US actor Rip Torn dies aged 88

Rip Torn, who starred in the likes of Dodgeball and Men In Black, has died aged 88.

The actor died at his home in Lakeville, Connecticut on Tuesday afternoon, with his wife and two daughters by his side.

Star of a string of 60s classics fell foul of Hollywood because of his temper but found a fresh lease of life in comedy, from TV’s Larry Sanders Show to the Men in Black films.

Torn’s career on stage and screen spanned seven decades and he won an Emmy late in his career for his role in The Larry Sanders Show. The groundbreaking sitcom ran from 1992-98. In 1983, he was nominated for an Academy Award for best supporting actor following his role as Marsh Turner in Cross Creek.

Whilst known mostly comedy, Torn was at his best in dark dramas. He earned a Tony nomination in 1960 for playing Thomas J. Finley Jr. in Tennessee Williams’ Sweet Bird of Youth and was the shifty blackmailer William Jefferson Slade in The Cincinnati Kid (1965).

Via Variety