Matinee Classics - Lawrence Tierney Biography & Filmography

Lawrence Tierney ACTOR

PHOTOS

LAWRENCE TIERNEY BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:

Lawrence Tierney was born on March 15th, 1919 in Brooklyn, New York to Mary and Lawrence Tierney. During high school he excelled at athletics and won a number of awards for being on the track and field team. He earned a scholarship to study at Manhattan College, however after only attending school for two years, he left early to work as a laborer on the New York Aqueduct. He then took a number of other odd jobs and also worked as a catalogue model for Sears Roebuck & Co.

When an acting coach took notice of him and suggested he try and pursue a career in acting he found work as a stage actor with the Black Friars Theatre group and later also began doing stage work with the American-Irish Theatre.

In 1943, an RKO talent scout saw one of his productions and offered him a film contract. He began appearing on such films as, "The Ghost Ship" (1943), "The Falcon Out West" (1944), "Youth Runs Wild" (1944), "Back to Bataan" (1945) starring John Wayne and Anthony Quinn, and then he was cast as the lead in the gangster film, "Dillinger" (1945).

Majority of characters he was hired to portray were that of the 'tough guy' and he went on to play the title role in the film, "Born to Kill" (1947). Other film roles he added to his resume during this time period were in, "San Quentin" (1946), "Step by Step" (1946) and "The Devil Thumbs a Ride" (1947).

Not only was he a "tough guy" on screen he carried the same persona off screen being in the spotlight of the media with public bathroom brawls and even at one time getting in a fight and suffering a stab wound. Even though he worked frequently in the industry, he had a reputation for being a very difficult person to get along with and work with. It was mainly him abusing the use of alcohol that put him in many of these situations. He had over a dozen arrests on his record for getting into fights and even served a ninety day sentence for breaking the jaw of a young college student.

As his career progressed he was seen on the big screen in, "Bodyguard" (1948), "Shakedown" (1950) and "Best of the Badmen" (1951). His off camera persona was having a huge affect on his career and less directors and actors wanted to work with him. He returned to working as a stage actor and was seen in the play, "The Petrified Forest".

Occasionally he would return to film and television and received small roles in the films, "Bus Stop" (1962) starring Marilyn Monroe, "A Child is Waiting" (1963), "Such Good Friends" (1971), "Gloria" (1980) and one such television series as, "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour", "Seinfeld", "Fame", "Hunter", "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and some voice over work on, "The Simpsons".

More recently he graced the big screen in the film, "Silver Bullet" (1985), "Tough Guys Don't Dance" (1987), "Reservoir Dogs" (1992), "Toto Lost in New York" (1996) and "Armageddon" (1998).

Lawrence Tierney never married but did have one daughter named Elizabeth. He passed away on February 26th, 2002 in Los Angeles, California after suffering from pneumonia.