System Mechanic - Clean, repair, protect, and speed up your PC!Lawrence Tierney
d. 2002
LOS ANGELES (Thu February 28, 2002) - Veteran actor and B-movie leading man Lawrence Tierney, whose tough-guy characters during the 1940s and '50s often mirrored his troubled real life, died in his sleep Tuesday. He was 82.
Throughout his 80-film career, Tierney perfected many gangster roles. But he is probably best known for the title role in the 1945 B-movie classic ``Dillinger' and the leader of a group of killers in Quentin Tarantino's 1992 crime drama ``Reservoir Dogs.'
Tierney's acting roles often mimicked his troubled off-screen life during the 1950s. The actor was arrested numerous times on charges stemming from participating in drunken brawls at bars and Hollywood parties.
Tierney was born in Brooklyn in 1919. As a star member of his high school track team, he earned a scholarship to Manhattan College but he dropped out after two years and ended up traveling around the country while working numerous odd jobs.
In 1943, RKO studios signed Tierney to a contract when a talent scout spotted him among members of the American-Irish Theater.
He soon landed supporting roles in films such as ``The Ghost Ship' and ``The Falcon Out West.' Stardom for Tierney came in 1945, when he played the vicious gangster John Dillinger in ``Dillinger.'
That role led him to play other tough guy characters _ both good and bad _ in such movies as ``San Quentin,' ``The Devil Thumbs a Ride,' ``Born to Kill' and ``Kill or Be Killed.'
He also played the bad guy who caused the train wreck in Cecil B. DeMille's 1952 best-picture Oscar-winner, ``The Greatest Show on Earth.'
But Tierney's run-ins with the law in real life took a toll on his career. Throughout the 1960s and '70s, he was only able to get small parts in movies as his troubles followed his moves to Europe and back to the United States.
He returned to Hollywood in late 1983 and tried to rekindle his acting career by guest-starring on television shows such as ``Star Trek: The Next Generation,' ``Remington Steele,' ``Fame' and ``Hunter.' He also had a recurring role on ``Hill Street Blues.'
