Rip Torn Dead at 88

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Aw man!

I'm a huge Rip Torn fan.

I remember my father mocking his name as the most made-up sounding stage name in all of show business.

But Rip was one of those actors who found a resurgence in his later years...
Kind of like Leslie Nielsen, Rip was pretty much a dramatic bit player, but probably around the start of the 90's he began landing these satirical & sardonic rolls that relaunched him as a mostly comedic actor.
I always loved the kind of sarcastic (for lack of a better term) type of character he played over the last 3 decades - one of my favorites was as the afterlife Lawyer in Defending Your Life (1991).

So the "comes in threes" this week must be:
Artie Johnson
Ross Perot

and Rip Torn



Awwwww, the name was legend in the biz of show

Requiescat in pace Mr. Torn



One of the greats! I always enjoyed seeing good ole Rip as he often brightened up the movie that he was in. I use to think he was an old ex porn star with that name...I just seen him last week in one of the best war films, Pork Chop Hill. He was real good in in that too. And a couple months ago I was surprised to see him turn up in David Bowie's The Man Who Fell to Earth. But my favorite Rip Torn roll was as the colorful bad guy in The Beastmaster.



Loved him in an older performance I saw recently...he played an eccentric theater director in the Bob Hope-Lucille Ball comedy Critics Choice...he was funny as hell on Will & Grace too. RIP