Photo: trailer screenshot (King Brothers Productions - Monogram Pictures) / Public domain (source: Wikimedia Commons)
My Take
Lawrence Tierney is one of those guys where the legend and the man became almost impossible to separate, and honestly, that's exactly what made him so compelling on screen. Born in Brooklyn in 1919, he spent the 1940s carving out a niche as Hollywood's go-to menacing tough guy — his turn as Dillinger in 1945 basically wrote the playbook for the genre. The off-screen brawls and arrests weren't just tabloid fodder; they fed directly into that coiled, unpredictable energy he brought to every role. Then Quentin Tarantino cast him as Joe Cabot in Reservoir Dogs in 1992, and a whole new generation got to see what the fuss was about. Even in his seventies he was genuinely intimidating in a way that felt completely real. He passed in 2002, but that Brooklyn toughness never aged a day.
1. Profile
- Name (English)
- Lawrence Tierney
- Name (Japanese)
- ローレンス・ティアニー
- Reading
- ろーれんす・てぃあにー
- Born
- March 15, 1919 – February 26, 2002
- Zodiac / Chinese zodiac
- Pisces / Goat
- Origin
- Brooklyn, New York, United States
- Occupation
- actor / television actor / film actor
2. Background
- High school
- Boys High School
4. Personality
Motto
Private
6. Links
Frequently asked questions
When was Lawrence Tierney born?
March 15, 1919 – February 26, 2002.
Where is Lawrence Tierney from?
Lawrence Tierney is from Brooklyn, New York, United States.
What does Lawrence Tierney do?
Lawrence Tierney works as actor, television actor, film actor.
Actor — see all → · Television actor — see all → · More people from United States →
7. About this entry
Tags
- Last updated
- 2026-06-02
Facts are limited to publicly available information up to 2024; non-public or unconfirmed items are omitted. English text is machine-assisted (facts translated by Sonnet, "My Take" written by Opus 4.8). The Japanese page is the source of record.