Kevin Pollak needed no time to identify the wildest actor he had ever worked with. During an appearance on “The Rich Eisen Show,” the “Tulsa King” actor immediately named [1] late Hollywood veteran Rip Torn.
“Oh, jeez. It’s not even a competition,” Pollak said. His answer opened the door to a string of strange memories from the set of the 1995 comedy “Canadian Bacon,” which starred John Candy and was released after Candy’s death.
Pollak recalled that Torn regularly became convinced somebody working on the movie had turned against him. The supposed culprit could be a member of the cast or someone on the crew.
“Every day Rip would decide someone in the cast or crew was out to get him,” Pollak recalled. According to his account, Torn kept his colleagues guessing throughout the production.
Torn also repeatedly reminded those around him that he had appeared on former President Richard Nixon’s enemies list. Pollak remembered the subject coming up so frequently that it became another defining part of the experience.
“If a day also went by without Rip Torn saying, ‘I was on Nixon’s list.’ All right, we got it,” Pollak quipped. The repeated declaration apparently did not encourage anyone around Torn to seek further details.
When Pollak was asked what Torn had done to earn his reported place on the list, he offered a blunt response. “Well, no one wanted to ask, quite frankly.”
The Nixon stories, however, were not the most startling memories Pollak shared. Another anecdote involved fellow actor Kevin O’Connor, O’Connor’s new bride and their accommodations during filming in Toronto.
Pollak said O’Connor and his wife stayed in a room beside Torn at the Four Seasons Hotel. Through the hotel’s thin walls, the newly married couple repeatedly heard Torn shouting at someone in the neighboring room.
The outbursts continued for weeks, according to Pollak’s recollection. After hearing so many of them, O’Connor and his wife began compiling a top 10 list featuring the most memorable lines they heard Torn deliver.
Pollak then revealed the line that allegedly earned the number one position on the couple’s list. “The number one thing we heard Rip Torn yell at the hooker through the wall: ‘I said milk it like a cow,’” Pollak recalled.
The hotel story added another bizarre chapter to Pollak’s description of Torn’s behavior away from the cameras. Combined with the daily suspicions and recurring Nixon references, it explained why Pollak said the choice was not remotely competitive.
Pollak, who also appeared in “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” worked alongside Torn in “Canadian Bacon.” A scene from the movie featured Pollak, Torn and Alan Alda walking together down a red carpet.
Torn, who died in 2019, built an acclaimed career across film, television and theater. He received an Academy Award nomination for his performance in “Cross Creek” and became familiar to audiences through “Men in Black” and “The Larry Sanders Show.”
On “The Larry Sanders Show,” Torn played Artie, a performance that brought him six consecutive Emmy nominations. He won an Emmy Award for the role in 1996, adding another distinction to a career that Pollak remembered for both its acclaim and its unforgettable chaos.