Tom Berenger
Tom Berenger is an accomplished American actor, renowned for his versatile performances in both film and television. Born Thomas Michael Moore on May 31, 1949, in Chicago, Illinois, Berenger initially pursued a career in journalism before discovering his passion for acting during a high school production. He transitioned to acting full-time after graduating from the University of Missouri in the early 1970s. Berenger's breakthrough came with his role as Sergeant Bob Barnes in the critically acclaimed Vietnam War film *Platoon* (1986), which earned him an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor.
Throughout his career, Berenger has appeared in a variety of genres, including war films, action thrillers, and historical dramas. Notable projects include *Hatfields & McCoys* (2012), where he won an Emmy Award for his portrayal of Jim Vance, and *Gettysburg* (1993), in which he played Confederate General James Longstreet. He has continued to work prolifically in film and television, with roles in projects ranging from *Major League* (1989) to more recent films like *Sniper: Assassin's End* (2020) and the romantic comedy *Plan B* (2024). Beyond his professional life, Berenger is married and has a large family that includes one son and five daughters. His career reflects a commitment to portraying complex characters, both fictional and historical, resonating with audiences and critics alike.
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Subject Terms
Tom Berenger
Actor
- Born: May 31, 1949
- Place of Birth: Actor
Chicago, Illinois
Contribution: Tom Berenger is an Academy Award nominated and Emmy Award winning actor best known for his roles in the war film Platoon (1986) and the television miniseries Hatfields & McCoys (2012).
Background
Tom Berenger was born Thomas Michael Moore in Chicago, Illinois, on May 31, 1949. He attended Rich East High School in Park Forest, from which he graduated in 1967. Berenger then enrolled in the University of Missouri in Columbia, where he began studying journalism.
Berenger developed an interest in acting after trying out for a school production of the Edward Albee play Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? as part of a bet. He was cast in one of the lead roles, and the experience led him to switch his major to theater. After earning his bachelor’s degree in the early 1970s, Berenger moved to New York to pursue an acting career.
Career
After working for several years in theater, Berenger made his television debut in 1975 with a role in the daytime soap opera One Life to Live. He left the show the next year and soon began to obtain film roles, beginning with a small part in the horror film The Sentinel (1977). Berenger next took a dark turn as the violent Gary in Looking for Mr. Goodbar and in 1979 played outlaw Butch Cassidy in Butch and Sundance: The Early Days. By the early 1980s, Berenger was earning supporting and starring roles in films such as The Dogs of War (1980), The Big Chill (1983), and Fear City (1984).
In 1986, Berenger costarred as Sergeant Bob Barnes in filmmaker Oliver Stone’s Vietnam War film Platoon, which focuses on the experiences of a platoon of US Army soldiers during the war. The film received widespread critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for best picture in 1987, among other prestigious awards. Berenger was nominated for the Academy Award for best supporting actor for his performance.
The success of Platoon solidified Berenger’s status as a popular leading man, and he starred in numerous films during the next several years, including Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Major League (1989), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), and Sniper (1993). In 1993, Berenger guest starred in two episodes of the popular sitcom Cheers. For his performance, he was nominated for the Emmy Award for outstanding guest actor in a comedy series. Later that year, Berenger starred in the epic Civil War film Gettysburg, portraying Confederate lieutenant general James Longstreet.
Berenger again played a historical figure in 1997, when he starred as future president Theodore Roosevelt in the television film Rough Riders. Having developed a reputation as an actor well suited to roles in action and crime films, he continued to take on such roles throughout the 2000s, appearing in such films as Training Day (2001), Stiletto (2008), Breaking Point (2009), and Sinners and Saints (2010), as well as the science-fiction film Inception (2010). Berenger likewise proved well suited to historical dramas, appearing in the television film Johnson County War (2002) and the miniseries Into the West (2005).
In 2012, Berenger costarred in the History Channel’s three-part historical miniseries Hatfields & McCoys. Based on historical events, the miniseries tells the story of the feuding Hatfield and McCoy families who lived on the West Virginia and Kentucky border in the late nineteenth century. Berenger plays Jim Vance, the violently volatile uncle of Hatfield patriarch William Anderson “Devil Anse” Hatfield, played by Kevin Costner.
Hatfields & McCoys was well received by critics and was nominated for a wide range of awards, including the Emmy Award for outstanding miniseries. Critics praised Berenger’s performance as Vance, for which he received the 2012 Emmy Award for outstanding supporting actor in a miniseries. Berenger again returned to television as a recurring guest star in several episodes of the TNT drama Major Crimes between 2013 and 2015.
Throughout the latter half of the 2010s, Berenger appeared in a series of forgettable films, including the crime drama Bad Country (2014), the actions Impact Earth (2015) and Cops and Robbers (2017), and the western Gone are the Days (2018). In 2019, he starred in the crime film Sargasso, about a private detective who helps a woman commit fraud to save his sick mother, as well as the comedy Supervized, about a group of aging superheroes.
Berenger continued his prolific movie career into the 2020s, starring in numerous films, most of them action thrillers. Among these were Sniper: Assassin's End (2020), A Tale of Two Guns (2022), and One More Shot (2023). In 2024, he changed genres with a starring turn in the romantic comedy Plan B.
Impact
Since capturing the attention of both critics and audiences with his Academy Award–nominated performance in Platoon, Berenger has consistently thrived in war films and period dramas, portraying numerous iconic fictional characters as well as prominent historical figures. He has been recognized with many awards for his performances.
Personal Life
Berenger is married to Laura Moretti. He has a son and five daughters.
Bibliography
Frost, Caroline. “Tom Berenger on the Modern Moral in ‘Hatfields and McCoys’, and Sharing Emmy Success with Kevin Costner.” Huffington Post, 25 Oct. 2012, www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/10/24/tom-berenger-hatfields-mccoys-kevin-costner-emmy-awards‗n‗2013163.html. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.
Keck, William. “Keck’s Exclusives First Look: Tom Berenger Joins Major Crimes.” TV Guide, 27 May 2013, www.tvguide.com/news/kecks-tom-berenger-major-crimes-1066085/. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.
Lavender, Dave. “Actor Tom Berenger Says ‘Hatfields & McCoys’ Like ‘Godfather’ of the Mountains.” Herald-Dispatch, 28 May 2012, www.herald-dispatch.com/news/recent‗news/actor-tom-berenger-says-hatfields-mccoys-like-godfather-of-the-mountains/article‗185c9ab2-09e0-5d7b-86fe-76d4c25e2102.html. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.
Mitovich, Matt Webb. “Tom Berenger Previews His Major Crimes Arc as Raydor’s Husband.” TVLine, 7 July 2013, tvline.com/interviews/major-crimes-season-2-preview-tom-berenger-raydor-husband-444113/. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.
"Tom Berenger." IMDb, 2024, www.imdb.com/name/nm0000297/. Accessed 20 Sept. 2024.