Lawrence Tierney

2025-11-01T09:22:51Z

2603:8001:20F0:4260:8612:51D9:328:7730: /* Selected filmography */

{{Short description|American actor (1919–2002)}}
{{for|the footballer|Lawrie Tierney}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2021}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=July 2025}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Lawrence Tierney
| image = Lawrence Tierney in Dillinger trailer (1945) (cropped).jpg
| caption = Tierney in the trailer for ''[[Dillinger (1945 film)|Dillinger]]'' (1945), his first starring role
| birth_name = Lawrence James Tierney
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1919|03|15|mf=yes}}
| birth_place = New York City, U.S.
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2002|02|26|1919|03|15|mf=yes}}
| death_place = Los Angeles, California, U.S.
| occupation = Actor
| years_active = 1943–1999
| children = 1
| relatives = [[Scott Brady (actor)|Scott Brady]] (brother)
}}

'''Lawrence James Tierney''' (March 15, 1919 – February 26, 2002) was an American film and television actor who is best known for his many screen portrayals of [[mobster]]s and "tough guys" in a career that spanned over fifty years. His roles mirrored his own frequent brushes with the law.<ref name='Times'>{{cite news | title=Lawrence Tierney, 82, Actor Known for Tough-Guy Roles | date=March 2, 2002 | url =https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9403EFDB1131F931A35750C0A9649C8B63&n=Top%2FFeatures%2FMovies%2FNews%20and%20Features%2FObituaries&scp=5&sq=Lawrence%20Tierney&st=cse | work =The New York Times | access-date = January 19, 2009}}</ref> In 2005, film critic [[David Kehr]] of ''The New York Times'' described "the hulking Tierney" as "not so much an actor as a frightening force of nature".<ref name='Times 2005'>{{cite news | first=David | last=Kehr | title=Critic's Choice: New DVD's | date=July 5, 2005 | url =https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9801E7DA1031F936A35754C0A9639C8B63&scp=107&sq=Lawrence%20Tierney&st=cse | work =The New York Times | access-date = January 19, 2009 }}</ref>

==Early life==
Lawrence James Tierney was born in the [[Bedford-Stuyvesant]] neighborhood of [[Brooklyn]], New York City on March 15, 1919, the son of Mary Alice (née Crowley; 1895–1960) and Lawrence Hugh Tierney (1891–1964).<ref name='Independent'/> His father was an Irish-American policeman with the [[New York City Department of Environmental Protection Police|New York aqueduct police force]].<ref name='Independent'/> Tierney was a star athlete at [[Boys High School (Brooklyn)|Boys' High School]], winning awards for track and field and joining [[Omega Gamma Delta]] fraternity.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lawrence Tierney|work=The Guardian|location=London|date=March 1, 2002|page=26}}</ref>

After graduating from high school, he earned an athletic scholarship to [[Manhattan College]] but quit after two years to work temporarily as a laborer constructing a section of the 85-mile-long [[Delaware Aqueduct]], which supplies nearly half of New York City's water supply. He then drifted around the country from job to job, working for a time as a catalogue model for [[Sears|Sears Roebuck & Company]].<ref name='Independent'/>

==Career==
After an acting coach suggested he try the stage, Tierney joined the Black Friars theatre group, moving on to the American-Irish Theatre. He was spotted there in 1943 by an [[RKO]] talent scout and given a film contract to work in Hollywood, California.<ref name='Times'/><ref name='Independent'/> In 1943 and 1944, Tierney was cast in several uncredited roles in RKO releases such as ''[[Gildersleeve on Broadway]]'', ''[[Government Girl]]'', ''[[The Ghost Ship (1943 film)|The Ghost Ship]]'' for producer [[Val Lewton]], ''[[The Falcon Out West]]'', ''[[Seven Days Ashore]]'', and ''[[Youth Runs Wild]]'', also for Lewton.<ref>{{cite news|title=Of Local Origin|date=November 19, 1943|work=New York Times|page=25}}</ref>

===''Dillinger'' and stardom===
Tierney's breakthrough role was starring as 1930s bank robber [[John Dillinger]] in 1945's ''[[Dillinger (1945 film)|Dillinger]]'', made for the [[King Brothers Productions|King Brothers]] and [[Monogram Pictures]], which borrowed him from RKO.<ref name='Independent'/> Advertised as a tale "written in bullets, blood, and blondes", ''Dillinger'' was initially banned from theaters in Chicago and other cities where the gangster had operated. A low-budget production that cost $60,000 to make—{{Inflation|US|60000|1945|fmt=eq|r=-3}}—''Dillinger'' nevertheless proved popular, with Tierney being characterized as "memorably menacing".<ref name='Independent'/><ref name="yordan">[http://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft0z09n7m0&chunk.id=d0e17295&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e17295&brand=ucpress McGilligan, Patrick. Backstory 2: Interviews with Screenwriters of the 1940s and 1950s. Berkeley: University of California Press, c1991. http://ark.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/ft0z09n7m0/]</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=Mexican Best Seller Cugat Screen Subject: Lawrence Tierney Will Play Dillinger; Bickford Likely 'Doorbells' Costar|author=Schallert, Edwin|date=October 4, 1944|work=Los Angeles Times|page=11}}</ref>

