Tom Berenger

Berenger was born as Thomas Michael Moore in Chicago to an Irish Catholic family. Berenger's father was a printer for the Chicago Sun-Times. Berenger has a sister, Susan. He picked "Berenger" as his professional name, after a school friend, because there was already a "Tom Moore" in the Actors' Equity Association. He graduated from Rich East High School in Park Forest, Illinois, in 1967. Berenger studied journalism at the University of Missouri, but decided to seek an acting career following his graduation. He worked first in regional theatre and moved to New York City in the 1970s.

Berenger worked in soap operas and had a starring role on One Life to Live. His feature film debut was the lead in Rush It, an independent film now mostly forgotten except for those of its cast members who went on to greater renown.

Berenger's film career peaked in the 1980s with notable films like The Big Chill, Someone to Watch Over Me, and Major League. In 1986, he received an Academy Award nomination for his portrayal of Sgt. Barnes in Platoon (this performance won him a Golden Globe Award for "Best Supporting Actor"). In the mid-1990s he was most recognizable in his role from the movie Sniper.

In more recent years, Berenger has continued to have an active acting career in film and television, although often at a supporting level. His most notable television appearance was on Cheers in its last season as Rebecca Howe's blue collar-plumber love interest, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award for "Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series". He also began a career as a producer in the 1990s.

Berenger starred in the mini-series version of Stephen King's Nightmares & Dreamscapes, as a celebrated author who realizes the warped painting he recently purchased, is alive with illustrations of impending doom for him in "The Road Virus Heads North".

Berenger stars opposite Armand Assante and Busta Rhymes in the upcoming dramatic thriller Order of Redemption, set to be released theatrically in September 2009 via Lionsgate.

Berenger has been married three times and has six children, consisting of one son and five daughters. He resides in Vancouver and Beaufort, South Carolina.

Berenger has two children by his first wife, Barbara Wilson, to whom he was married between 1976 and 1984: Allison (born in 1977) and Patrick (born in 1979). He has three daughters by second wife Lisa Williams (to whom he was married between 1986 and 1997): Chelsea (born in 1987), Chloe (born in 1988) and Shiloh (born in 1995). He has one daughter, Scout (born 1998), with Patricia Alvaran, whom he married in 1998.