Will Smith, who appeared alongside Torn in Men in Black, led the tributes to the actor, writing “R.I.P. Rip” alongside a photo of the pair on Instagram.
Torn made his film debut in an adaptation of Tennessee Williams’s Baby Doll (1956) and soon became a respected film and television star.
He finally won the battle and was billed as Rip Torn until his death.
The roles dried up int he 1970s, something Torn attributed to his reputation of being hard to work with.