Back at RKO, Tierney resumed his work there in small and supporting roles in ''[[Those Endearing Young Charms (film)|Those Endearing Young Charms]]'' (1945), ''[[Back to Bataan]]'' (1945) (with John Wayne in one scene), ''[[Mama Loves Papa (1945 film)|Mama Loves Papa]]'' (1946), and in the [[Western (genre)|Western]] ''[[Badman's Territory]]'' (1946) in which he portrays [[Jesse James]].<ref>{{cite news|title=STAR OF 'DILLINGER' GETS JAMES ROLE: Lawrence Tierney Listed for 'Bad Man's Territory'--New Mexican Film at Belmont Of Local Origin|work=New York Times|date=September 15, 1945|page=21}}</ref> However, as ticket sales for ''Dillinger'' continued to rise and that film's financial success became apparent at RKO, the studio promoted Tierney in 1946 to star status in ''[[Step by Step (1946 film)|Step by Step]]'', another [[film noir]], one that portrays an ex-Marine being falsely accused of murder.<ref>{{Cite news|title='Dillinger' Tierney Gets R.K.O. Stardom Nod|author=Schallert, Edwin|date=May 3, 1945|work=Los Angeles Times|page=A3}}</ref> He next starred as a reformed prison inmate in the 1946 release ''[[San Quentin (1946 film)|San Quentin]]''.

The next year he was cast as the lead in two more RKO productions that have since gained cult followings among film noir enthusiasts: ''[[The Devil Thumbs a Ride]]'' directed by [[Felix E. Feist]] and the more notorious ''[[Born to Kill (1947 film)|Born to Kill]]'' directed by [[Robert Wise]]. In Feist's film, Tierney plays a homicidal hitch-hiker, while under Wise's direction he portrays a suave but murderous conman.<ref name='Independent'/> Film critic [[Bosley Crowther]] of ''The New York Times'' condemned ''Born to Kill'' upon its release in 1947, professing that it was "not only morally disgusting but an offense to a normal intellect." He decried that Tierney, "as the bold, bad killer whose ambition is to 'fix it so's I can spit in anybody's eye,'" was "given outrageous license to demonstrate the histrionics of nastiness."<ref name=Crowther>{{cite news | first=Bosley | last=Crowther |author-link= Bosley Crowther | title=Review of Born to Kill | date=May 1, 1947 | url =https://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9502EEDA123EE13BBC4953DFB366838C659EDE&scp=1&sq=born%20to%20kill&st=cse | work =The New York Times | access-date = April 4, 2009 }}</ref> Despite such negative contemporary reviews of the film, more recent critics and film historians have expressed admiration for Tierney's intense performance and identified the production as a quintessential example of [[film noir]], in particular of RKO's approach to the genre.<ref name=Silver>{{Cite book | author1=Silver, Alain | author2=Ward, Elizabeth | author3=Ursini, James | title=Film noir: an encyclopedic reference to the American style | year=1992 | publisher=Overlook Press | location=Woodstock, N.Y. | isbn=0-87951-479-5 | page=[https://archive.org/details/filmnoir00alai/page/40 40] | url-access=registration | url=https://archive.org/details/filmnoir00alai/page/40 }}</ref> [[Image:Tierney and Cook in Born to Kill.jpg|left|thumb|250px|Tierney attacking [[Elisha Cook Jr.]] in the film noir ''[[Born to Kill (1947 film)|Born to Kill]]'' (1947)]]

Reflecting on his career, Tierney maintained that he did not like playing such violent roles:{{quote|I resented those pictures they put me in. I never thought of myself as that kind of guy. I thought of myself as a nice guy who wouldn't do rotten things. I hated that character so much but I had to do it for the picture.<ref name=Independent/>}}

