Tom Berenger

Tom Berenger
Tom Berenger
	Berenger in 2019
Born	Thomas Michael Moore; May 31, 1949 (age 74); Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Education	Rich East High School
Alma mater	University of Missouri (BA)
Occupations	Actor; producer; television writer;
Years active	1968–present
Spouses	Barbara Wilson (m. 1976; div. 1984); Lisa Williams (m. 1986; div. 1997); Patricia Alvaran (m. 1998; div. 2011); Laura Moretti (m. 2012);
Children	6

Tom Berenger (born Thomas Michael Moore; May 31, 1949) is an American actor. He was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his portrayal of the Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes in Platoon (1986). He is also known for playing Jake Taylor in the Major League films and Thomas Beckett in the Sniper films. Other films he appeared in include Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), The Dogs of War (1980), The Big Chill (1983), Eddie and the Cruisers (1983), Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Betrayed (1988), The Field (1990), Sniper (1992), Gettysburg (1993), The Substitute (1996), Training Day (2001), and Inception (2010).

Berenger won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for his performance as Jim Vance in the 2012 miniseries Hatfields & McCoys.

Early life and education

Berenger was born as Thomas Michael Moore in Chicago, on May 31, 1949, to a Catholic family of Irish ancestry with his great-grandfather and grandmother settling in Chicago.^[2] He has a sister, Susan.^[3] His father was a printer for the Chicago Sun-Times and a traveling salesman.

Moore graduated in 1967 from Rich East High School in Park Forest, Illinois.^[4] He studied journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, but decided to seek an acting career following his graduation in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts degree.

Career

He worked in regional theatre and in 1972, he worked as a flight attendant with Eastern Airlines, based in San Juan, Puerto Rico. He transferred to New York in 1973.^[5]

Moore selected "Berenger" as his professional name after he was forced to change his surname professionally, as there was already a "Tom Moore" in the Actors' Equity Association.^[4]

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. In 1977, he had a small role as the killer of the lead character (played by Diane Keaton) in Looking for Mr. Goodbar based on the murder of schoolteacher Roseann Quinn. 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,^[6] who played the character in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).

Berenger starred in several significant films in the 1980s, including The Big Chill (1983), Eddie and the Cruisers (1983), Rustlers' Rhapsody (1985), Platoon (1986), Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Shoot to Kill (1988), and Major League (1989). In 1986, he received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of the Staff Sergeant Barnes in Platoon (this performance won him a Golden Globe Award for "Best Supporting Actor"). A role for which he has become well known for is Thomas Beckett, the main character in the mid-1990s film Sniper (which would later be followed by six sequels, featuring Berenger in the starring role for four). 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). When asked in a 1999 interview to name his favorite film out of those in which he had acted, Berenger said it was too difficult to choose but that the one he had watched most frequently was his 1993 film Gettysburg, where he played the role of General James Longstreet.^[7]

He established the Tom Berenger Acting Scholarship Fund in 1988 to award theatre students for excellence in performance.

In more recent years, Berenger has continued to have an active acting career in film and television, although often at a supporting level. One of his most notable television appearances 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.^{[citation needed]} Berenger co-produced the 1997 miniseries Rough Riders, also starring as Theodore Roosevelt.

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.

Berenger appeared in the 2010 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 Murphy's character. It was his first major film role since Training Day in 2001. In 2012, he appeared in the TV miniseries Hatfields & 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.^[8]

In 2022, it was announced that Berenger would star in the comedy film Plan B, alongside Jon Heder and Shannon Elizabeth.^[9]

