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Russell Irving Tamblyn (born December 30, 1934), also known as Rusty Tamblyn, is an American film and television actor and dancer.
Born and raised in Los Angeles, Tamblyn 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.
In the 1970s, Tamblyn appeared in several exploitation films. He worked as a choreography in the 1980s. In 1990, he starred as Dr. Lawrence Jacoby in David Lynch's television drama Twin Peaks and reprised the role in the show's 2017 revival.
Tamblyn was a hyperactive child with a penchant for gymnastics and performing. He took the stage during intermissions at the local movie theater and gave tumbling performances. When he was 13, Tamblyn lived in North Hollywood and studied dramatics under Grace Bowman and dancing at the North Hollywood Academy, owned and operated by his parents.
Tamblyn's first professional job came when he was ten years old and was cast by actor Lloyd Bridges in a play Bridges was directing, The Stone Jungle, alongside Dickie Moore. During the play's run Tamblyn was seen by several talent scouts and an agent, who signed him. The agent arranged for Tamblyn to audition for a role in The Boy with Green Hair (1948), and he was given a small part.
Tamblyn appeared as young Saul in Cecil B. DeMille's Samson and Delilah (1949). "That was a big break for me", he later said. "After that I worked a lot."
Tamblyn appeared in Reign of Terror, then was given a role in The Kid from Cleveland (1949)—billed third (as "Rusty Tamblyn") after stars George Brent and Lynn Bari—and in 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), at MGM. He 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).
Tamblyn's first role under the contract was as a young soldier in boot camp in Take the High Ground! (1953), directed by Richard Brooks. His training as a gymnast and abilities as an acrobatics prepared him for his breakout role as Gideon, the youngest brother, in Seven Brides for Seven Brothers (1954). Tamblyn has said the director wanted to cast a Broadway dancer but MGM insisted the filmmakers use some contract talent, so he and Jeff Richards were cast.
Tamblyn 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. He has said his career "really took off" after the film.
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 (including Jane Powell and Debbie Reynolds) in the musical Hit the Deck (1955).
Tamblyn supported older actors in two Westerns: Robert Taylor 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 in which he performed an extraordinary "shovel" dance at a hoedown. 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.
20th Century Fox borrowed Tamblyn to play Norman Page in Peyton Place (1957) opposite Lana Turner and Diane Varsi, a performance for which he was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor. Tamblyn then went to England to play the title role in the musical Tom Thumb (1958), made for George Pal. When he returned, MGM cast him as the lead in High School Confidential (1958), a solid hit.
Tamblyn's career momentum was interrupted when he was drafted into the United States Army in 1958. During his service he was given leave to play a prominent supporting part in Cimarron (1960).
Tamblyn's best-known musical role is 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, again for Pal, and How the West Was Won (both 1962).
Tamblyn played Luke Sannerson in The Haunting (1963) for Robert Wise, who had made West Side Story. Tamblyn said he originally turned down the role as he disliked the part but agreed to do it when MGM threatened to put him on suspension. He then played "Smitty" Smith in MGM's Follow the Boys (also 1963).
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 Days of Our Lives.
Tamblyn had the starring role in the low-budget MGM Western Son of a Gunfighter (1965) and starred in the 1966 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 said he became "bored" with acting around this time and more interested in art.
Tamblyn starred in the 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 ("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.
Tamblyn appeared in the TV series 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.
He appeared in Running Mates (1992), Little Devils: The Birth (1993), Cabin Boy (1994), Desert Steel (1994), 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.
In 1997 and 2000, Tamblyn appeared on the soap opera General Hospital alongside his daughter Amber Tamblyn. 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 worked together on the films Rebellious and Johnny Mysto: Boy Wizard and the TV series The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret. 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 Tamblyn's leading role in Son of a Gunfighter.
In 2004, the Academy Film Archive preserved Tamblyn's mid-1960s works First Film and Rio Reel.
In 2012, it was announced that Tamblyn was working on an autobiography, Dancing On The Edge. The book was released in 2024.
Tamblyn underwent Cardiac surgery in October 2014. There were complications afterward and during his rehabilitation, but his health had reportedly improved by February 2015.
1963–1976: Television and independent films
Tamblyn was unable to consolidate his position as a leading man and later said he "dropped out" after his West Side Story success and devoted himself to art, refusing movie roles, as well as the role of Gilligan in the TV series Gilligan's Island.
1978–1989: Choreography and film
Tamblyn played the supporting role in Neil Young 1982 Human Highway and is also credited for screenplay and choreography. He is credited as director, choreographer, and actor for Young's Greendale concert tour. Russ Tamblyn's Official Site: Welcome Retrieved September 16, 2007 He choreographed a play, Man with Bags, in 1983.
1990–2004: Twin Peaks and other work
In 1990–91, Tamblyn starred as 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 were cut.
2005–present: Later roles
Tamblyn 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).
Personal life
Tamblyn married actress Venetia Stevenson in 1956, but they divorced the next year. In 1960, he married Elizabeth Kempton, a showgirl, in Las Vegas. In later years, Tamblyn discovered he had a daughter from a 1960s relationship with artist and spiritual practitioner Elizabeth Anne Vigil. That daughter, China Faye Tamblyn, is an artist and heavy metal welder who lives in California. Tamblyn did not meet her until she was a teenager, and only after the birth of his second child, actress and author Amber Tamblyn, who was born in 1983 to his third wife, Bonnie Murray.