Following ''Born to Kill'', Tierney was periodically cast in more sympathetic roles. In RKO's 1948 release ''[[Bodyguard (1948 film)|Bodyguard]]'', based on a story co-written by [[Robert Altman]] and [[George W. George]], he plays a man wrongly accused of murder. That year RKO also announced its intentions to star him in ''[[The Clay Pigeon]]'', but [[Bill Williams (actor)|Bill Williams]] was instead assigned the leading role.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Lawrence Tierney's Career to Bloom Anew|author=Schallert, Edwin|date=March 19, 1948|work=Los Angeles Times|page=19}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=LEATRICE JOY SIGNS FOR ROLE IN MOVIE: Star of Silent Screen Will Play Grandmother in Film Planned by Eagle-Lion|author=THOMAS F. BRADY|work=New York Times|date=June 18, 1948|page=18}}</ref>

===Post-RKO===
In 1950, Tierney was cast by [[Eagle-Lion Films]] to star in ''[[Kill or Be Killed (1950 film)|Kill or Be Killed]]'', directed by [[Max Nosseck]], who had also directed ''Dillinger''. That same year, however, Tierney only received second billing in [[Joseph Pevney]]'s ''[[Shakedown (1950 film)|Shakedown]]'', although in 1951 he returned to a starring role in another film produced by Eagle Lion and directed by Nosseck: ''[[The Hoodlum (1951 film)|The Hoodlum]]''. He then returned to RKO to play a supporting role, performing again as Jesse James in ''[[Best of the Badmen]]'' (1951). After co-starring in ''[[The Bushwackers (film)|The Bushwhackers]]'' (1952), director [[Cecil B. DeMille]] cast him as the villain who causes a train wreck in the 1952 [[Academy Award for Best Picture#1950s|Best Picture Oscar-winner]] ''[[The Greatest Show on Earth (film)|The Greatest Show on Earth]]''. Tierney's supporting work in that film earned him a request by the director of [[Paramount Pictures]] to put him under contract, but that proposal was dropped by the studio when Tierney was arrested for fighting in a bar.<ref name='Independent'/>

===Additional supporting roles and return to the stage===
For the remainder of the 1950s, Tierney continued to work in supporting roles in ''[[The Man Behind the Badge]]'', ''[[The Steel Cage]]'' (1954), and ''[[Singing in the Dark]]'' (1956). He did share top billing with [[Kathleen Crowley]], [[John Carradine]], and [[Jayne Mansfield]] in the low-budget film noir ''[[Female Jungle]]'' (1956), but as offers of further screen work steadily declined, he returned to the stage, playing Duke Mantee in a touring version of ''[[The Petrified Forest]]'' alongside [[Franchot Tone]] and [[Betsy von Furstenberg]].<ref name='Independent'/><ref name="smith">Gary A. Smith, ''American International Pictures: The Golden Years'', Bear Manor Media 2014 p 30.</ref>

===Television===
During the 1950s and 1960s, Tierney had guest roles in many television series, including ''[[Naked City (TV series)|Naked City]]'', ''[[The Detectives (1959 TV series)|The Detectives]]'', ''[[New York Confidential (TV series)|New York Confidential]]'', ''[[Man with a Camera]]'', ''[[Adventures in Paradise (TV series)|Adventures in Paradise]]'', ''[[Peter Gunn (TV series)|Peter Gunn]]'', ''[[The Barbara Stanwyck Show]]'', ''[[Follow the Sun (TV series)|Follow the Sun]]'', ''[[Bus Stop (TV series)|Bus Stop]]'', ''[[The Lloyd Bridges Show]]'', and ''[[The Alfred Hitchcock Hour]]''.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lawrence Tierney, 82, Actor Known for Tough-Guy Roles: [Obituary (Obit)]|work=New York Times|date=March 2, 2002|page=A.16}}</ref>
Among his film roles were parts in [[John Cassavetes]]' ''[[A Child Is Waiting]]'' (1963), ''[[Naked Evil]]'' (1966), ''[[Custer of the West]]'' (1967), and ''Killer Without a Face'' (1968). After his work on ''A Child is Waiting'' he moved to France.<ref>{{cite news|title=Obituaries: Lawrence Tierney|work=Variety|volume=386|issue=4 (Mar 11 – 17, 2002)|page=51}}</ref> After several years there,<ref name=Independent/> Tierney returned to New York City, but his troubles with the law resumed. In New York City, he worked as a bartender and construction worker, and drove a horse-drawn carriage in [[Central Park]].<ref>"Lawrence Tierney: Tough Guy Actor", obituary, ''Variety'' (Los Angeles, California), March 11–17, 2002, p. 51.</ref>

===1970–1982===
According to the book ''The Films of John Avildsen: Rocky, The Karate Kid and Other Underdogs'',<ref>Garrett, Tom & Larry Powell. ''The Films of John Avildsen: Rocky, The Karate Kid and Other Underdogs'', McFarland, 2013, {{ISBN|9780786466924}}</ref> Tierney was supposed to play the role of Joe Curran in [[John G. Avildsen|Avildsen's]] 1970 hit ''[[Joe (1970 film)|Joe]]''. However, he was fired due to an incident two days before principal photography began when he was arrested for assaulting a bartender who refused to serve him any more hard liquor.

