld asked him about it, Tierney pulled out the knife & started making the Psycho slashing-violins sound." (from TV Guide, 11/21–27/04 Issue). He also lent his voice to the Simpsons playing Don Brodka, the Try-n-Save security guard in "Marge Be Not Proud."
Tierney died February 26, 2002 in Los Angeles of pneumonia. He died in his sleep.
Notable Films
- Armageddon (1998) (uncredited playing Bruce Willis' father)
- Red (1993)
- Reservoir Dogs (1992)
- The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad! (1988)
- Prizzi's Honor (1985)
- Arthur (1981)
- Gloria (1980)
- Female Jungle (1954)
- The Hoodlum (1951)
- Born to Kill (1947)
- Back to Bataan (1945)
- Dillinger (1945)
- The Falcon Out West (1944) (uncredited)
External Links
Categories: 1919 births | 2002 deaths | American actors