Tom Berenger Biography

Tom Berenger (born Thomas Michael Moore; May 31, 1949) is an Emmy Award-winning, Oscar-nominated American television and motion picture actor.

Early life

Berenger was born to an Irish Catholic family in Chicago as Thomas Michael Moore. Berenger's father was a printer for the Chicago Sun-Times and traveling salesman, and Berenger has a sister, Susan. He picked "Berenger" as his professional name, after a school friend, because there was already a "Tom Moore" in the Actors' Equity Association. He graduated from Rich East High School in Park Forest, Illinois, in 1967. Berenger studied journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri but decided to seek an acting career following his graduation. He established the Tom Berenger Acting Scholarship Fund in 1988 to award theatre students for excellence in performance. He worked first in regional theatre and then moved to New York City in the 1970s.

Career

Berenger worked in soap operas and had a starring role as lawyer Tim Siegel on One Life to Live. His feature film debut was the lead in Rush It (1976), an independent film now mostly forgotten except for those of its cast members who went on to greater renown. In 1977, Berenger had a small but noticeable role as a murderer in Looking for Mr. Goodbar. In 1978, he had a starring role in In Praise of Older Women for Avco-Embassy Pictures. In 1979, he played Butch Cassidy in Butch and Sundance: The Early Days, a role he got in part because of his resemblance to Paul Newman, who played the character in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969). These early roles highlighted Berenger's ability to play both villains and heroes.

Berenger starred in several significant films in the 1980s, including The Big Chill (1983), Platoon (1986), Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), and Major League (1989). In 1986, he received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Staff Sergeant Barnes in Platoon (this performance won him a Golden Globe Award for "Best Supporting Actor"). In the mid-1990s he was most recognizable in his role from the movie Sniper (which would later be followed by three sequels of which Berenger starred in two). Other notable films from that period in which he was featured include Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Shattered (1991), Sliver (1993), and Chasers (1994).

It has been recorded that Berenger himself has said that his favorite movie of those he had starred in was the 1993 film Gettysburg, where he played the role of General James Longstreet. He has said he has seen Gettysburg more than any other of his starring movies. Berenger co-produced the 1997 miniseries Rough Riders, also starring as Theodore Roosevelt.

In more recent years, Berenger has continued to have an active acting career in film and television, although often at a supporting level. His most notable television appearance was on Cheers in its last season as Rebecca Howe's blue collar-plumber love interest, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series". He also began a career as a producer in the 1990s.

Berenger was also seen on the box art and promotional content for Novalogic's Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, as his roles in Sniper 2 and Sniper 3 were very similar to what was chosen for the game's artwork. He starred in the mini-series version of Stephen King's Nightmares & Dreamscapes, as a celebrated author who realizes the warped painting he recently purchased is alive with illustrations of impending doom for him in "The Road Virus Heads North". Berenger stars opposite Armand Assante and Busta Rhymes in the dramatic thriller Breaking Point, which had a limited release starting in December 2009.

He has most recently appeared in the science fiction thriller Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio and Cillian Murphy, where he played a business executive who served as a mentor to and was an associate of the father of Cillian Murphy's character. Inception was a box office success and was his first appearance in a mainstream theatrical movie since Training Day in 2001.

In 2012 Tom Berenger appeared in the TV miniseries Hafields & McCoys as Jim Vance, uncle of protagonist Devil Anse Hatfield (played by Kevin Costner). On September 23, 2012 Berenger earned a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for the role.

Personal life

Berenger has been married four times and has six children. He resides in Vancouver, British Columbia, Beaufort, South Carolina and Toluca Lake, Los Angeles.

Berenger has two children by his first wife, Barbara Wilson, to whom he was married from 1976 to 1984: Allison Moore (born in 1977) and Patrick Moore (born in 1979). He has three daughters by second wife Lisa Williams (to whom he was married from 1986 to 1997): Chelsea Moore (born in 1986), Chloe Moore (born in 1988) and Shiloh Moore (born in 1993). He has one daughter, Scout Moore (born in 1998), with Patricia Alvaran, whom he married in 1998. He married Laura Moretti in Sedona, Arizona in early September 2012.

