Lawrence Tierney played the meanest, coldest, scariest villains in film noir classics, including Born to Kill and The Devil Thumbs a Ride. He was equally fearsome in his private life, managing to brawl and drink away his career numerous times. But there was always someone willing to give him another chance because, in the words of show-business columnist Jimmie Fidler, “Sober, he’s an alright guy.”
In Lawrence Tierney: Hollywood’s Real-Life Tough Guy, the first biography of the notorious actor, author Burt Kearns traces Tierney’s wild and troubled life from his overnight success as gangster John Dillinger in the 1945 hit film Dillinger to his clash with Quentin Tarantino on the set of Reservoir Dogs, and beyond.
