Thomas Michael Moore was born on 31 May 1949, in Chicago, Illinois, USA, of Irish descent. Tom became a film and television actor, and is now perhaps still best known for his performance in the 1986 movie “Platoon” for which he received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor. He was also a part of “Inception” and “Hawaii Five-0”. All his efforts have helped in putting his net worth to where it is today.
How rich is Tom Berenger? As of early-2016, sources estimate a net worth that is at $8 million, mostly earned through a successful career as an actor. Aside from film and television, he’s also gained recognition in the theatre, and has worked for video games mainly on promotions and content. As he continues to work, his wealth is expected to rise further.
Tom Berenger Net Worth $8 Million
Berenger first studied at and matriculated from Rich East High School before moving to the University of Missouri to study journalism. After graduating, he pursued an acting career, but first worked as a flight attendant before finding theatre jobs in New York City. He changed his professional name to Berenger because there was already a Tom Moore who’s a mamber of the Actors’ Equity Association.
Tom then found himself opportunities in soap operas such as “One Life to Live”. His first feature film came in 1976 and it was entitled “Rush It”. Since then he’s had both small and major roles in film and on television including “Looking for Mr. Goodbar”, “In Praise of Older Women” and “Butch and Sundance: The Early Days”. During the 1980s his career and net worth would move further with several big films including “The Big Chill”, “Major League”, “Someone to Watch Over Me”, and “Platoon”. While he was nominated for an Academy Award for “Platoon”, he also won a Golden Globe for that performance. He would then gain more recognition playing the character Thomas Beckett in the film “Sniper” in the 1990s. Other films would be “Born on the Fourth of July”, “Silver”, and “Chasers”. In later years, Tom focused more on supporting roles and won an Emmy Award for his performance in the final season of “Cheers”. One of the major box office successes that he was a part of would be “Training Day”, and later “Inception” alongside Cillian Murphy and Leonardo DiCaprio.
Aside from film and television, Berenger is also known to have worked in the video game industry, for games such as “Delta Force: Black Hawk Down”, which had similarities to his roles in the films “Sniper 2” and “Sniper 3”. Berenger has also done television and film adaptations of books such as Stephen King’s “Nightmares & Dreamscapes” in which he plays an author who purchased a painting that was actually alive; the film is entitled “The Road Virus Heads North”.
For his personal life, it is known that Tom has been married four times. His first marriage was to Barbara Wilson from 1976 to 1984 and they have two children. His second was to Lisa Williams from 1986 to 1997 with whom he has three daughters. The third marriage was to Patricia Alvaran from 1998 to 2011, and they have a daughter. He has now been married to Laura Moretti since 2012.
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or a Movie (2012)
Nominations
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (1986), Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Supporting Actor (1993), Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast (2010)
Movies
“Inception” (2010), “Hawaii Five-0”, “Platoon” (1986), "Sniper" (1993), Hatfields & McCoys (2012), The Dogs of War (1980), The Big Chill (1983), Betrayed (1988), The Field (1990), Gettysburg (1993), The Substitute (1996)
TV Shows
“One Life to Live”, "Rush It", “Delta Force: Black Hawk Down”,“Delta Force: Black Hawk Down”
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Quote
1
Your body really changes a lot in your 50s. You start feeling old injuries and things start coming back ... so you better get it together then.
2
[on Charlie Sheen] I've always liked him, and I always worry about him like his parents do. He was always a good listener, which is probably why he is a real good actor.
3
[in 2002] Since the '70s I've seen myself as a poet. Sometimes I express that poetry through acting, sometimes through cooking, and sometimes just having a good chat, you know, one of them chats you have when you're stoned and the hour is getting late. I don't know what's gonna come my way, but I think Berenger's gonna be big these next couple years.
4
Even my agents say, 'We don't know what this business is anymore.' These days, you can do a TV series for five years and all of a sudden be on top of the business. Features don't even run in theaters very long anymore before going right to television. And every other movie is one of those action things. I mean, Lost in Space (1998)? - a bunch of good actors running around shooting at special effects on a soundstage? I took my kids to see that and almost felt like I was on an acid trip. Most of what gets made now, you laugh your way through, go home and forget you've seen it.
5
[in 1975] I first started thinking about being an actor when I was in college at the University of Missouri. I auditioned for a television play, and the director, who has some professional New York credits, encouraged me to pursue acting. In college I had a double major--drama and film editing. I worked with 16 millimeter film upon graduating, and from Kansas City I went on to Dallas. All of this time I suppose I had an unrealized commitment to acting. But then, I guess I ran away from acting. I was afraid of the business--I still am.
6
[on playing bad guys] I enjoy playing them. I find something human in them, with the exception of Looking for Mr. Goodbar. It was such a slimy character with no redeeming qualities. To me it was like playing Charles Manson. I had nightmares after I finished shooting it. I felt dirty. Bad guys are interesting, even if you don't like them.
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Fact
1
Tom's first play was in high school was performed in the Spanish language for an advanced Spanish class. Being an extremely shy guy, he was forced to be in it by his teacher.
Berenger's earlier career before he became an actor was as a flight attendant for the defunct Eastern Air Lines.
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Prior to acting, he was also a bellman at the former Alameda Plaza Hotel (now the Inter-Continental Hotel) in the Country Club Plaza section of Kansas City, Missouri.
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He studied under Uta Hagen and Herbert Berghof at HB Studio while working in off-Broadway productions.
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Started "The Tom Berenger Acting Scholarship Fund" This was established in 1988 by him to award Theatre students for excellence in performance.
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He picked "Berenger" as his professional name, after a school friend, because there was already a "Tom Moore" in the Actors' Equity Association.
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The role that seems the nearest to his heart is that of Lt. General James Longstreet, whom he portrayed in Gettysburg (1993).
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Tom's great interest in Civil War history has led him to collect on and research the Civil War era in his personal life as well.
12
Was the second ill-fated Timmy Siegal on 'One Life To Live'.
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Tom speaks Spanish and Italian.
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Turned down the part of Det. Sonny Crockett on Miami Vice (1984). The studio was hoping to land a big star, and also approached Nick Nolte and Jeff Bridges.
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Admitted that he hated making Sliver (1993), as it went through endless reshoots and script changes.
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Studied acting in New York at the Herbert Berghof Studios.
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Lives in Beaufort, South Carolina when not working on films.
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Lived in Puerto Rico for several months in his 20s.
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Tom is a history buff.
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His father was a traveling salesman.
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He was offered his role in Nightmares & Dreamscapes: From the Stories of Stephen King (2006) and had 24 hours to decide if he wanted. He agreed without even getting a chance to read the script. He read it for the first time on the flight to Australia for the filming.
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Graduated from the University of Missouri, where he majored in journalism.
23
Considers Flesh & Blood (1979) as one of his best films.
$8 Million