Filmography

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1976	Rush It	Richard Moore
1977	The Sentinel	Man at end
	Looking for Mr. Goodbar	Gary
1978	In Praise of Older Women	Andras Vayda
1979	Butch and Sundance: The Early Days	Butch Cassidy / Robert Leroy Parker
1980	The Dogs of War	Drew
1982	Beyond the Door	Matthew Jackson
1983	The Big Chill	Sam Weber
	Eddie and the Cruisers	Frank Ridgeway
1984	Fear City	Matt Rossi
1985	Rustlers' Rhapsody	Rex O'Herlihan
1986	Platoon	Sergeant Barnes	Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor " Motion Picture Nominated - Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1987	Someone to Watch Over Me	Det. Mike Keegan
1988	Shoot to Kill	Jonathan Knox
	Betrayed	Gary Simmons
	Last Rites	Michael
1989	Major League	Jake Taylor
	Born on the Fourth of July	GySgt. Hayes
1990	Love at Large	Harry Dobbs
	The Field	The American
1991	Shattered	Dan Merrick
	At Play in the Fields of the Lord	Lewis Moon
1993	Sniper	Thomas Beckett
	Sliver	Jack Landsford
	Gettysburg	Lt. Gen. James Longstreet
1994	Major League II	Jake Taylor
	Chasers	Rock Reilly
1995	Last of the Dogmen	Lewis Gates
	Body Language	Gavin St.Claire
1996	The Substitute	Jonathan Shale
	An Occasional Hell	Dr. Ernest Dewalt
1997	Rough Riders	Theodore Roosevelt
1998	The Gingerbread Man	Pete Randle
	Shadow of Doubt	Jack Campioni
1999	A Murder of Crows	Clifford Dubose
	One Man's Hero	Sgt. / Lt. / Capt. John Riley
	Diplomatic Siege	Gen. Buck Swain
2000	Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying	Sikes
	Takedown	McCoy Rollins
	Cutaway	Red Line
2001	Training Day	Stan Gursky
	The Hollywood Sign	Tom Greener
	Johnson County War	Cain Hammett
	True Blue	Rembrandt "Remy" Macy
	Watchtower	Art Stoner	a.k.a. Cruel And Unusual
2002	Eye See You
	The Junction Boys	Paul "Bear" Bryant
	D-Tox	Hank
	Sniper 2	Thomas Beckett
2004	Sniper 3	Thomas Beckett
2007	The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey	Jonathan Toomey
2008	Stiletto	Virgil Vadalos
2009	Silent Venom	Admiral Bradley Wallace
	Charlie Valentine	Becker
	Breaking Point	Steven Luisi
2010	Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball	Walter Weed
	Sinners and Saints	Captain Trahan
	Last Will	Frank Emery
	Firedog	Einstein	Voice only
	Inception	Peter Browning
	Faster	Warden
2011	Right Angle	Jerry
2012	Brake	Agent Ben Reynolds
	Fighting to Forgive	General McIntire
2013	Whiskey Bay	Lutin	post-production
	Reach Me

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975	One Life to Live	Tim Siegel	1975"76
1977	Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye	Billy Sutton
1979	Flesh & Blood	Bobby Fallon
1986	If Tomorrow Comes	Jeff Stevens	Mini-series
1993	Cheers	Don Santry	Nominated: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
1997	Rough Riders	Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt	Won: Lone Star Film and Television Award for Best TV Actor
2000	Law & Order	Dean Tyler	Season 10, episode 13
2002	Ally McBeal	Harrison Wyatt	Season 5, episode 07
2003	Third Watch	Aaron Noble	Season 4, episodes 19"22
	Peacemakers	Marshal Jared Stone	Season 4, episodes 19"22
2005	Detective	Sgt. Malcolm Ainslie	Mini-series
	Into the West	Colonel J. Chivington	Mini-series
2006	Nightmares and Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King	Richard Kinnell
2008	October Road	The Commander	2007"08
	Desperate Hours: An Amber Alert	Larsan
2012	War Flowers	General McIntire
	Hatfields & McCoys	Jim Vance	Mini-series Won: Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie

Major Crimes - Jackson Raydor