During the 1970s, he occasionally found film work, appearing in a bit part as a security guard in [[Otto Preminger]]'s ''[[Such Good Friends]]'' (1971), as an FBI agent in [[Joseph Zito]]'s ''[[Abduction (1975 film)|Abduction]]'' (1975), in ''[[Andy Warhol's Bad]]'', in 1976 (which he later described as "a terrible experience—unprofessional"), as well as small roles in Cassavetes' ''[[Gloria (1980 film)|Gloria]]'' (1980) and Zito's ''[[The Prowler (1981 film)|The Prowler]]'' (1981).<ref name='Independent'/> He was also in ''[[The Kirlian Witness]]'' (1980), ''[[Bloodrage]]'' (1980), and ''[[Arthur (1981 film)|Arthur]]'' (1981). He was second billed in the independently produced horror film ''[[Midnight (1982 film)|Midnight]]'' (1982).

===Return to Hollywood===
Tierney moved back to Los Angeles in December 1983, and over the next 16 years, resumed a fairly successful acting career in film and television. He guest-starred on several television shows such as ''[[Remington Steele]]'', ''[[Fame (1982 TV series)|Fame]]'', ''[[Hunter (1984 American TV series)|Hunter]]'', ''[[Hill Street Blues]]'', ''[[L.A. Law]]'', ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'', ''[[Star Trek: Deep Space Nine]]'', and ''[[The Simpsons]]''. Former ''Simpsons'' show runner Josh Weinstein called Tierney's appearance "the craziest guest star experience we ever had".<ref>{{cite video |people=Weinstein, Josh |date=2005 |title=The Simpsons season 7 DVD commentary for the episode "Marge Be Not Proud" |medium=DVD |publisher=20th Century Fox}}</ref><ref name=denreview>{{cite web|last=Hunt|first=James|title=Revisiting Star Trek TNG: The Big Goodbye|url=https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/revisiting-star-trek-tng-the-big-goodbye/|publisher=Den of Geek|date=December 7, 2012|access-date=March 27, 2022}}</ref>

In 1985, Tierney had a small speaking role as the chief of the New York City police in [[John Huston]]'s ''[[Prizzi's Honor]]''. Between 1985 and 1987, Tierney made several guest appearances on the last two seasons of the police drama ''Hill Street Blues'', portraying Desk Sergeant Jenkins working the precinct's night shifts. He spoke the last line of dialogue on the series' final episode when he answered the front desk phone, uttering "Hill Street."

Tierney had a more substantial supporting role as the father of protagonist [[Ryan O'Neal]] in [[Norman Mailer]]'s [[Tough Guys Don't Dance (film)|film adaptation]] of his own novel ''[[Tough Guys Don't Dance (novel)|Tough Guys Don't Dance]]'' (1987). He also played a baseball-bat wielding bar owner in the film adaptation of [[Stephen King]]'s ''[[Silver Bullet (film)|Silver Bullet]]''. Tierney credited ''Tough Guys Don't Dance'' in particular with rejuvenating his acting career, and he personally ranked it as some of his best work.<ref name=dill/> In 1988, Tierney played Cyrus Redblock, a tough [[holodeck]] gangster in the ''Star Trek: The Next Generation'' episode "[[The Big Goodbye]]". In February 1991, he guest-starred as [[Elaine Benes]]'s gruff father Alton Benes in the ''[[Seinfeld]]'' episode "[[The Jacket (Seinfeld)|The Jacket]]".

===''Reservoir Dogs'' and later career===
In 1991, [[Quentin Tarantino]] cast him in a supporting role as crime lord Joe Cabot in ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]''. The success of the film bookended Tierney's career in playing gangsters. In an homage to his first starring role, Tierney reports that one of his henchmen was "dead as Dillinger".<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/news/2002/mar/01/guardianobituaries.filmnews| work=The Guardian| location=London| title=Lawrence Tierney| date=March 1, 2002| access-date=May 7, 2010}}</ref> During production, Tierney's off-screen antics both amused and disturbed the cast and crew. At the end of his first week of directing ''Reservoir Dogs'', Tarantino got into a shoving match with Tierney and fired him. The entire crew burst into applause.<ref name=tierneyYT>{{cite web |title=Quentin Tarantino on Lawrence Tierney |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p19mm3WvChY|website=Youtube | date=November 5, 2016 |access-date=May 30, 2024}}</ref> He later referred to Tierney as "a complete lunatic" who "just needed to be sedated".<ref>{{cite web| first=Ben| last=Child |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2010/jan/12/quentin-tarantino-bafta |title=Why Quentin Tarantino wants to be the next Howard Hawks |newspaper=The Guardian |date=January 12, 2010 |access-date=March 8, 2015}}</ref> Tierney’s co-star [[Harvey Keitel]] later spoke with Tierney, Tarantino and the studio executives, allowing things to be smoothed out and the filming completed.<ref name=tierneyYT /> Tierney later apologized to Tarantino and invited him to drink at a bar. Tarantino accepted his apology but declined to drink with Tierney, and vowed to never work with him again.<ref>{{Cite web |date=May 10, 2022 |title=Exploring Lawrence Tierney's feud with Quentin Tarantino |url=https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/quentin-tarantino-feud-lawrence-tierney/ |access-date=May 29, 2024 |website=faroutmagazine.co.uk |language=en-US}}</ref>

