He came almost out of nowhere around 1980 to become one of cinema’s most recognizable and prolific actors. Yet in recent years he’s seemed absent from the industry – but he hasn’t been.
Tom Berenger had acted in the soap opera One Life to Live in 1975 and 1976 before taking a small role in the drama Looking for Mr. Goodbar (1977), and then starring in the soft-core porn In Praise of Older Women (1978). He had more prominent roles in The Dogs of War (1980, based on the Frederick Forsyth thriller novel) and The Big Chill (1983, with its memorable soundtrack). That same decade saw Berenger move almost completely away from television in favor of Hollywood.
Perhaps his biggest success was in Platoon (1986), the Vietnam War epic for which he received a Golden Globe award and an Oscar nomination, both for Best Supporting Actor. He followed that with Someone to Watch Over Me (1987), Major League (1989), Born on the Fourth of July (1989), The Field (1990), At Play in the Fields of the Lord (1991), Shattered (1991, and one of my personal favorites of his), and several titles in the Sniper franchise.
Berenger has continued making films — 80 in all, and counting. (It’s worth noting that nine of his films have been direct-to-video, which means a payday for an actor, and often great performances as well, but they’re often footnotes to even the most successful careers.) He’s also appeared in about 30 television shows and made-for-tv movies. So Tom Berenger is still out there, even though you may have lost track of him. Just because an actor no longer has high visibility, it doesn’t mean he’s not acting.