The Brooklyn-born son of a NYPD officer, the alcoholic Tierney was also notorious for his frequent, well-publicized past involvements in public altercations — like barroom brawls — and other real-life manifestations of rowdiness. (In a 1973 incident, he managed to get himself stabbed) and was notoriously difficult to work with due to his bad temper and intimidating personality.
In later years, though now a puffy-faced, totally bald old man, he continued as screen actor to project the hard-as-nails mien that has been ingrained since his younger days, as he evidenced quite amply in Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992). You might also know Tierney as the voice of the Try-N-Save store detective from the Simpsons episode "Marge Be Not Proud" (the season seven Christmas Episode where Bart's shoplifting of a popular video game causes Marge to emotionally disconnect with him), and as Elaine's father on an episode of Seinfeld, where he was originally intended to be a recurring character, but was never invited back because the cast and crew were terrified of him.
Tierney died of pneumonia at age 82 at a Los Angeles nursing home on February 26, 2002. His final acting role was a small part in the 2000 independent film Evicted, written and directed by his nephew Michael Tierney.
No, he wasn’t related to Gene Tierney or Maura Tierney, although his brother, Scott Brady, had a lengthy acting career in his own right.
Lawrence Tierney on TV Tropes:
Film
- Dillinger (1945) as John Dillinger
- The Hoodlum (1951) as Vincent Lubeck
- The Greatest Show on Earth (1952) as Mr. Henderson
- A Child Is Waiting (1963) as Douglas Benham
- Gloria (1980) as Broadway Bartender
- The Prowler (1981) as Major Chatham
- Arthur (1981) (1981) as Man in Coffee Shop
- Prizzi's Honor (1985) as Lt. Hanley
- Silver Bullet (1985) as Owen Knopfler
- Tough Guys Don't Dance (1987) as Dougy Madden
- From a Whisper to a Scream (1987) as Warden
- The Naked Gun (1988) as Angel Manager
- The Horror Show (1989) as Warden
- Wizards of the Demon Sword (1991) as Slave Master
- Reservoir Dogs (1992) as Joe Cabot
- Junior (1994) as Mover
- Armageddon (1998) as Eddie 'Gramp' Stamper (uncredited)
Television
- Peter Gunn: ep. "A Tender Touch" (1960) as Carl Braden
- The Alfred Hitchcock Hour: ep. "Death of a Cop" (1963) as Herbie Lane
- Remington Steele: ep. "Grappling Steele" (1985) as Al Molinski
- Tales from the Darkside: ep. "The Trouble with Mary Jane" (1985) as Jack Mills
- Hill Street Blues (1985-87) as Sergeant Jenkins
- Star Trek: The Next Generation: ep. "The Big Goodbye" (1988) as Cyrus Redblock
- Hunter: ep. "The Black Dahlia" (1988) as John Doyle
- Seinfeld: ep. "The Jacket" (1991) as Alton Benes
- Equal Justice: ep. "The Big Game and Other Crimes" (1991) as Harold Barrett
- L.A. Law: ep. "Where There's a Will'' (1993) as Peter Manzo
- The Simpsons: ep. "Marge Be Not Proud" (1995) as Don Brodka (voice)
- ER: ep. "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" (1997) as Jack Johnson
- EZ Streets: ep. "A Terrible Beauty" (1997) as Frankie Balls
- Star Trek: Deep Space Nine: ep. "Business as Usual" (1997) as Regent