Despite his reputation as a brawler and being difficult to work with, Tierney remained in steady demand as a character actor in Hollywood until he suffered a mild stroke in 1995 which made him gradually slow his career. He had suffered a previous stroke in 1982. He turned to doing voice-over work on animated features and made occasional appearances in film and television (most of which feature him only sitting) as his health slowly deteriorated until his death. One of Tierney's later roles was an uncredited cameo appearance as [[Bruce Willis]]' disabled father in ''[[Armageddon (1998 film)|Armageddon]]'' (1998) in a short scene which ended up being deleted from the theatrical version. The same year, his long-time agent, Don Gerler, recounted Tierney's continuing troubles with the law: "A few years back [in 1994] I was still bailing him out of jail. He was 75-years-old and still the toughest guy in the bar!"<ref name='Independent'/> His final acting role was a small part in the 1999 independent film ''Evicted'', written and directed by his nephew Michael Tierney, after which Lawrence Tierney, then age 80, retired from acting altogether.

==Off-screen troubles==
Tierney's numerous arrests for being [[Public intoxication|drunk and disorderly]], and jail terms for assault on civilians and police officers alike, took a toll on his career.<ref name='Times'/> He was an admitted alcoholic who tried to go sober in 1982 after having a mild stroke, once observing during a 1987 interview that he "threw away about seven careers through drink".<ref name="dill">{{cite news|title='Dillinger' has finally wised up|author=Smyth, Mitchell|work=Toronto Star|date=December 6, 1987|page=D.4}}</ref>

Between 1944 and 1951, Tierney was arrested at least twelve times in Los Angeles for brawling—fistfighting with multiple people—and frequently for drunkenness which included ripping a public telephone off a wall in a bar, hitting a waiter in the face with a sugar bowl for refusing to serve him any more drinks, and attempting to choke a taxi driver.<ref>{{cite news | title=Actor Held After Afray | date=October 9, 1951 | work =The New York Times }}</ref> He was jailed for three months for brawling in May 1947<ref>{{cite news|title=Tierney Fights Brother; Gets 90 Days in Jail|date=May 2, 1947|work=Los Angeles Times|page=2}}</ref> and again in June 1949<ref>{{cite news|title=Lawrence Tierney Jailed in Brawl|date=June 10, 1949|work=Los Angeles Times|page=15}}</ref> and drunkenness in January 1949<ref>{{cite news|title=Lawrence Tierney, Screen Dillinger, Booked as Drunk|work=Los Angeles Times|date=January 4, 1949|page=2}}</ref> and October 1950.<ref>{{cite news|title=LAWRENCE TIERNEY CITED ON DRUNK CHARGE|date=October 15, 1950|work=Los Angeles Times|page=B3}}</ref> His legal troubles included a 90-day jail sentence which he served from August to October 1951 for breaking a New York college student's jaw during another barroom brawl. He served 66 days in the city jail in Chicago, Illinois from March to May 1952 on drunk and disorderly charges.<ref>{{cite news| agency=United Press| title=Screen Villain Draws 90 Days| date=August 30, 1951| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1951/08/31/archives/screen-villain-draws-90-days.html| work=The New York Times| page=11| access-date=March 2, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Lawrence Tierney Is Jailed|date=August 4, 1951|work=New York Times|page=7}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Free Lawrence Tierney After Serving 66 Days|date=May 13, 1952|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|page=a7}}</ref> In October 1951, he was sent to a mental hospital in Chicago after being found in a church in a disheveled state.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lawrence Tierney Taken to Neurological Hospital|date=October 9, 1951|work=Chicago Daily Tribune|page=7}}</ref> In New York City, he was arrested for assault and battery of a barroom pianist in August 1953, and in October 1958 for resisting arrest and assaulting two police officers in another barroom brawl.<ref>{{cite news|title=LAWRENCE TIERNEY FREED: Court Decides Actor Didn't Hit Pianist with Microphone|work=New York Times|date=August 18, 1953|page=48}}</ref><ref name="TNYT2">{{cite news| title=Tierney Arrested Here| date=October 15, 1958| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1958/10/15/archives/tierney-arrested-here-actor-held-in-3500-bail-for-brawling-with.html| work=The New York Times|url-access=subscription | access-date=March 2, 2018| page=46}}</ref> At the time of his October 1958 arrest outside a Manhattan bar, ''The New York Times'' reported that he had been arrested six times in California and five in New York City on similar charges.<ref name="TNYT2"/>

