Don’t miss this Susan Dominus/NY Sunday Times profile of actor Rip Torn, who was born and raised in the Texas Hill Country and studied acting in the mid-1950’s at the University of Texas under the noted Shakespearean professor B. Iden Payne.
Although Torn is better known these days for his character roles in such mainstream comedy films as Men in Black and Dodgeball, I maintain that his defining role was as the despicable country-western singing star, Maury Dann, in the 1972 cult classic, Payday. In that film — which is not carried by Netflix and is somewhat difficult to find — Torn’s character plumbs the depths of human depravity while being indulged every step of the way by the people who are dependent on him for their livelihood. Marlon Brando won the Academy Award that year for his memorable performance as Don Corleone in The Godfather, but in my view, Torn’s performance as Maury Dann in Payday was even better.