Personal life

Berenger has been married four times and has six children. He has two children by his first wife, Barbara Wilson, to whom he was married from 1976 to 1984: Allison Moore (born 1977) and Patrick Moore (born 1979). He has three daughters by second wife Lisa Williams (to whom he was married from 1986 to 1997): Chelsea Moore (born 1986), Chloe Moore (born 1988) and Shiloh Moore (born 1993). He has a daughter named Scout Moore (born 1998) with Patricia Alvaran, to whom he was married from 1998 to 2011. He married Laura Moretti in Sedona, Arizona, in early September 2012.^[10]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1977	The Sentinel	Man at End
1977	Looking for Mr. Goodbar	Gary
1978	Rush It	Richard Moore
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 Blakeley
1982	Beyond the Door	Matthew Jackson
1983	The Big Chill	Sam Weber
1983	Eddie and the Cruisers	Frank Ridgeway
1984	Fear City	Matt Rossi
1985	Rustlers' Rhapsody	Rex O'Herlihan
1986	Platoon	Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes	Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture Nominated—Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
1987	Someone to Watch Over Me	Detective Mike Keegan
1988	Shoot to Kill	Jonathan Knox
1988	Betrayed	Gary Simmons
1988	Last Rites	Michael
1989	Major League	Jake Taylor
1989	Born on the Fourth of July	Gunnery Sergeant Hayes
1990	Love at Large	Harry Dobbs
1990	The Field	The American
1991	Shattered	Dan Merrick
1991	At Play in the Fields of the Lord	Lewis Moon
1993	Sniper	Master Gunnery Sergeant Thomas Beckett
1993	Sliver	Jack Landsford	Nominated—Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor
1993	Gettysburg	Lieutenant General James Longstreet
1994	Major League II	Jake Taylor
1994	Chasers	Rock Reilly
1995	Last of the Dogmen	Lewis Gates
1996	The Substitute	Jonathan Shale
1996	An Occasional Hell	Dr. Ernest Dewalt
1998	The Gingerbread Man	Pete Randle
1998	Shadow of Doubt	Jack Campioni
1999	A Murder of Crows	Detective Clifford Dubose
1999	One Man's Hero	John Riley
1999	Diplomatic Siege	General Buck Swain
1999	Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying	Sikes	Direct-to-video
2000	Takedown	McCoy Rollins
2001	Training Day	District Attorney Stanley 'Stan' Gursky
2001	The Hollywood Sign	Tom Greener
2001	True Blue	Rembrandt 'Remy' Macy
2001	Watchtower	Art Stoner
2002	D-Tox	Hank
2004	Sniper 3	Gunnery Sergeant Tom Beckett	Direct-to-video
2007	The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey	Jonathan Toomey
2008	Stiletto	Virgil Vadalos
2009	Silent Venom	Admiral Bradley Wallace
2009	Charlie Valentine	Becker
2009	Breaking Point	Steven Luisi
2010	Smokin' Aces 2: Assassins' Ball	Hal Leuco / FBI Agent Walter Weed	Direct-to-video
2010	Sinners and Saints	Captain Trahan
2010	Inception	Peter Browning	Nominated—Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast
2010	Faster	Warden
2011	Last Will	Frank Emery
2011	Bucksville	The Patron of Justice
2012	Brake	Agent Ben Reynolds
2012	War Flowers	General McIntire
2014	Bad Country	Lutin
2014	Doc Holliday's Revenge	Judge Wells
2014	Lonesome Dove Church	John Shepherd
2014	Sniper: Legacy	Gunnery Sergeant Tom Beckett	Direct-to-video
2014	Reach Me	Teddy
2015	Impact Earth	Herbert Sloan
2017	Sniper: Ultimate Kill	Gunnery Sergeant Tom Beckett	Direct-to-video
2017	Cops and Robbers	Captain Randolph
2018	American Dresser	John Moore
2018	Battle of the Bulge: Wunderland	Major McCulley	Direct-to-video
2018	Gone Are the Days	Will
2018	1st Born	Jefferson Tucker
2019	Stakeout	Joe Smith
2019	Supervized	Ray
2020	Blood and Money	Jim Reed
2020	Adam	Jerry Niskar
2020	Sniper: Assassin's End	Gunnery Sergeant Tom Beckett	Direct-to-video
2020	Battle of the Bulge: Winter War	Major McCulley	Direct-to-video
2022	The Most Dangerous Game	Benjamin Colt
2022	Black Warrant	Nick Falconi
2023	Among Wolves	Father Callahan
2024	One More Shot	Mike Marshall	Direct-to-video

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1975–1976	One Life to Live	Tim Siegel	66 episodes
1977	Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye	Billy Sutton	Television movie
1979	Flesh & Blood	Bobby Fallon	Television movie
1986	If Tomorrow Comes	Jeff Stevens	3 episodes (miniseries)
1993	Cheers	Don Santry	2 episodes Nominated—Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series
1995	Body Language	Gavin St. Claire	Television movie
1995	The Avenging Angel	Miles Utley	Television movie
1997	Rough Riders	Theodore Roosevelt	2 episodes (miniseries)
1999	In the Company of Spies	Kevin Jefferson	Television movie
2000	Law & Order	Dean Tyler	Episode: "Panic"
2000	Cutaway	Red Line	Television movie
2001	Johnson County War	Cain Hammett	Television movie
2002	Ally McBeal	Harrison Wyatt	Episode: "Nine One Nine"
2002	The Junction Boys	Paul 'Bear' Bryant	Television movie
2002	Sniper 2	Gunnery Sergeant Tom Beckett	Television movie
2003	Third Watch	Aaron Noble	4 episodes
2003	Peacemakers	Marshal Jared Stone	9 episodes
2004	Capital City	Senator Foxworthy	Television movie
2005	Into the West	Colonel J. Chivington	Episode: "Hell on Wheels"
2005	Detective	Sergeant Malcolm Ainslie	Television movie
2006	Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King	Richard Kinnell	Episode: "The Road Virus Heads North"
2007	America's Iliad: The Siege of Charleston	Narrator (voice)	Television movie
2007–2008	October Road	Bob 'The Commander' Garrett	19 episodes
2008	Amber Alert: Terror on the Highway	Larsan	Television movie
2011	XIII: The Series	Rainer Gerhardt	6 episodes
2012	Hatfields & McCoys	Jim Vance	3 episodes (miniseries) Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie
2013–2015	Major Crimes	Jackson Raydor	7 episodes
2014	Hawaii Five-0	Eddie Williams	Episode: "Ma lalo o ka 'ili"
2017	Training Day	District Attorney Stanley 'Stan' Gursky	Episode: "Elegy" (reprised character from 2001 film of the same name)

References

^ "Faculty - Theatre Department". theatre.missouri.edu. Retrieved 15 January 2018.
^ McMillen, Robert (July 30, 1999). "One man's hero". The Irish News. Retrieved January 11, 2020 – via Tom Berenger On-line.
^ Walker, Janet (November 1975). "Tom Berenger: "I've Starved Before…I Can Again!"". Day TV Gossip. Archived from the original on 2009-10-22. Retrieved 2009-03-05.
^ ^a ^b Profile, biography.com; accessed October 8, 2014.
^ Profile Archived 2011-05-22 at the Wayback Machine, theatre.missouri.edu; accessed October 8, 2014.
^ "Interview with William Katt". Chicago Sun-Times.
^ America Online Chat with Tom Berenger. AOL. Retrieved August 18, 1999.
^ Pennington, Gail (September 24, 2012). "'Homeland' wins big; Hamm loses again at Emmys". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Retrieved September 24, 2012.
^ Complex, Valerie (July 16, 2022). "Jamie Lee & Jon Heder Topline Comedy 'Plan B' For Joke Zero And Future Proof Films". Deadline. Retrieved July 16, 2022.
^ America Online Chat with Tom Berenge, tomberengeronline.com; retrieved August 18, 1999.