In January 1973, he was stabbed in a bar fight on the West Side of Manhattan.<ref name=LAT>{{cite news| title=Lawrence Tierney, 82; Actor Was Real-Life Tough Guy| date=February 28, 2002| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-feb-28-me-tierney28-story.html| last=McLellan| first=Dennis| newspaper=[[Los Angeles Times]]| access-date=March 2, 2018}}</ref> Two years later, Tierney was questioned by New York City police in connection with the apparent suicide of a 24-year-old woman who had jumped from the window of her high-rise apartment. Tierney told police, "I had just gotten there, and she just went out the window." He was never arrested or charged with the young woman's death.<ref name='Independent'/>

In July 1991, during the filming of ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]'', Tierney shot at his nephew in a drunken rage at his Hollywood apartment, and was arrested and jailed. He was released for one day to continue filming, as recounted by the film's director [[Quentin Tarantino]] in an interview. Tarantino never again worked with or hired Tierney to act in his films.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/p07jzhgw/movies-with-ali-plumb-movies-that-made-me-quentin-tarantino|title=Movies With Ali Plumb – Movies That Made Me: Quentin Tarantino|via=www.bbc.co.uk}}</ref>

Tierney’s ''Reservoir Dogs'' co-star [[Chris Penn]] recounted an incident in which Tierney stole a table lamp from a restaurant they were eating at for no apparent reason and showed it off to Penn while the two drove in Penn’s car.<ref>{{Cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-E8r_1TeAI |title=Extra Materials: Quentin Tarantino's "Reservoir Dogs" |date=July 3, 2014 |last=nickbtube |access-date=May 29, 2024 |via=YouTube}}</ref>

[[Wil Wheaton]] recalled that while filming an episode of ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' in 1987, Tierney mocked the 15-year-old Wheaton for not playing football in school and belittled him with homophobic slurs.<ref>{{Cite web |date=September 10, 2014 |title=Star Trek is 48 years old this week. |url=https://wilwheaton.net/2014/09/star-trek-is-48-years-old-this-week/ |access-date=May 29, 2024 |website=WIL WHEATON dot NET |language=en-US}}</ref>

''[[The Simpsons]]'' showrunners and writers [[Josh Weinstein]] and [[Bill Oakley]] stated on [[Twitter]] numerous incidents regarding Tierney’s voice recording session for the show in 1995, including "terrorizing" the writers and staff and making strange demands for his role, such as insisting he voice the entire performance with a [[Southern United States|Southern]] accent.<ref>{{Cite web |date=December 18, 2020 |title=Simpsons writer has some wild stories about working with Lawrence Tierney |url=https://www.avclub.com/simpsons-writer-josh-weinstein-has-some-wild-stories-ab-1845913333 |access-date=May 29, 2024 |website=The A.V. Club |language=en|author-last1=Caffrey|author-first1=Dan}}</ref>

In December 1990, during the filming of [[The_Jacket_(Seinfeld)|Season 2, episode 3]] of ''[[Seinfeld]]'', [[Jason Alexander]] and [[Jerry Seinfeld]] caught Tierney in the act of trying to steal a knife from the set. When Seinfeld confronted him, Tierney began to laugh nervously and jokingly pretended he would stab Seinfeld while imitating the music from the film [[Psycho (1960 film)|''Psycho'']]. The entire crew was uncomfortable with Tierney following the incident, prompting Seinfeld not to hire Tierney again.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Horn |first=Shawn Van |date=June 18, 2023 |title=The Shocking 'Seinfeld' Incident That Got Elaine's Dad Erased From the Show |url=https://collider.com/seinfeld-elaines-dad/ |access-date=May 29, 2024 |website=Collider |language=en}}</ref> [[Julia Louis-Dreyfus]] complimented Tierney’s performance on the show but stated he was a “total nutjob.”<ref>{{Cite web |last=Horn |first=Shawn Van |date=June 18, 2023 |title=The Shocking 'Seinfeld' Incident That Got Elaine's Dad Erased From the Show |url=https://collider.com/seinfeld-elaines-dad/ |access-date=May 29, 2024 |website=Collider |language=en}}</ref>

