Rip Torn, né Elmore Rual Torn le 6 février 1931 à Temple au Texas, est un acteur américain. Il est plus connu du public pour son rôle du directeur Z dans le film Men in Black, mais aussi pour sa participation à la série télévisée The Larry Sanders Show. Il est apparu dans le film Dodgeball ! Même pas mal ! aux côtés de Ben Stiller et Vince Vaughn. Il a aussi joué dans Marjorie pour lequel il a été nommé à l'Oscar du meilleur acteur dans un second rôle.

Biographie

Family
Torn has been married three times and has 6 children:

From 1956 to 1961, he was married to Ann Wedgeworth, with whom he had a daughter named Danae Torn.

In 1963, Torn married Geraldine Page, 7 years his senior. Torn and Page remained married until her death in 1987. They had three children: actor Tony Torn, Jon Torn (an assistant professor of Electronic Media and Film at Northern Arizona University) and actress Angelica Torn. Torn apparently delighted in the fact that the doorbell of their New York townhouse read Torn Page.

His maternal first cousin Sissy Spacek lived with Torn and Page when she first moved to New York (circa 1966) to pursue a show business career. Torn helped her enroll in the Actors Studio.

Currently, Torn is married to Amy Wright, with whom he has two children named Katie and Claire.


Legal troubles
In January 2004, Torn was arrested in New York City, after his car collided with a taxi. A video of his arrest, in which he curses at officers and angrily refuses a breathalyzer test, was aired on television news outlets. In October 2004, a jury acquitted Torn of any wrongdoing. In December 2006, Torn was again arrested for drunk driving in North Salem, New York after colliding with a tractor trailer. In April 2007, Torn pleaded guilty, and had his driver's license suspended for 90 days, and was required to pay a $380 fine.

On December 14, 2008, Torn was again arrested on suspicion of drunk driving. A bartender at the White Hart Inn in Salisbury, Connecticut, reportedly served Torn, but apparently noticed he appeared intoxicated as he was leaving the establishment, according to a police report. Torn reportedly refused a ride home and got into his vehicle, (a 1994 Subaru Legacy) with a Christmas tree tied on top and drove away. He was convicted and sentenced to probation in May 2009.

On January 29, 2010, he was arrested after breaking into a closed Litchfield Bancorp branch office in Lakeville, Connecticut, where Torn maintains a residence. He was charged with carrying a firearm without a permit, carrying a firearm while intoxicated, first-degree burglary, second-degree criminal trespassing and third-degree criminal mischief. The Connecticut State Police said that Torn broke into the bank thinking it was his home. On February 1, 2010, he appeared in court where his attorney, A. Thomas Waterfall, told the judge that his client needed help with his alcohol abuse and that he could start treatment immediately in New York state. Torn was released on $100,000 bail.

As a condition of his release, the judge said Torn must be evaluated for substance abuse. On August 11, 2010, Torn was denied special probation, which would have allowed his name to be cleared of charges. The judge in the case cited Torn's history of alcohol abuse and the possession of a loaded weapon while intoxicated, which carries a minimum one–year sentence. On December 14, 2010, Torn pled guilty to reckless endangerment, criminal trespass, criminal mischief and the illegal carrying of a firearm, and was given a two–and–a–half–year suspended jail sentence, and three years probation.


On-set conflicts
Appearing as an interview subject in Studs Terkel's 1974 oral-history book Working, Torn confessed, "I have certain flaws in my make-up. Something called irascibility. I get angry easily. I get saddened by things easily."

While filming Maidstone (1970), Torn, apparently unhappy with the film, struck director and star of the film Norman Mailer in the head with a hammer. With the camera rolling, Mailer bit Torn's ear and they wrestled to the ground. The fight continued until it was broken up by cast and crew members as Mailer's children screamed in the background. The fight is featured in the film. Although the scene may have been planned by Torn, the blood shed by both actors was real, and Torn was reportedly truly outraged by Mailer's direction.

In 1994, he filed a defamation lawsuit against Dennis Hopper over a story Hopper told on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. Hopper claimed that Torn pulled a knife on him during pre-production of the film Easy Rider (1969). According to Hopper, Torn was originally cast in the film but was replaced with Jack Nicholson after the incident. According to Torn's suit, it was actually Hopper who pulled the knife on him, and Torn demanded a retraction from Hopper. A trial court judge ruled in Torn's favor and Hopper was ordered to pay $475,000 in compensatory damages but denied Torn's request for punitive damages, ruling Hopper had not acted with malice. Hopper then appealed the ruling, and a California appellate court upheld the trial court's ruling for compensatory damages, and reversed the ruling for the punitive damages, requiring Hopper to pay another $475,000 to Torn.

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