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Lawrence Tierney

Lawrence Tierney

Highest Rated: 92% A Child Is Waiting (1963)

Lowest Rated: 0% The Horror Show (1989)

Birthday: Mar 15, 1919

Birthplace: Brooklyn, New York, USA

"There is absolutely no light in his eyes," wrote author and poet Barry Gifford about actor Lawrence Tierney, an imposing lead and character actor in features from the dawn of film noir in the 1940s through the 1990s with gruff turns in "Reservoir Dogs" (1991), among countless other projects. In crime films like "Dillinger" (1945), "The Devil Thumbs a Ride" (1947) and "Born to Kill" (1947), Tierney possessed an air of implacable menace behind pale, narrow eyes, and fittingly, his characters seemed capable of the most senseless violence for purely sadistic reasons. By the early 1970s, he had left acting and was driving a hansom cab in New York, but after gaining sobriety in the 1980s, he made an astonishing number of character turns in features and television, often as elderly but still dangerous criminals, cops and other streetwise types, most notably as the crusty crime boss in Quentin Tarantino's "Dogs." Still capable of making headlines for his irascibility in his seventh decade, Tierney remained one of Hollywood's most enduring tough guys simply by being himself.

Highest rated movies

92% 73% A Child Is Waiting
90% 94% Reservoir Dogs
86% Red
86% 77% Arthur
86% 62% Back to Bataan
83% 75% Born to Kill
82% 53% The Ghost Ship
75% 49% The Prowler

Filmography

Movies

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet Evicted Bob (Character) - 2000
38% 46% Southie Colie Powers (Character) - 1998
43% 73% Armageddon Hollis Vernon Grap Stamper (Character) $201.6M 1998
60% 54% 2 Days in the Valley Older Man (Character) $11.1M 1996
No Score Yet No Score Yet A Kiss Goodnight Sergeant Harwood (Character) - 1994
No Score Yet No Score Yet Casualties of Love: The Long Island Lolita Story Joey Buttafuoco's Father (Character) - 1993
No Score Yet 50% Eddie Presley Joe West (Character) - 1993
90% 94% Reservoir Dogs Joe Cabot (Character) $2.5M 1992
No Score Yet 22% The Runestone Chief Richardson (Character) - 1992
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Death Merchant Unknown (Character) - 1991
No Score Yet 8% Wizards of the Demon Sword Slave Master (Character) - 1991
No Score Yet 33% Dillinger Sheriff Sarber (Character) - 1991
86% No Score Yet Red Unknown (Character) - 1991
0% 28% The Horror Show Warden (Character) $1.4M 1989
39% 47% Tough Guys Don't Dance Dougy (Character) $421.4K 1987
33% 44% Murphy's Law Cameron (Character) $9.1M 1986
41% 56% Silver Bullet Owen Knopfler (Character) $10.8M 1985
No Score Yet 26% Midnight Bert Johnson (Character) - 1982
86% 77% Arthur Man in Coffee Shop (Character) - 1981
75% 49% The Prowler Maj. Chatham (Character) - 1981
No Score Yet No Score Yet Abduction FBI Agent (Character) - 1975
No Score Yet 33% Such Good Friends Hospital Guard (Character) - 1971
25% 32% Custer of the West Gen. Philip Sheridan (Character) - 1968
No Score Yet No Score Yet Exorcism at Midnight The Doctor (Character) - 1966
92% 73% A Child Is Waiting Douglas Benham (Character) - 1963
No Score Yet 25% Female Jungle Det. Sgt. Jack Stevens (Character) - 1956
No Score Yet No Score Yet Singing in the Dark Biff Lamont (Character) - 1956
50% 53% The Greatest Show on Earth Mr. Henderson (Character) - 1952
No Score Yet 39% The Hoodlum Vincent Lubeck (Character) - 1951
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Bushwhackers Sam Tobin (Character) - 1951
No Score Yet 23% Best of the Badmen Jesse James (Character) - 1951
No Score Yet 20% Hoodlum Unknown (Character) - 1951
No Score Yet No Score Yet Shakedown Harry Colton (Character) - 1950
No Score Yet 19% Kill or Be Killed Robert Warren (Character) - 1950
No Score Yet 64% Bodyguard Mike Carter (Character) - 1948
83% 75% Born to Kill Sam Wild (Character) - 1947
No Score Yet 42% The Devil Thumbs a Ride Steve Morgan (Character) - 1947
No Score Yet 0% Step by Step Johnny Christopher (Character) - 1946
No Score Yet 50% Badman's Territory Jesse James (Character) - 1946
No Score Yet 17% San Quentin Jim Roland (Character) - 1946
No Score Yet 44% Dillinger John Dillinger (Character) - 1945
86% 62% Back to Bataan Lt. Cmdr. Waite (Character) - 1945
No Score Yet No Score Yet Those Endearing Young Charms Lt. Ted Brewster (Character) - 1945
No Score Yet 12% Youth Runs Wild Larry Duncan (Character) - 1944
82% 53% The Ghost Ship Seaman Louie Parker (uncredited) (Character) - 1943

TV

Credit
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Last Drive-In With Joe Bob Briggs Unknown (Character) 2018
91% 89% Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Regent (Guest Star) 1997
No Score Yet 85% ER Jack Johnson (Guest Star) 1996
85% 76% The Simpsons Don Brodka (Guest Voice) 1995
89% 92% Seinfeld Alton Benes (Guest Star) 1991
No Score Yet No Score Yet Hunter Detective Doyle (Guest Star) 1988
92% 90% Star Trek: The Next Generation Cyrus Redblock (Guest Star) 1988
97% 82% Hill Street Blues Jenkins (Guest Star) 1986-1987
No Score Yet No Score Yet Fame Unknown (Guest Star) 1984
No Score Yet No Score Yet Alfred Hitchcock Hour Unknown (Character) 1963
No Score Yet No Score Yet The Lloyd Bridges Show Jim (Guest Star) 1962
No Score Yet No Score Yet Bus Stop Unknown (Guest Star) 1962