The guy with one of the greatest names in Hollywood history passed away at his home in Connecticut yesterday. Rip Torn was 88. Rip was a great actor. In a career that spanned 6 decades he appeared in 10 Broadway plays, over 80 feature films and dozens of TV shows.
He received 6 Emmy nominations, and won Best Supporting Actor in 1996 for his portrayal of Artie, the gruff producer on "The Larry Sanders Show" starring Gary Shandling. He managed to steal every scene he was in on that show. Some of his more memorable characters included the heavenly attorney Bob Diamond in Albert Brooks’ “Defending Your Life,” and the frustrated Zed in the first two “Men in Black” films.
But we will never forget the lessons we learned from Patches O'Houlihan, the sleazy dodgeball legend from "Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story," who taught us the 5 "D's" of dodgeball, "dodge, duck, dip, dive and dodge."
"If you can dodge a wrench, you can dodge a ball." RIP Rip...