==Personal life and death==
With much of his career and personal life repeatedly embroiled in legal problems and hampered by chronic alcoholism, Tierney never married despite having several short-term relationships with a number of women in the 1940s, 1950s and 1960s. He did, however, father a daughter named Elizabeth who was born in 1961.<ref name='Times'/><ref name='Independent'>{{cite news | first=Tom | last=Vallance | title=Lawrence Tierney (obituary) | date=March 1, 2002 | url =https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/lawrence-tierney-9257032.html | work =The Independent | access-date = September 23, 2018 | location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite book | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PL6JEAAAQBAJ&q=lawrence+tierney | title=Lawrence Tierney: Hollywood's Real-Life Tough Guy | isbn=9780813196527 | last1=Kearns | first1=Burt | date=December 6, 2022 | publisher=University Press of Kentucky }}</ref>

Both of Tierney's younger brothers preceded him in death, Edward dying in 1983 and Gerard (known by his stage name [[Scott Brady (actor)|Scott Brady]]) in 1985. Tierney died in his sleep of [[pneumonia]] in a Los Angeles nursing home on February 26, 2002, at age 82. He had been residing there for about a year after suffering another debilitating stroke.<ref name='AP'>{{cite news | title=Obituary | date=March 2, 2002 | url =http://archive.southcoasttoday.com/daily/03-02/03-02-02/zzzddobi.htm | agency =Associated Press | access-date = January 26, 2009 }}</ref>

==Biography==
The first biography of the actor, ''[[Lawrence Tierney: Hollywood's Real-Life Tough Guy]],'' was written by [[Burt Kearns]] and published on December 6, 2022, by the [[University Press of Kentucky]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.kentuckypress.com/9780813196503/lawrence-tierney/ | title=Lawrence Tierney }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780813196503 | title=Lawrence Tierney: Hollywood's Real-Life Tough Guy by Burt Kearns }}</ref><ref>LawrenceTierneyBook.com</ref>

