Michael Moore (May 31, 1949), known as Tom Berenger, was nominated for Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes in Platoon (1986), which won the Best Picture.
My Oscar Book:
Occup Inherit: No; faher printer
First Film: 27
Oscar nom: 38 (11 years); Platoon
Awards: Emmy
He is also known for playing Jake Taylor in the Major League films and Thomas Beckett in the Sniper films.
Other films he appeared in include Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), The Dogs of War (1980), The Big Chill (1983), Eddie and the Cruisers (1983), Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Betrayed (1988), The Field (1990), Sniper (1993), Gettysburg (1993), The Substitute (1996), Training Day (2001), and Inception (2010).
Berenger won the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in Miniseries or a Movie as Jim Vance in the 2012 miniseries Hatfields & McCoys.
Berenger was born Thomas Michael Moore in Chicago, May 31, 1949, Catholic family of Irish ancestry with great-grandfather and grandmother settling in Chicago. He has a sister, Susan.
His father was a printer for the Chicago Sun-Times and traveling salesman.
Moore graduated in 1967 from Rich East High School in Park Forest, Illinois. He studied journalism at the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri, but decided to seek acting career after graduating in 1971 with a B.A. degree.
He worked in regional theatre and in 1972, he worked as flight attendant, Eastern Airlines, based in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
He transferred to New York in 1973.
Moore selected “Berenger” as professional name as there was already a “Tom Moore” in the Actors’ Equity Association.
Berenger worked in soap operas and had a starring role as lawyer Tim Siegel on One Life to Live.
His feature debut was the lead in Rush It (1976), an indie film.
In 1977, he had a small role as the killer of the lead character (Diane Keaton) in Looking for Mr. Goodbar based on the murder of schoolteacher Roseann Quinn.
In 1978, he had a starring role in In Praise of Older Women.
In 1979, he played Butch Cassidy in Butch and Sundance: The Early Days, a role he got because of resemblance to Paul Newman, who played the character in Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969).
Berenger starred in several significant films in the 1980s, The Big Chill (1983), Eddie and the Cruisers (1983), Rustlers’ Rhapsody (1985), Platoon (1986), Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Shoot to Kill (1988), and Major League (1989).
In 1986, he received annomination for his portrayal of the Staff Sergeant Barnes in Platoon
He played Thomas Beckett, the main character in the mid-1990s film Sniper (followed by six sequels, featuring Berenger in the starring role for four).
Other notable films. Born on the Fourth of July (1989), Shattered (1991), Sliver (1993), and Chasers (1994). When asked in a 1999 interview to name his favorite film out of those in which he had acted,
Berenger said that the role he had watched most frequently was his 1993 film Gettysburg, where he played Confederate General James Longstreet.
He established the Tom Berenger Acting Scholarship Fund in 1988 to theatre students for excellence in performance.
One of his most notable TV appearances was on Cheers in its last season as Rebecca Howe’s blue collar-plumber love interest, for which he was nominated for Emmy Award for “Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series”.
Berenger co-produced the 1997 miniseries Rough Riders, also starring as Theodore Roosevelt.
Berenger was also seen on the box for Novalogic’s Delta Force: Black Hawk Down, as his roles in Sniper 2 and Sniper 3 were similar to what was chosen for the game’s artwork.
He starred in mini-series version of Stephen King’s Nightmares & Dreamscapes, as a celebrated author who realizes the warped painting he purchased is alive with illustrations of impending doom for him in “The Road Virus Heads North”. Berenger stars opposite Armand Assante and Busta Rhymes in the dramatic thriller Breaking Point, which had a limited release starting in December 2009.
Berenger appeared in the 2010 sci fi thriller Inception with DiCaprio and Cillian Murphy, where he played a business executive who served as mentor to and was an associate of the father of Murphy’s character. It was his first major film since Training Day in 2001.
In 2012, he appeared in the TV miniseries Hatfields & McCoys as Jim Vance, uncle of protagonist Devil Anse Hatfield (Kevin Costner).
In 2012, Berenger won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie for the role.
Berenger has been married 4 times and has 6 children. He has 2 children by his first wife, Barbara Wilson, to whom he was married from 1976 to 1984: Allison Moore (born 1976) and Patrick Moore (born 1978). He has three daughters by second wife Lisa Williams (married from 1986 to 1997): Chelsea Moore (born 1986), Chloe Moore (born 1988) and Shiloh Moore (born 1993). He has a daughter Scout Moore (born 1998) with Patricia Alvaran, married from 1998 to 2011. He married Laura Moretti in Sedona, Arizona, in early September 2012.