Filmography
Film
1948 The Boy with Green Hair Classmate Uncredited 1949 Reign of Terror Pierre's Oldest Son Uncredited 1949 The Kid from Cleveland Johnny Barrows Credited as Rusty Tamblyn 1949 Samson and Delilah Saul 1950 Gun Crazy Bart Tare at 14 Credited as Rusty Tamblyn 1950 Captain Carey, U.S.A. Pietro Credited as Rusty Tamblyn 1950 The Vicious Years Tino 1950 Father of the Bride Tommy Banks Credited as Rusty Tamblyn 1951 Father's Little Dividend Tommy Banks 1951 As Young as You Feel Willie McKinley Credited as Rusty Tamblyn 1951 Cave of Outlaws Young Peter Uncredited 1952 Retreat, Hell! Private 1952 The Winning Team Willie Alexander Credited as Rusty Tamblyn 1953 Take the High Ground! Paul Jamison 1954 Seven Brides for Seven Brothers Gideon Pontipee 1954 Deep in My Heart Lazar Berrison, Jr. Uncredited 1955 Many Rivers to Cross Shields 1955 Hit the Deck Danny Xavier Smith 1956 The Last Hunt Jimmy 1956 The Fastest Gun Alive Eric Doolittle 1956 The Young Guns Tully Rice 1957 Don't Go Near the Water Ensign Tyson 1957 Peyton Place Norman Page 1958 High School Confidential! Tony Baker/Mike Wilson 1958 Tom Thumb Tom Thumb 1960 Cimarron The Cherokee Kid 1961 West Side Story Riff 1962 The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm The Woodsman ('The Dancing Princess') / Tom Thumb 1962 How the West Was Won Confederate deserter 1963 Follow the Boys Lt (JG) "Smitty" Smith 1963 The Haunting Luke Sannerson 1964 The Long Ships Orm 1965 Son of a Gunfighter Johnny Ketchum 1966 War of the Gargantuas Dr. Paul Stewart 1967 The Cool Ones Whiz-Bam Dancer Uncredited 1969 Satan's Sadists Anchor 1969 Scream Free! Link 1971 Dracula vs. Frankenstein Rico 1971 The Female Bunch Bill 1971 The Last Movie Member of Billy's Gang 1974 Win, Place or Steal Raymond 1975 The World Through the Eyes of Children Devil 1976 Black Heat Ziggy 1982 Fred Kelly Also writer and choreographer 1985 The Fantasy Film Worlds of George Pal Himself Documentary 1987 Commando Squad Anchor 1988 Necromancer Charles DeLonge 1988 B.O.R.N. Hugh 1988 The Phantom Empire Bill Direct-to-DVD 1989 Blood Screams Frank 1990 Aftershock Hank Franklin 1991 Wizards of the Demon Sword Ulric 1992 Dr. Lawrence Jacoby Scenes deleted 1993 Little Devils: The Birth Doc Clapton 1994 Cabin Boy Chocki 1994 Desert Steel Tate 1995 Starstruck Wheeler 1995 Rebellious Old Guy 1995 Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold Gas Attendant 1996 Invisible Mom Dr. Woorter Direct-to-DVD 1997 Johnny Mysto: Boy Wizard Blackmoor Direct-to-DVD 1998 Little Miss Magic Brenden Moran 2000 Special Envoys 2002 Cinerama Adventure Himself Documentary 2011 Drive Doc 2012 Django Unchained Son of a Gunfighter 2014 Hits Russ 2015 Chatty Cattie Bruce
Television
1963 The Greatest Show on Earth Tom Tuttle Episode: "Silent Love, Secret Love" 1963 Channing Hal Langley Episode: "The Last Testament of Buddy Crown" 1965 Burke's Law Maximillian Episode: "Who Killed Rosie Sunset?" 1965 Gunsmoke Billy Waters Episode: "He Who Steals" 1966 Tarzan Bell Episode: "Leopard on the Loose" 1967 Iron Horse Kehoe Episode: "Decision at Sundown" 1969 The Name of the Game John Earl Episode: "A Hard Case of the Blues" 1972 Cade's County Brewster Episode: "Ragged Edge" 1976 The Quest Kelly Episode: "The Captive" 1978 The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams Milton Wright Episode: "The Skyrider" 1981 Nero Wolfe Police Detective Episode: "Before I Die" 1986–1987 Fame Russ / Michael Taftner 3 episodes 1987 Rags to Riches Roger Episode: "Vegas Rock" 1989 Quantum Leap Bert Glasserman Episode: "Thou Shalt Not..." 1990–1991 Twin Peaks Dr. Lawrence Jacoby 15 episodes 1992 Running Mates Frank Usher Television film 1994 Babylon 5 Capt. Jack Maynard Episode: "A Distant Star" 1997 Nash Bridges Jim the Penman Episode: "The Counterfeiters" 1997 General Hospital Nurses ball dancer 1 episode 1998 My Ghost Dog Vito Television film 1999 Inherit the Wind Ed Morse Television film 2000 General Hospital Dr. Rose 2 episodes 2004 Joan of Arcadia Dog Walker God 3 episodes 2010–2012
2016The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret Chuck Margaret / Billy the Cheesegrater 9 episodes 2017 Twin Peaks Dr. Lawrence Jacoby 6 episodes 2018 The Haunting of Hill House Dr. Montague Episode: "The Bent-Neck Lady"
Awards and nominations
+ Awards and nominations
Works cited
(2026). 9780415938532, Psychology Press. ISBN 9780415938532
(2026). 9781557837295, Hal Leonard Corporation. ISBN 9781557837295
External links
Categories: Www.russtamblyn.com Official Website, 1934 Births, Living People, 20th-century American Male Actors, 21st-century American Male Actors, American Male Dancers, American Male Film Actors, American Male Stage Actors, American Male Television Actors, Male Western Film Actors, Male Actors From Greater Los Angeles, New Star Of The Year Golden Globe Winners, Mgm Records Artists, Metro-goldwyn-mayer Contract Players, Entertainers From Topanga, California
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