Thursday, November 29, 2012

Who Are Those Guys? - Tom Berenger




Born Thomas Michael Moore on May 31, 1949 in Chicago, Illinois. Tom Berenger may have won a Golden Globe and an Emmy, received an Oscar nomination for his stark performance as the sadistic, battle-weary sergeant in Oliver Stone's “Platoon” (1986), but Tom Berenger is equally adept at portraying confident, easy-going charmers. Berenger's rugged good looks found him instant work in soap operas, with a recurring role in ‘One Life To Live’. That led to film work in 1977's “Looking for Mr. Goodbar” and as a surrogate Paul Newman in the prequel, “Butch and Sundance: The Early Years” (1979). His charismatic charm was also put to good use when he played a TV star (mirroring real life) in The “Big Chill” (1983).

From a singing cowboy in “Rustler's Rhapsody” (1984) to the brutal Sergeant Barnes of “Platoon” (1986) was a huge leap for Berenger, but one that won him acclaim and pointed his career in a new direction. From this point on, Berenger would alternate between playing the dark brooders of “Sliver” (1983) and “The Substitute” (1996) with laid back nice guys like “Major League's” (1989) Jake Taylor. A surprise nice guy role for Berenger was that of Kirstie Alley's boyfriend in the last few episodes of ‘Cheers’, for which he earned an Emmy nomination. He landed a regular role on the USA Network's western series ‘Peacemakers’ in 2003, and although the show was short-lived, he shared a Western Heritage Award for Outstanding Factual or Fictional Drama with his co-workers. Although he still makes the occasional film appearance, these days Berenger concentrates his efforts in TV movies and mini-series such as ‘The Detective’, ‘Sniper 3’, ‘Capital City’ and ‘The Junction Boys’ and his Emmy Award winning role as Uncle Jim Vance in ‘Hatfields and McCoys’ (2011).

Married three times, Berenger has two children with his first wife and three daughters with his second wife. He's been married since 1997 to his third wife, Patricia, with whom he has a daughter named Scout.

BERENGER, Tom (Thomas Michael Moore) [5/31/1949, Chicago, Illinois, U.S.A. -     ] - producer, screenwriter, stage, TV actor, married to actress Lisa Kay Williams (1986-1997).
Rustler’s Rhapsody – 1984 (Rex O'Herlihan)
One Man’s Hero – 1998 (Sergeant/Lieutenant/Captain John riley)
Hatfields & McCoys (TV) – 2011 (Jim Vance) [Emmy Award Best Supporting Actor]

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