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1977 The Sentinel Man at End
1977 Looking for Mr. Goodbar Gary
1978 Rush It Richard Moore
1978 In Praise of Older Women Andras Vayda
1979 Butch and Sundance: The Early Days Butch Cassidy / Robert Leroy Parker
1980 The Dogs of War Drew Blakeley
1982 Beyond the Door Matthew Jackson
1983 The Big Chill Sam Weber
1983 Eddie and the Cruisers Frank Ridgeway
1984 Fear City Matt Rossi
1985 Rustlers’ Rhapsody Rex O’Herlihan
1986 Platoon Staff Sergeant Bob Barnes. Nominated Best Supporting Actor
1987 Someone to Watch Over Me, Detective Mike Keegan
1988 Shoot to Kill Jonathan Knox
1988 Betrayed Gary Simmons
1988 Last Rites Michael
1989 Major League Jake Taylor
1989 Born on the Fourth of July Gunnery Sergeant Hayes
1990 Love at Large Harry Dobbs
1990 The Field The American
1991 Shattered Dan Merrick
1991 At Play in the Fields of the Lord Lewis Moon
1993 Sniper Tom Beckett
1993 Sliver Jack Landsford Nominated, Golden Raspberry Worst Supporting Actor
1993 Gettysburg Lieutenant General James Longstreet
1994 Major League II Jake Taylor
1994 Chasers Rock Reilly
1995 Last of the Dogmen Lewis Gates
1996 The Substitute Jonathan Shale
1996 An Occasional Hell Dr. Ernest Dewalt
1998 The Gingerbread Man Pete Randle
1998 Shadow of Doubt Jack Campioni
1999 A Murder of Crows Detective Clifford Dubose
1999 One Man’s Hero John Riley
1999 Diplomatic Siege General Buck Swain
1999 Turbulence 2: Fear of Flying Sikes Direct-to-video
2000 Takedown McCoy Rollins
2001 Training Day District Attorney Stanley ‘Stan’ Gursky
2001 The Hollywood Sign Tom Greener
2001 True Blue Rembrandt ‘Remy’ Macy
2001 Watchtower Art Stoner
2002 D-Tox Hank
2004 Sniper 3 Tom Beckett Direct-to-video
2005 Detective Sgt. Malcolm Ainslie
2007 The Christmas Miracle of Jonathan Toomey Jonathan Toomey
2008 Stiletto Virgil Vadalos
2009 Silent Venom Admiral Bradley Wallace
2009 Charlie Valentine Becker
2009 Breaking Point Steven Luisi
2010 Smokin’ Aces 2: Assassins’ Ball Hal Leuco/FBIAgent Walter Weed (Video)
2010 Sinners and Saints Captain Trahan
2010 Inception Peter Browning
2010 Faster Warden
2011 Last Will Frank Emery
2011 Bucksville The Patron of Justice
2012 Brake Agent Ben Reynolds
2012 War Flowers General McIntire
2014 Bad Country Lutin
2014 Doc Holliday’s Revenge Judge Wells
2014 Lonesome Dove Church John Shepherd
2014 Sniper: Legacy Tom Beckett Direct-to-video
2014 Reach Me Teddy
2015 Impact Earth Herbert Sloan
2017 Sniper: Ultimate Kill Tom Beckett Direct-to-video
2017 Cops and Robbers Captain Randolph
2018 American Dresser John Moore
2018 Battle of the Bulge: Wunderland Major McCulley Direct-to-video
2018 Gone Are the Days Will
2018 1st Born Jefferson Tucker
2019 Stakeout Joe Smith
2019 Supervized Ray
2020 Blood and Money Jim Reed
2020 Adam Jerry Niskar
2020 Sniper: Assassin’s End Tom Beckett Direct-to-video
2020 Battle of the Bulge: Winter War Major McCulley Direct-to-video
2022 The Most Dangerous Game Benjamin Colt
2022 Black Warrant Nick Falconi
2022 As Good as Dead Sonny Kilbane
2022 A Tale of Two Guns McTeague
2023 Among Wolves Father Callahan
2024 One More Shot Mike Marshall Direct-to-video
Television (Incomplete)
Year Title Role Notes
1975–1976 One Life to Live Tim Siegel, 66 episodes
1977 Johnny, We Hardly Knew Ye Billy Sutton TV movie
1979 Flesh & Blood Bobby Fallon TV movie
1986 If Tomorrow Comes Jeff Stevens 3 episodes (miniseries)
