Biography
A one-time model with a long rap sheet of less-than-ideal behavior, character actor Lawrence Tierney nevertheless managed to amass scores of film credits over a five-decade acting career before he passed away in 2002. Born in Brooklyn, NY, five years before actor/ brother
Scott Brady, Tierney excelled in high school track, winning a scholarship to Manhattan College. Rather than stay in school, however, Tierney dropped out and became an itinerant laborer before his looks brought him a job as a catalogue model. In the early '40s, Tierney began acting in theater and was subsequently signed by RKO. Strengthening his skills with supporting roles in such films as
Val Lewton's moody thriller
The Ghost Ship (1943) and early teen drama
Youth Runs Wild (1944), Tierney sealed his fame, and his image, with his performance as the eponymous gangster in the superb B-picture
Dillinger (1945). Cashing in on
Dillinger's success, RKO slotted Tierney into numerous tough guy roles, including two turns as archetypal Western outlaw Jesse James in
Badman's Territory (1946) and
Best of the Badmen (1950), a murderer in cult noir
Born to Kill (1947), a sociopath in
The Devil Thumbs a Ride (1947), and a career criminal in
The Hoodlum (1951). His B-movie stardom also garnered Tierney a typically villainous role in Cecil B. De Mille's Oscar-winner
The Greatest Show on Earth (1952). Tierney became just as well known in this period, though, for his offscreen exploits involving copious booze and physical violence. Tierney was such a regular in the Los Angeles jail that cops assured fellow RKO star and hell-raiser
Robert Mitchum after his famous 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. His professional situation unchanged despite appearing in
John Cassavetes' praised mental hospital drama
A Child Is Waiting (1963), Tierney moved to Europe but he continued to get in trouble with the law. After he returned to New York in the late '60s, Tierney supported himself with a variety of jobs, including bartending, and maintained his pugnacious, drunken ways; he was stabbed in a brawl in 1973 and questioned in connection with a woman's suicide in 1975. Still, Tierney managed to score the occasional acting gig, appearing in
Otto Preminger's
Such Good Friends (1971),
Andy Warhol's Bad (1977), and the blockbuster comedy
Arthur (1981). Dry by 1983, Tierney returned to Hollywood to resurrect his career in earnest, and soon landed regular work on TV as well as in movies. Along with a role on NBC's
Hill Street Blues, Tierney also appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation and played a sheriff in the TV movie
Dillinger (1991). On film, Tierney was as comfortable in
John Sayles' thoughtful drama
City of Hope (1991) as in
John Huston's esteemed Mafia black comedy
Prizzi's Honor (1985) and the tastelessly hilarious
The Naked Gun (1988); he drew attention for his vigorous turn as
Ryan O'Neal's alcoholic father in
Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987). Tierney's most memorable late-career performance, however, was his no-nonsense, dryly funny criminal mastermind Joe Cabot in
Quentin Tarantino's heist film
Reservoir Dogs (1992). His longevity assured by
Dogs, Tierney remained active into the late '90s, appearing in the
Arnold Schwarzenegger comedy
Junior (1994) and stylish Tarantino rip-off
2 Days in the Valley (1996), as well as playing Joey Buttafuoco's father in the TV yarn Casualties of Love: The "Long Island Lolita" Story (1993). Following the crime drama
Southie (1998) and playing hard-nosed oil driller
Bruce Willis' gruff father in
Armageddon (1998), Tierney's health began to fail. He died in his sleep in February 2002. ~ Lucia Bozzola, All Movie Guide