==Selected filmography==
{{Div col}}
* ''[[Gildersleeve on Broadway]]'' (1943) as Cab Driver (uncredited)
* ''[[Government Girl]]'' (1943) as FBI Man (uncredited)
* ''[[The Ghost Ship]]'' (1943) as Seaman Louie Parker (uncredited)
* ''[[The Falcon Out West]]'' (1944) as Orchestra Leader (uncredited)
* ''[[Seven Days Ashore]]'' (1944) as Crewman (uncredited)
* ''[[Youth Runs Wild]]'' (1944) as Larry Duncan
* ''[[Dillinger (1945 film)|Dillinger]]'' (1945) as [[John Dillinger]]
* ''[[Those Endearing Young Charms (film)|Those Endearing Young Charms]]'' (1945) as Lieutenant Ted Brewster
* ''[[Back to Bataan]]'' (1945) as Lieutenant Commander Waite
* ''[[Mama Loves Papa (1945 film)|Mama Loves Papa]]'' (1945) as Sharpe
* ''[[Sing Your Way Home]]'' (1945) as Reporter in Paris (uncredited)
* ''[[Badman's Territory]]'' (1946) as [[Jesse James]]
* ''[[Step by Step (1946 film)|Step By Step]]'' (1946) as Johnny Christopher
* ''[[San Quentin (1946 film)|San Quentin]]'' (1946) as Jim Roland
* ''[[The Devil Thumbs a Ride]]'' (1947) as Steve Morgan
* ''[[Born to Kill (1947 film)|Born to Kill]]'' (1947) as Sam
* ''[[Bodyguard (1948 film)|Bodyguard]]'' (1948) as Mike Carter
* ''[[Kill or Be Killed (1950 film)|Kill or Be Killed]]'' (1950) as Robert Warren
* ''[[Shakedown (1950 film)|Shakedown]]'' (1950) as Harry Colton
* ''[[The Hoodlum (1951 film)|The Hoodlum]]'' (1951) as Vincent Lubeck
* ''[[Best of the Badmen]]'' (1951) as Jesse James
* ''[[The Bushwackers (film)|The Bushwackers]]'' (1951) as Sam Tobin
* ''[[The Greatest Show on Earth (film)|The Greatest Show on Earth]]'' (1952) as Mr. Henderson
* ''[[The Steel Cage]]'' (1954) as Chet Harmon, a Ringleader (segment "The Hostages")
* ''[[Female Jungle]]'' (1956) as Detective Sergeant Jack Stevens
* ''[[Singing in the Dark]]'' (1956) as Biff Lamont
* ''[[The Alfred Hitchcock Hour]]'' (1963) (Season 1 Episode 32: "Death of a Cop") as Herbie Lane
* ''[[A Child Is Waiting]]'' (1963) as Douglas Benham
* ''[[Naked Evil]]'' (1966) as The Doctor (U.S. version)
* ''[[Custer of the West]]'' (1967) as General Philip Sheridan
* ''Killer Without a Face'' (1968)
* ''[[Such Good Friends]]'' (1971) as Hospital Guard
* ''[[Abduction (1975 film)|Abduction]]'' (1975) as FBI Agent I
* ''[[Andy Warhol's Bad]]'' (1977) as O'Reilly-O'Crapface
* ''[[The Kirlian Witness]]'' (1979) as Detective
* ''[[Bloodrage]]'' (1980) as Malone
* ''[[Gloria (1980 film)|Gloria]]'' (1980) as Broadway Bartender
* ''[[Arthur (1981 film)|Arthur]]'' (1981) as Man in Coffee Shop
* ''[[The Prowler (1981 film)|The Prowler]]'' (1981) as Major Chatham
* ''[[Midnight (1982 film)|Midnight]]'' (1982) as Bert Johnson
* ''[[Terrible Joe Moran]]'' (1984) as Pico
* ''[[Nothing Lasts Forever (film)|Nothing Lasts Forever]]'' (1984) as Carriage Driver
* ''[[Prizzi's Honor]]'' (1985) as Lieutenant Davey Hanley
* ''[[Silver Bullet (film)|Silver Bullet]]'' (1985) as Owen Knopfler
* ''[[Murphy's Law (film)|Murphy's Law]]'' (1986) as Cameron
* ''[[From a Whisper to a Scream (film)|From a Whisper to a Scream]]'' (1987) as Warden
* ''[[Tough Guys Don't Dance (film)|Tough Guys Don't Dance]]'' (1987) as Dougy Madden
* ''[[Star Trek: The Next Generation]]'' (1988) as Cyrus Redblock
* ''[[The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!]]'' (1988) as Angels Manager
* ''[[The Horror Show|House III: The Horror Show]]'' (1989) as Warden
* ''[[Why Me? (1990 film)|Why Me?]]'' (1990) as Armenian Robber #1
* ''[[Dillinger (1991 film)|Dillinger]]'' (1991) as Sheriff Sarber
* ''[[Wizards of the Demon Sword]]'' (1991) as Slave Master
* ''[[The Runestone]]'' (1991) as Chief Richardson
* ''[[City of Hope (1991 film)|City of Hope]]'' (1991) as Kerrigan
* ''The Death Merchant'' (1991) as Ivan Yates
* ''[[Reservoir Dogs]]'' (1992) as Joe Cabot
* ''[[Eddie Presley]]'' (1992) as Joe West
* ''Red'' (1993 short) as Louis "Red" Deutsch
* ''[[Junior (1994 film)|Junior]]'' (1994) as Mover
* ''Starstruck'' (1995) as Patron
* ''Fatal Passion'' (1995) as Robert Pearlman
* ''[[2 Days in the Valley]]'' (1996) as Older Man
* ''[[American Hero (video game)|American Hero]]'' (1997) as Captain Roads
* ''[[Southie (film)|Southie]]'' (1998) as Colie Powers
* ''[[Armageddon (1998 film)|Armageddon]]'' (1998) as Eddie "Gramp" Stamper (uncredited)
* ''Evicted'' (1999) as Bob (filmed in 1996; final role)
{{div col end}}

== See also ==
* ''[[Lawrence Tierney: Hollywood's Real-Life Tough Guy]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
{{Commons}}
* [http://www.lawrencetierneybook.com Website for biography, ''Lawrence Tierney: Hollywood's Real-Life Tough Guy'']
* [http://www.lawrencetierney.com Lawrence Tierney Official Website] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161004061810/http://lawrencetierney.com/ |date=October 4, 2016 }}
* {{IMDb name|0862937}}
* [http://toddmecklem.com/tierney.html Todd Mecklem's Tierney tribute]
* [http://www.eddiemuller.com/tierney.html Essay on Tierney] by writer [[Eddie Muller]]
{{Memory Alpha}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tierney, Lawrence}}
[[Category:1919 births]]
[[Category:2002 deaths]]
[[Category:American male film actors]]
[[Category:American male television actors]]
[[Category:American male stage actors]]
[[Category:RKO Pictures contract players]]
[[Category:American people of Irish descent]]
[[Category:Male actors from Brooklyn]]
[[Category:Deaths from pneumonia in California]]
[[Category:20th-century American male actors]]
[[Category:Boys High School (Brooklyn) alumni]]

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Lawrence Tierney