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Following graduation from Texas A&M, Torn relocated from his native Texas to Hollywood, making his debut in the 1956 film Baby Doll. Torn headed to New York where he studied at the Actors Studio under Lee Strasberg, becoming a prolific stage actor, appearing in the original cast of Tennessee Williams’ play Sweet Bird of Youth, and reprising the role in the film and television adaptations. One of his earliest roles was in the film Pork Chop Hill, playing the brother-in-law of Gregory Peck’s character. He also played an uncredited role A Face in the Crowd as Barry Mills, touted as the down-home successor to Andy Griffith’s megalomaniacal TV star Lonesome Rhodes. In 1957, Rip plays an arrogant young thief on Alfred Hitchcock Presents — the episode is entitled, “Number Twenty-Two”.[3] Rip also played Judas Iscariot in MGMs King of Kings released in 1961.

In 1963, he appeared as a graduate student with multiple degrees at fictitious Channing College in the ABC drama Channing starring Jason Evers and Henry Jones. That same year, he appeared as Roy Kendall in the episode “Millions of Faces” in the ABC medical drama about psychiatry, Breaking Point with Paul Richards. In 1964, Torn appeared as Eddie Sanderson in the episode “The Secret in the Stone” of the NBC psychiatric drama, The Eleventh Hour with Ralph Bellamy and Jack Ging. That same year, he appeared in the premiere of the short-lived CBS drama The Reporter, starring Harry Guardino as a New York City journalist. Torn also played Thaddeus T. Third V on Recess.

He has been a character actor in numerous films since then, including roles such as those of New Orleans blackmailer Slade opposite Steve McQueen and Karl Malden in 1965’s The Cincinnati Kid or the gruff boss Agent Zed in Men in Black.

The part of lawyer George Hanson in the Peter Fonda-Dennis Hopper road movie Easy Rider was written for Torn by Terry Southern (who was a close friend), but according to Southern’s biographer Lee Hill, Torn withdrew from the project after he and co-director Dennis Hopper got into a bitter argument in a New York restaurant, ending with Dennis Hopper pulling a knife on Torn.[4] As a result, Torn was replaced by Jack Nicholson, whose appearance in the film catapulted him to stardom.[5]

In 1972, he won rave reviews for his portrayal of a country & western singer in the cult film Payday. In 1976 he starred in the cult classic science fiction movie The Man Who Fell to Earth. He received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actor for his role in the 1983 film Cross Creek.

In 1988, he ventured into directing with the offbeat comedy The Telephone, starring Whoopi Goldberg. The screenplay was written by Terry Southern and Harry Nilsson, and the film was produced by their company Hawkeye. The story, which focused on an unhinged, out-of-work actor, had been written with Robin Williams in mind. After he turned it down, Goldberg expressed a strong interest, but when production began Torn reportedly had to contend with Goldberg constantly digressing and improvising, and he had to plead with her to perform takes that stuck to the script. Goldberg was backed by the studio, who also allowed her to replace Torn’s chosen DP, veteran cinematographer John Alonzo, with her then-husband. As a result of the power struggle, Torn, Southern and Nilsson cut their own version of the film, using the takes that adhered to the script, and this was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, but the studio put together a rival version using other takes and it was poorly reviewed when it premiered in January 1988.[5] In 1990, he played the ultra-hawkish Colonel Fargo in the cold war drama By Dawn’s Early Light. In 1991, he portrayed Albert Brooks’ defense attorney in the comedy Defending Your Life. In 1993, Torn played the OCP CEO in the science fiction film, Robocop 3.