Russ Tamblyn

Russell Irving Tamblyn, also known as Rusty Tamblyn (born December 30, 1934) is an American film and television actor and dancer. As of 2022, Tamblyn is currently the earliest surviving Best Supporting Actor Oscar-nominee.

Born and raised in Los Angeles, Tamblyn was trained as a gymnast in his youth. He began his career as a child actor for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Tamblyn appeared in the musical Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954). He subsequently portrayed Norman Page in the drama Peyton Place (1957), for which he earned an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. In West Side Story (1961), he portrayed Riff, the leader of the Jets gang.

Throughout the 1970s, Tamblyn appeared in several exploitation films and worked as a choreographer in the 1980s. In 1990, he starred as Dr. Lawrence Jacoby in David Lynch's television drama Twin Peaks, reprising the role during its 2017 revival.

Tamblyn was born December 30, 1934 in Los Angeles, California, to actors Sally Aileen (Triplett) and Edward Francis "Eddie" Tamblyn. He has one younger brother, Larry Tamblyn, who was the organist for the 1960s band, the Standells. Tamblyn was a hyperactive child and had a penchant for gymnastics and performing. As a child, he would take the stage during intermissions at the local movie theater and do tumbling performances.

When he was thirteen he lived in North Hollywood, studied dramatics under Grace Bowman and dancing at the North Hollywood Academy, owned and operated by his parents.

1948–1952: Child acting

Tamblyn wanted to be a circus performer and was skilled in acrobatics and dancing as a child. He developed a musical act that involved singing, dancing, juggling and comedy.

Discovered at the age of 10 by actor Lloyd Bridges after acting in a play, Tamblyn first appeared on film in a small non-speaking role in The Boy With Green Hair (1948), after which he appeared on The Ed Sullivan Show. At the age of 13 he appeared in the stage play The Stone Jungle.

Tamblyn was given a role in The Kid from Cleveland (1949), billed third (as "Rusty Tamblyn") under stars George Brent and Lynn Bari. The movie was not a success but it established Tamblyn as a film actor. He appeared in Reign of Terror (1949), Cecil B. DeMille's 1949 version of Samson and Delilah where he played young Saul, and What Happened to Jo Jo? (1950).

Tamblyn played the younger Bart Tare (played as an adult by John Dall) in the film noir Gun Crazy (1950) and Elizabeth Taylor's younger brother in Father of the Bride (also 1950) and its sequel, Father's Little Dividend (1951). Tamblyn appeared in Captain Carey, U.S.A. (1950), The Gangster We Made (1950), As Young as You Feel (1951), Cave of Outlaws (1951), Retreat, Hell! (1952), and The Winning Team (1952).

1953–1962: MGM and leading roles

MGM had been impressed by Tamblyn's performance in Retreat, Hell! and signed him to a long term contract. His first role under the new contract was as a young soldier in boot camp in Take the High Ground! (1953), directed by Richard Brooks. His training as a gymnast in high school, and abilities as an acrobat, prepared him for his breakout role as Gideon, the youngest brother, in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954).

He was not a trained dancer and always considered himself an actor who danced rather than the other way around but the film was a big success and established him at MGM. Tamblyn was one of many studio contract players in the musical Deep in My Heart (1954). He played Eleanor Parker's brother in the Western Many Rivers to Cross (1955), and was one of several young MGM actors (others included Jane Powell and Debbie Reynolds) in the musical Hit the Deck (1955).

Tamblyn supported older actors in two Westerns: Robert Taylor (American actor) and Stewart Granger in The Last Hunt (1956), a flop; and Glenn Ford and Broderick Crawford in The Fastest Gun Alive (1956), a big hit, where he performed an extraordinary "shovel" dance at a hoe-down early in the film. He served (uncredited) as a choreographer for Elvis Presley in 1957's Jailhouse Rock. MGM loaned Tamblyn to Allied Artists for his first star role, The Young Guns (1957). Back at MGM he supported Glenn Ford and Gia Scala in Don't Go Near the Water (1957), a comedy set among members of the U.S. Navy.

Tamblyn portrayed Norman Page in the film of Peyton Place (1957) at 20th Century Fox, opposite Lana Turner and Diane Varsi. For his performance in the film he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He was then given a star role at MGM, playing Tony Baker in High School Confidential (1958). The film was a solid hit. Also successful was the musical Tom Thumb (1958) made for George Pal, in which Tamblyn was cast in the title role. His career momentum was interrupted when he was drafted into the United States Army in 1958.

Upon his return MGM gave him a prominent support part in Cimarron (1960), supporting Glenn Ford. Tamblyn's best known musical role came as Riff, the leader of the Jets street gang in West Side Story (1961). He then appeared in two MGM Cinerama movies, The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm and How the West Was Won (both 1962). He was seen as Luke Sanderson in The Haunting, and as Lt. "Smitty" Smith in MGM's Follow the Boys (both 1963).

1963–1976: Television and independent films

Tamblyn was unable to consolidate his position as a leading man, and he later recounted that he "dropped out" after his West Side Story success, that he devoted himself to art and refused movie roles as well as a role in the TV series Gilligan's Island.

In the 1960s he appeared in the TV series The Greatest Show on Earth ("Silent Love, Secret Love"; 1963), and Channing ("The Last Testament of Buddy Crown"; 1963).

