Tom Berenger facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Tom Berenger
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Berenger in 2019
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Thomas Michael Moore
May 31, 1949 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
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| Education | Rich East High School |
| Alma mater | University of Missouri (BA) |
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| Years active | 1968–present |
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| Children | 6 |
Tom Berenger (born Thomas Michael Moore on May 31, 1949) is an American actor. He is famous for his roles in many popular movies.
He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for playing Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes in the war movie Platoon (1986). Many people also know him as Jake Taylor in the Major League baseball movies. He also played the skilled shooter Thomas Beckett in the Sniper film series.
Some of his other well-known movies include The Big Chill (1983), Gettysburg (1993), The Substitute (1996), and Inception (2010). For his work on television, Berenger won a Primetime Emmy Award for the 2012 miniseries Hatfields & McCoys.
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Early Life and School
Tom Berenger was born Thomas Michael Moore in Chicago, Illinois, on May 31, 1949. He grew up in a Catholic family with Irish roots. He has one sister named Susan. His father worked as a printer for the Chicago Sun-Times newspaper and also as a traveling salesman.
Berenger graduated from Rich East High School in Park Forest, Illinois, in 1967. He then went to the University of Missouri to study journalism. After graduating in 1971, he decided to become an actor instead.
Acting Career
Getting Started
Before becoming a famous actor, Berenger worked in local theaters. In 1972, he even worked as a flight attendant for Eastern Airlines. He moved to New York City in 1973 to focus on his acting career.
He had to change his professional name from Tom Moore to Tom Berenger. This was because another actor named Tom Moore was already a member of the Actors' Equity Association, a group for stage actors.
His early work included roles in soap operas, which are daytime TV dramas. He played the lawyer Tim Siegel in One Life to Live. His first movie role was in Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977). In 1979, he played the famous outlaw Butch Cassidy in Butch and Sundance: The Early Days.
Major Movie Roles
The 1980s were a big decade for Berenger. He starred in several important movies. These included The Big Chill (1983) and the baseball comedy Major League (1989).
His most celebrated role from this time was in Platoon (1986). For playing Staff Sergeant Barnes, he was nominated for an Academy Award. He also won a Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor for this role.
In the 1990s, Berenger became known for playing Thomas Beckett in the action movie Sniper (1993). The movie was so popular that it led to several sequels. He also played Confederate General James Longstreet in the historical film Gettysburg (1993). Berenger once said that Gettysburg was the movie of his that he had watched the most.
Television and Later Work
Berenger has also had a successful career in television. He was nominated for an Emmy Award for a guest role on the popular comedy show Cheers.
In 2010, he appeared in the hit science fiction movie Inception with Leonardo DiCaprio. It was his first major movie role in several years.
In 2012, he starred in the TV miniseries Hatfields & McCoys. He played a character named Jim Vance. His performance was so good that he won a Primetime Emmy Award. This is one of the highest honors in television.
To help young actors, Berenger started the Tom Berenger Acting Scholarship Fund in 1988. The fund gives money to talented theater students.
Personal Life
Tom Berenger has been married four times and has six children. He married his current wife, Laura Moretti, in 2012.
See also
In Spanish: Tom Berenger para niños
