Rip Torn death: Dodgeball and Men In Black star dies aged 88

The Weekender

Sign up to our free weekly newsletter for exclusive competitions, offers and theatre ticket deals

I would like to be emailed about offers, event and updates from Evening Standard. Read our privacy notice.

Dodgeball and Men In Black star Rip Torn has died aged 88.

The award-winning television, film and theatre actor died at his home with his wife and two daughters by his side on Tuesday.

He played Chief Zed, the head of the Men In Black, in the sci-fi film which starred Tommy Lee Jones and Will Smith.

And Torn also gained fans for his role as quirky coach Patches O'Houlihan in Dodgeball alongside Vince Vaughn and Ben Stiller.

Rip Torn - In pictures

1/7

He won an Emmy late in his career for his comedy turn on TV's The Larry Sanders Show.

At the Actors Studio, he gained the attention of Elia Kazan, who hired him as understudy to Alex Nicol, then playing Brick Pollitt in the Tennessee Williams classic Cat on a Hot Tin Roof.

Towards the end of the show's Broadway run, Torn took over the role of the alcoholic, emotionally troubled former football hero.

Torn played Chief Z in the Men In Black franchise

Born Elmore Rual Torn, the actor adopted the name Rip in his boyhood, following the tradition of his father and uncle.

The actor died on Tuesday afternoon at his home with his wife, Amy Wright, and daughters Katie Torn and Angelica Page by his side.

Rip Torn, pictured at a premiere in 2006, died with his wife and daughters by his side on Tuesday (REUTERS)
Reuters

The cause of his death was not immediately given.

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT