# RIP Torn **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 10, 2019, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820 "2019-07-10T03:18:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/1 "2019-07-10T03:18:03Z")
[Rip Torn Dies at 88](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/rip-torn-dead-larry-sanders-887059). I’ve never seen _The Larry Sanders Show_, but I loved him in _Men In Black_. ---
**Author:** ![snfaulkner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snfaulkner/32/433_2.png) [@snfaulkner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snfaulkner)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/2 "2019-07-10T03:22:53Z")
Holy crap, I didn’t realize he was that old. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/3 "2019-07-10T03:26:02Z")
He was pretty ddamned good in everything he did. RIP Mr. Torn. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/4 "2019-07-10T03:28:24Z")
I loved him as the defense attorney in Albert Brooks’ _Defending Your Life_. RIP, Rip. He was also one of the interview subjects in Studs Terkel’s famous 1974 book _Working_. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/5 "2019-07-10T03:30:20Z")
You can dodge a wrench and you can dodge a ball, but you can’t dodge the reaper. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/6 "2019-07-10T03:47:15Z")
> [@snfaulkner](#): > > Holy crap, I didn’t realize he was that old. Ditto, even in 30 Rock, I would have guessed he was around 60, maybe 70. Also, I always get him confused with Rip Taylor\*. Whenever I hear Rip Torn in a ‘serious’ role I always have a second where I assume that the guy that throws confetti must also do ‘normal’ roles (ie MiB, 30 Rock etc). \*after looking him up to jog my memory on his name, I think the confusion is understandable. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/7 "2019-07-10T03:56:43Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Also, I always get him confused with Rip Taylor\*. Holy mackerel! :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/8 "2019-07-10T04:22:19Z")
Canadian Bacon is my main memory of him. ---
**Author:** ![raventhief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/raventhief/32/4_2.png) [@raventhief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raventhief)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/9 "2019-07-10T04:28:47Z")
☹ ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 4:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/10 "2019-07-10T04:54:42Z")
Dodge, duck, dip, dive, and dodge. Dang I liked that guy, cool name, and great cranky old man voice. ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 5:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/11 "2019-07-10T05:19:06Z")
Funny: until just now when I read the obit, I thought he and Geraldine Page were never legally married. I thought they were bohemian types who didn’t think it important. (I love that their mailbox said Torn/Page.) I can’t imagine anyone being better than Dennis Hopper as Billy in Easy Rider. But as I don’t know what Torn would have done with the role, I can’t know if his performance might not have been as good or better. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/12 "2019-07-10T05:31:26Z")
I just made myself crazy thinking that Rip Torn was in one or more John Waters films. Thankfully, Al Gore invented the internet to help lost souls like me find their way back to reality. With a little help from Uncle Google, I was able to determine that I was confusing Rip Torn and Tab Hunter. The larger question is: why would I make this mistake? Any theories on how Tab Hunter and Rip Torn could be confused? ---
**Author:** ![Guest-starring\_Id](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guest-starring_id/32/21736_2.png) [@Guest-starring\_Id](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guest-starring_Id)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/13 "2019-07-10T05:46:36Z")
I wouldn’t have the faintest, much like I don’t have the faintest about the Torn/Taylor mix-up. [RIP](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MIzPVGn8Xes%22) ☹ ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 10:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/14 "2019-07-10T10:06:28Z")
I will always remember him as Māăx, the villain in _The Beasmaster_. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 10:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/15 "2019-07-10T10:34:03Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > I just made myself crazy thinking that Rip Torn was in one or more John Waters films. Thankfully, Al Gore invented the internet to help lost souls like me find their way back to reality. With a little help from Uncle Google, I was able to determine that I was confusing Rip Torn and Tab Hunter. > > The larger question is: why would I make this mistake? Any theories on how Tab Hunter and Rip Torn could be confused? Lucille Ball does her signature schtick in ‘Lucy Goes To A Hollywood Premiere’, the episode where she gets her hands on an usher’s uniform and pretends it’s her job to keep those sneaky autograph hounds away from the stars — and thereby contrives to meet Kirk Douglas and Jimmy Durante along with that new celebrity, “The Country’s Fastest-Rising Romantic Star, The Man Who May Be Another Tab Hunter Or Rip Torn, There He Is: ROAD BLOCK!” ---
**Author:** ![Quimby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/22d042/32.png) [@Quimby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quimby)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/16 "2019-07-10T12:19:12Z")
He’ll always be Artie from Larry Sanders to me. RIP ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/17 "2019-07-10T12:31:44Z")
> [@Rilchiam](#): > > I can’t imagine anyone being better than Dennis Hopper as Billy in Easy Rider. But as I don’t know what Torn would have done with the role, I can’t know if his performance might not have been as good or better. I don’t think there is any question that he would have been just as good. If you get a chance, watch **[Payday](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069067/?ref_=nm_flmg_act_134)**. And he was instrumental in getting his cousin her first opportunities in the business. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_T-Cups](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ed655f/32.png) [@Sir\_T-Cups](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_T-Cups)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/18 "2019-07-10T13:59:49Z")
Holy crap I thought he died years ago. I figured that’s why they killed him off in Men in Black 3. Shows what I know. Still love him in the two he was in and will fondly remember him every time I ride the ride at Universal ---
**Author:** ![Helmut\_Doork](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e8c25b/32.png) [@Helmut\_Doork](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helmut_Doork)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/19 "2019-07-10T14:15:34Z")
Best remembered as the dad from Freddy Got Fingered! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2019, 2:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820/20 "2019-07-10T14:23:48Z")
Rip was never better than as Dino McLeish in [Songwriter.](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088153/) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/rip-torn/836820.md?page=2)