Tamblyn played a Viking alongside Richard Widmark and Sidney Poitier in The Long Ships (1965). Also in 1965 he appeared in Burke's Law ("Who Killed Rosie Sunset?"); and in Days of Our Lives.

Tamblyn was given the starring role in a low budget Western for MGM Son of a Gunfighter (1965) and starred in the 1966 Japanese kaiju film War of the Gargantuas.He guest starred on Tarzan ("Leopard on the Loose"; 1966), and Iron Horse ("Decision at Sundown"; 1967). Tamblyn later admitted he became "bored" with acting around this time and more interested in art.

Tamblyn starred in a notorious biker movie Satan's Sadists (1969) for Al Adamson. He followed it with Scream Free! (1969), The Last Movie (1971), The Female Bunch (1971) and Dracula vs. Frankenstein (1971) for Adamson.

He appeared on TV in Cade's County ("Ragged Edge"; 1972), Win, Place or Steal (1973), The World Through the Eyes of Children (1975), The Quest ("The Captive"; 1976), The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams ("The Skyrider"; 1978), and Nero Wolfe (1981 TV series) ("Before I Die"; 1981). He was also in Black Heat (1976).

At the same time he worked in exploitation, Tamblyn also worked in the construction industry and computer software.

1978–1989: Choreography and film

Tamblyn played the supporting role in Neil Young's 1982 Human Highway while also credited for screenplay and choreography. Tamblyn is credited as director, choreographer and actor for Neil Young's Greendale concert tour. He choreographed a play Man with Bags in 1983.

He could be seen in Fame, Commando Squad (1987) for Fred Olen Ray, The Phantom Empire (1988), Necromancer (1988), B.O.R.N. (1988), The Bloody Monks (1988), and an episode of Quantum Leap.He was in Aftershock (1990), and Wizards of the Demon Sword (1991) for Fred Olen Ray.

1990–2004: Twin Peaks and other work

In 1990–91, Tamblyn starred as Dr. Lawrence Jacoby on the David Lynch-created series Twin Peaks (alongside his West Side Story co-star Richard Beymer, who played Ben Horne); his scenes in the 1992 prequel film Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me were cut.

He could be seen in Running Mates (1992), Little Devils: The Birth (1993), Cabin Boy (1994), Desert Steel (1995), and Babylon 5. He appeared on stage in Los Angeles in Zastrozzi. His work drifted back to straight to video: Starstruck (1995), Rebellious (1995), Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold (1995) and Invisible Mom (1996) for Fred Olen Ray, Johnny Mysto: Boy Wizard (1997), My Ghost Dog (1997), and Little Miss Magic (1998) for Ray.

He appeared on another soap opera, General Hospital, alongside his daughter Amber in 1997 and 2000. In 2004, he appeared with Amber again, playing God in the form of a man walking dogs, in three episodes of Joan of Arcadia. The two also have worked together in the films Rebellious, Johnny Mysto: Boy Wizard, and The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret. And in Quentin Tarantino's film Django Unchained, they were billed respectively as "Son of a Gunfighter" and "Daughter of a Son of a Gunfighter", alluding to his leading role in the 1965 western Son of a Gunfighter.

In 2004, the Academy Film Archive preserved the mid-1960s works First Film and Rio Reel by Tamblyn.

2005–present: Later roles

Tamblyn has had supporting roles in Drive (2011), Django Unchained (2012), and Hits (2014). He appeared several times in The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret, and in the revival of Twin Peaks (2017).

Tamblyn married actress Venetia Stevenson in 1956, but the couple divorced the following year. He married Elizabeth Kempton, a showgirl, in Las Vegas in 1960. In later years, Tamblyn would discover he had a daughter he did not previously know about from the 1960's with artist and spiritual practitioner, Elizabeth Anne Vigil. His first daughter's name is China Faye Tamblyn and she is an artist and heavy metal welder who lives in the Bay Area in California. Tamblyn did not meet her until she was a teenager, and only after the birth of his second child, actress Amber Tamblyn, who was born in 1983 to his third wife Bonnie Murray.

In 2012, it was announced that he was working on writing an autobiography, titled Dancing On The Edge.

Tamblyn underwent open heart surgery in October 2014. There were complications following the surgery and during the rehabilitation, although his health had reportedly improved as of February 2015.

In June 2021, Amber Tamblyn wrote an essay in The New York Times expressing solidarity with Britney Spears' effort to end the conservatorship controlling her life. Tamblyn wrote that she became financially successful when sheturned 21 and starred in Joan of Arcadia. Her father became her co-manager and her mother her business manager. She wrote that having her parents on the payroll complicated their relationship. She wrote that having money at such a young age also complicated other relationships with relatives, friends and romantic partners, that she was "everybody's A.T.M." and that her money "paid for our vacations, dinners out, and sometimes even the bills.." The essay goes on to explain the close bond she still shares with her parents, despite those early difficult years. "My mom taught me everything I know about money management, from balancing checkbooks to coding my business expenses in my credit card statements. My father was a fiercely protective advocate."

Film

Television

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• Lamparski, Richard (1985). Whatever Became Of ... ? (9th ed.). Crown. ISBN 978-0-517-55540-8.
• Willis, John; Monush, Barry, eds. (2010). Screen World 2007. Vol. 58. Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 978-1-557-83729-5.
• Williams, Sharon Lind (June–July 1991). "Russ Tamblyn". Filmfax. No. 27. p. 68.