Lawrence Tierney

Lawrence James Tierney was an American actor known for his many screen portrayals of mobsters and tough guys, roles that mirrored his own frequent brushes with the law.

Tierney was born in Brooklyn, New York, son of Mary Alice Tierney and Lawrence Hugh Tierney, an Irish American policeman. He was a star athlete at Boys High School, winning awards for track and field and joining Omega Gamma Delta fraternity. He earned an athletic scholarship to Manhattan College but quit after two years to work as a laborer on the New York Aqueduct. He bounced around the country from job to job, working for a time as a catalogue model for Sears Roebuck amp Co. After an acting coach suggested he try the stage, Tierney joined the Black Friars theatre group, moving on to the AmericanIrish Theatre. He was spotted there in 1943 by an RKO talent scout and given a film contract.

Source: Wikipedia