Childhood & Early Life
Tamblyn was born Russell Irving Tamblyn, on December 30, 1934 in Los Angeles, California, to Sally Aileen and Eddie Tamblyn, both of whom were actors. He has a younger brother, Larry Tamblyn, who was the organist for the 1960s’ rock band, ‘The Standells.’
A hyperactive child, Tamblyn had a penchant for gymnastics and performing arts and was eager to entertain. As a child, he would occupy the stage during intervals at the local movie theater and do tumbling performances.
He studied tap dancing and trained in gymnastics while attending ‘North Hollywood High School.’
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Career
Discovered by Lloyd Bridges at the age of 10, he eventually earned his first film, ‘The Boy with Green Hair,’ in 1948. The juvenile actor, also called “Rusty Tamblyn” at the time, played a student “extra.”
In 1949, Tamblyn was given a bigger role in ‘The Kid from Cleveland.’ While the movie was not a huge success, it established him as a film actor and earned him minor roles in ‘Reign of Terror’ and Cecil B DeMille’s 1949 version of ‘Samson and Delilah’ (which featured him as young ‘Saul’).
The early 1950s saw him earning small roles in films such as ‘Gun Crazy’ (which featured him as the younger ‘Bart Tare’). He was also part of ‘Father of the Bride’ (in which he played Elizabeth Taylor’s younger brother) and its sequel, ‘Father’s Little Dividend.’ From 1950 to 1952, he also appeared in ‘Captain Carey, U.S.A,’ ‘The Winning Team,’ and ‘Retreat, Hell!’
Impressed by his performance in ‘Retreat, Hell!,’ ‘MGM’ offered him a long-term contract. Under the new contract, he played a young soldier in boot camp in ‘Take the High Ground!,’ directed by Richard Brooks in 1953.
In 1954, his training in gymnastics and acrobatics prepared him for his breakthrough role of ‘Gideon,’ the youngest brother in ‘Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.’ The film was a huge hit and established him at ‘MGM.’ The same year, he performed in the musical ‘Deep in My Heart.’
In 1955, he played Eleanor Parker’s brother in the Western ‘Many Rivers to Cross’ and was part of the young ‘MGM’ cast, which also included Jane Powell and Debbie Reynolds, in the musical ‘Hit the Deck.’
In 1956, he supported older actors in two Westerns: ‘The Last Hunt’ (which flopped) and ‘The Fastest Gun Alive’ (which was a big hit and displayed his extraordinary “shovel dance”).
In 1957, he served as Elvis Presley’s uncredited choreographer in ‘Jailhouse Rock.’ The same year, ‘MGM’ loaned him to ‘Allied Artists’ for his first starring role, in ‘The Young Guns.’ Under ‘MGM,’ he worked with Glenn Ford and Gia Scala in ‘Don’t Go Near the Water,’ a comedy set among members of the ‘US Navy.’ He also portrayed ‘Norman Page’ in the film ‘Peyton Place,’ opposite Lana Turner and Diane Varsi, for which he received an ‘Academy Award’ nomination for the ‘Best Supporting Actor.’
In 1958, before Tamblyn was named to the ‘US Army,’ he delivered two hits: the film ‘High School Confidential’ and the musical ‘Tom Thumb.’ He played the titular role in the latter.
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In 1960, upon his return, he was cast in a supporting role in ‘Cimarron.’ The following year, he appeared in ‘The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm’ and ‘How the West Was Won.’
From 1963 to 1965, he appeared in ‘The Haunting,’ ‘Follow the Boys,’ ‘The Greatest Show on Earth,’ ‘Channing,’ ‘The Long Ships,’ and ‘Days of Our Lives.’ He also played a lead role in a low-budget ‘MGM’ Western named ‘Son of a Gunfighter.’
From 1966 to 1978, he appeared in ‘War of the Gargantuas,’ ‘Satan’s Sadists,’ ‘The Last Movie,’ ‘The Female Bunch,’ ‘Dracula vs. Frankenstein,’ ‘Cade’s County,’ ‘The Life and Times of Grizzly Adams,’ and ‘Black Heat.’
From 1982 to 1988, he appeared in ‘Human Highway,’ ‘Commando Squad,’ ‘The Phantom Empire,’ and ‘Necromancer.’
In the 1990s, he was seen in movies such as ‘Running Mates,’ ‘Cabin Boy,’ ‘Babylon 5,’ ‘Invisible Mom,’ and ‘Little Miss Magic.’
Of late, he has been featured in movies such as ‘Drive,’ ‘Django Unchained,’ ‘Hits,’ ‘The Increasingly Poor Decisions of Todd Margaret,’ and the revival of ‘Twin Peaks.’
He wrote the screenplay for the 1982 movie ‘Human Highway.’
He contributed to the soundtracks of the series ‘Curb Your Enthusiasm’ and the movies ‘West Side Story’ and ‘Hit the Deck.’
Family, Personal Life & Legacy
Tamblyn married TV actor Venetia Stevenson in 1956, but the couple divorced the following year. In 1960, he married showgirl Elizabeth Kempton in Las Vegas. The couple had a daughter, China, before divorcing in 1979. His second child, actor Amber Tamblyn, was born in 1983, to wife Bonnie Murray, whom he had married in 1981.
In 2012, it was announced that he had been working on writing an autobiography titled ‘Dancing on the Edge.’
