LAWRENCE TIERNEY

(1919-2002, Brooklyn, New York)




Reservoir Dogs

Vigorous, statuesque leading man who spat lines like buckshot, a perfidious presence in post-war thrillers. His scowling face and formidable demeanour ensured cohorts (and dames) remained in his thrall while his characters indulged ever baser instincts. In spite of the ease with which he portrayed violent manipulators – and the evidence of his own rap sheet – Tierney said, “I thought of myself as a nice guy who wouldn’t do rotten things.”

 

With Priscilla Lane in Bodyguard

 

Father was an Irish cop, his brothers were actors Scott Brady and Edward Tierney. Earned an athletic scholarship to Manhattan College; dropped out. Stints as a labourer and a Sears-Roebuck model before joining Black Friars Theatre Group. Spotted by an RKO agent, he was tossed a handful of supporting roles in B movies before landing the lead in Dillinger, which would establish his foreboding screen persona.

 

With Anne Jeffreys in Dillinger

 

Tough guys defined by lack of sentiment were his faculty, whether they be good – a rehabilitated inmate in San Quentin – or, as in Born to Kill, an unscrupulous swindler. Tierney would go on to portray misanthropes who would tread similarly dark waters. His toxicity infiltrates each frame of The Devil Thumbs a Ride, and he mercilessly scales the criminal ladder in The Hoodlum.

 

With Claire Trevor in Born to Kill

 

In fluffier thrillers, the hard shell sometimes cracked to expose a convivial soul. He protects Priscilla Lane in Bodyguard and spends half the running time of jaunty Step by Step in only his swimming shorts to rescue the damsel in distress. Bowed out of noir in menacing style in disquieting quickie Female Jungle. In westerns he portrayed Jesse James twice: Best of the Badmen and Badman’s Territory.

 

Robert Ryan, Walter Brennan, Tierney and Bruce Cabot in
Best of the Badmen

 

Behaviour reflected his screen persona. Demon drink and a swift temper conspired to curb a rise to stardom. He roughed up bartenders for not serving hard liquor; assaulted a cabbie; brawled with cops; served 90 days for breaking a college student’s jaw. “I threw away about seven careers through drink,” he admitted. Arrested more than a dozen times between 1944 and 1951. In 1973, stabbed in a bar fight on Manhattan’s West Side. In 1975, a woman he visited fell from her apartment window. Tierney claims she jumped as he walked in. No charges filed.

 

Step by Step

 

Relocation to France did little to revitalise his career, or solve his problems. Returned to NY; took odd jobs. Major roles were elusive. Bit parts came his way, notably for Cassavetes in A Child is Waiting, Gloria and The Prowler. TV gigs plugged the bank balance. On Seinfeld, he unsettled the cast as Elaine’s father – pilfering a knife, he advanced towards the show’s star mimicking the Psycho stab. Further episodes featuring Elaine’s pop were canned.

Hired by Tarantino for Reservoir Dogs, a septuagenarian Tierney was introduced to a new generation of crime-film lovers. Often drunk, he sometimes refused to take direction. “A directorial school by fire,” said the awed filmmaker.

 

Midnight

 

A fearsome reputation, however, could not mask genuine warmth. Showed concern for the welfare of neighbours; enjoyed watching his movies with fans. Was proud of his legacy, but didn’t entertain reverence.

Suffered a number of strokes as he continued to fight alcoholism and died of pneumonia in LA. Noir’s rowdiest denizen had chalked up 82 years.

Five standout roles

 

 

From jailbird to public enemy as Dillinger, Tierney careers through the economic running time leaving casualties in his wake, before being sold out by Anne Jeffreys.

As Sam Wild in Born to Kill, his self-assurance and callousness lured Claire Trevor into a squalid web and repulsed critics; the New York Times commented that Tierney is “given outrageous license to demonstrate the histrionics of nastiness”.

 

As sociopathic Steve Morgan, he hitches a lift in The Devil Thumbs a Ride and tilts naïve Ted North’s life towards a nightmare. Mean and murderous, it’s hard to imagine another actor so plausibly ruinous.

 

 

Stalks the crepuscular atmosphere of Female Jungle as shifty, alcoholic cop Jack Stevens. Best among a gallery of suspected lady killers, his cagey behaviour drives the suspense – and he gets to dally with Jayne Mansfield.

As Joe Cabot, he imposes his authority on Reservoir Dogs and binds the film to its hardboiled roots. Antics worried his co-stars and provoked QT; altercated with equally troublesome ex-con Eddie Bunker.

Clark Hodgkiss