What a great and versatile actor! That guy was in everything it seemed! He was 88 years old. Ironically, "Rip" was a nickname. He often told the story of how his brother was nicknamed "Tear." So, yes, you had Rip Torn and Tear Torn. I certainly hope they had money invested in paper!
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RIP "Rip" Torn
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My all-time favorite role of his was when he played the crazy war-hawk Colonel Fargo whispering in Darrin McGavin’s ear in By Dawn’s Early Light (a hugely underrated film that I highly recommend to anyone that hasn’t yet seen it). Superb cast includes Powers Boothe, Rebecca De Mornay, Martin Landau, James Earl Jones, Jeffrey DeMunn, Peter McNickel, and Nicolas Cistercian’s just to name a few...Comment
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Rip Torn vs director Norman Mailer during filming of Maidstone.
The fight you see here is real, yes, real...
The film is now famous for the improvised fight between Norman Mailer and Rip Torn. As the camera rolled, Torn struck Mailer in the head with a hammer, intending to "kill his character". Mailer's scalp opened up, and a vicious fight ensued. With the camera still rolling, Torn energetically strangled Mailer until the fight was broken up by Mailer's wife, Beverly, and their wailing children. During the melee, Mailer bit off a small chunk of Torn's ear. The fight, in which the actors called each other by their real names, made it into the film. This "Maidstone Brawl" has over 490,000 views on YouTube, despite the film's remaining 101 minutes having less popularity.
The fight was later used as evidence in his case against Dennis Hopper, who claimed Rip attacked him with a knife after being replaced by Jack Nicholson in Easy Rider. Rip won his case on the claim that "he could not have possibly killed Hopper as he was, at the time, on the set of Maidstone trying to kill Norman Mailer."
In his 2005 essay Overexposed: "My First Taste of Film-Making", Michael Mailer recounts this final scene as his first experience with trauma. Shortly before Norman Mailer's death, he spoke with his son about the final scene of Maidstone and its impact as the "clear" force which drove Michael into the film business.
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it's kind of astounding he made it 88 yoa actually. I think it was just January he broke into a bank in Connecticut...Comment
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A consistently entertaining actor in every role he played. (My favourite is his villainous portrayal of Maax in "The Beastmaster".)
R.I.P.
PUNY HUMANS!Comment
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Larry Sanders Show is probably my favourite TV show. I've seen the whole series a few times and Artie is undeniably one of the best tv characters ever.
Neil Gaiman tweeted this:
I met Rip Torn once, in 1990, on a movie location in NC. "You write science fiction?" he said, teeth in a scary grin. "I was in BEASTMASTER." Then he shook my hand and I ceased to exist for him. That was the start of Mr Wednesday in American Gods. RIP Rip.Last edited by Brazoo; Jul 12, '19, 2:11 AM.Comment
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I'm quite a fan, RIP.
I'd always imagined, c. 1980-95, that Torn would have made a great live-action Owl to fight DD. He had the right visage for it.WANTED: Dick Grayson SI trousers; gray AJ Mustang horse; vintage RC Batman (Bruce Wayne) head; minty Wolfman tights; mint Black Knight sword; minty Launcelot boots; Lion Rock (pale) Dracula & Mummy heads; Lion Rock Franky squared boots; Wayne Foundation blue furniture; Flash Gordon/Ming (10") unbroken holsters; CHiPs gloved arms; POTA T2 tan body; CTVT/vintage Friar Tuck robes, BBP TZ Burgess Meredith glasses.Comment
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