| Rip Torn made his feature debut in 1956 in Baby Doll and went on to perform is such film classics as Sweet Bird of Youth, The Cincinnati Kid, Pay Day, Heartland, and Cross Creek, for which he received an Academy Award nomination. More recently, Torn appeared with Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith in the box office smashes Men in Black and its sequel, opposite Michael Douglas in The Wonder Boys, with Russell Crowe and Al Pacino in The Insider, as Zeus in Disney's animated feature Hercules, and in Albert Brooks' hit comedy Defending Your Life. Torn also paired with Ray Romano in the upcoming black comedy Eulogy and with Gene Hackman in Misunderstood.
His uproarious portrayal of Artie, the acerbic talk show producer on Garry Shandling's hit series The Larry Sanders Show, garnered him an Emmy Award, six consecutive Emmy nominations, two CableACE Awards and the American Comedy Award. Other television credits include Johnny Belinda with Julie Harris, Sophia (as Carlo Ponti), Blind Ambition (as President Nixon), and the PBS production of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Recent television appearances include such miniseries and telefilms as Seasons of Love, Passing Glory, Balloon Farm, A Vision of Murder: The Story of Donielle, and an acclaimed recurring role on the hit comedy series Will and Grace. Torn has also been a force of excellence and innovation in New York theatre for over three decades as an actor, director and producer. His numerous accolades date back to his portrayal of Brick in the Broadway adaptation of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof as well as for Eugene O'Neill's Anna Christie. He received the 1966-67 Obie Award for his work in Norman Mailer's Deer Park and again the following year for directing The Beard.
In the spring of 1969, Torn staged a double bill of The Honest-To-God Schnozzola and The Leader, which brought him his third Obie. His recent return to Broadway in Horton Foote's The Young Man from Atlanta earned him rave reviews. Torn is also the founder of Sanctuary Theater, a New York-based production company, and recently directed his daughter Angelica and son John in John Paul Alexander's Strangers in the Land of Canaan at the Actors Studio, an organization of which he is a career-long member.
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