REVEALED: Emmy-winning actor Rip Torn, star of Men In Black and The Larry Sanders Show, died in July aged 88 after a 'years-long' battle with Alzheimer's disease, his death certificate shows

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Emmy-winning actor actor Rip Torn, who starred in the Men In Black series and The Larry Sanders Show, died in July following years-long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, his death certificate shows.

The 88-year-old 'passed away peacefully at his home in Lakeville, Connecticut' on July 9, his representative said at the time, though few details were offered as to his cause of death.

Now though his death certificate, obtained by TMZ, shows the beloved performer’s passing came ‘due to (or as a consequence of) Alzheimer’s dementia’.

The document also says Torn was diagnosed ‘years’ before he died, and said he was buried at a cemetery in Poughkeepsie, New York, two days after his death on July 11.

Emmy-winning actor actor Rip Torn, who starred in the Men In Black series and The Larry Sanders Show died in July following year-long battle with Alzheimer’s disease, his death certificate shows

Torn was known for his gruff-voiced characters and earned a glowing reputation as a versatile actor both on screen and on stage.

But he was also notorious for his wild behaviour and troublemaking antics, including brawling with his co-star on the set of the 1970's movie Maidstone, as well as attempting to break into a bank while drunk at the age of 79, later claiming he thought it was his house.

Torn's 65-year career was peppered with critically acclaimed performances.

Possibly his greatest success was as Artie, the producer on HBO's meta comedy series The Larry Sanders Show.

The role garnered him six Emmy Award nominations, with a single win in 1996.

He also received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for his role in 1983's Cross Creek, which starred Mary Steenburgen.

The 88-year-old was said to have 'passed away peacefully at his home in Lakeville, Connecticut' on July 9, his representative said, though few details were offered as to his cause of death. Now though his death certificate, obtained by TMZ, shows the beloved performer’s passing came ‘due to (or as a consequence of) Alzheimer’s dementia’

Character actor Rip Torn died Tuesday at age 88, surrounded by his family at his Lakeville, Connecticut home; pictured (left) in 2010 and (right) in 1995

More than 40 years after first appearing on screen, Torn was featured as Men In Black agency boss Zed opposite Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones. He reprized the role in the 2002 sequel.

However, for his status as a giant in American comedy, he also earned the reputation as a wild child who never rid himself of his 60s roots.

Torn's best roles were in dark dramas, where he could draw on a mercurial personality.

In a New York diner in the late 1960s, Torn had a ferocious row with the filmmaker Dennis Hopper prior to shooting Easy Rider. The argument saw Torn lose the role of George Hanson, a civil liberties lawyer and main character, which eventually went to Jack Nicholson.

Director and star Hopper later claimed that Torn lost the role after he pulled a knife on him during an altercation.

He sued Hopper for libel, claiming it was actually the director who pulled the knife, and was awarded $475,000.

While filming Maidstone, a semi-improvised film about a politically ambitious sibling, Torn hit the filmmaker and writer Normal Mailer over the head with a tack hammer.

The pair then wrestled to the floor, where Mailer drew blood by biting Torn's ear.

The document also says Torn was diagnosed ‘years’ before he died, and said he was buried at a cemetery in Poughkeepsie, New York, two days later on July 11

The ugly scene was captured on film and cemented Torn's reputation as a volatile and unpredictable actor.

That same reputation for volatility resurfaced when he was arrested in 2010 for breaking into a Connecticut bank carrying a loaded pistol.

Reports at the time suggested that a highly intoxicated Torn thought the bank was his home, and that he had fallen asleep inside the building.

The actor was born Elmore Rual Torn Jr. in Temple Texas on February 6, 1931. His mother was actress Sissy Spacek's aunt.

He studied Shakespearean acting at the University of Texas, before joining the Military Police.

Throughout the 1950s, he studied with legendary acting teacher Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio in New York City.

From the start he appeared in high-profile productions, including Elia Kazan's A Face In The Crowd (1957), Nicholas Ray's King Of Kings (1961), and multiple episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

The actor also starred opposite David Bowie in the cult classic science fiction film The Man Who Fell To Earth from 1976 as a womanizing professor.

Dark terrain: The actor starred opposite David Bowie in the cult classic science fiction film The Man Who Fell To Earth from 1976 as a womanizing professor

Later in life, Torn's craggy features and scratchy voice were put to use in comedic features and shows.

His Larry Sanders Show character, Artie, was based on Johnny Carson's longtime producer Fred De Cordova, and gave him a chance to bring unexpected comedic possibilities to the show.

During a 2011 interview, he stated that the part 'was written to be a straight man, but people were saying, "God, Rip is getting all those laughs. Who ever thought that Rip could be funny?"

'Just everybody that knows him,' he added.

Though he could be prickly with collaborators, he warmed up to Larry Sanders Show creator and star Gary Shandling, who died in 2016.

'[Rip] came in the first time, and his agent said he wouldn't read,' Shandling recalled in a 2012 interview. 'Weeks later, it was just him and me in a room with no one else, and I said to Rip, "Could we read half of this together?" And he said, "I don't want to read." I said, "That's totally fine," and I pushed it to the side of the table.

'We talked for less than another minute, and he reached over and took the page, and he starts the scene.

'It's like trying to describe a good date to a friend the next day,' he continued. 'I had to say to HBO and everybody else, "Honestly, this is the best sex I have had."'

New roles: Later in life, Torn's craggy features and scratchy voice were put to use in comedic features and shows (pictured with Asia Argento in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette)

Copious talent: In addition to his film and television work, Torn was a noted stage actor and Tony Award nominee (opposite Tommy Lee Jones in 1984 Cat On A Hot Tin Roof)

He also had side-splitting roles in DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story (2004) and Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette (2006).

In addition to his copious film and television work, Torn was a noted stage actor.

He starred in Broadway productions of plays by August Strindberg and Eugene O'Neill, and he earned a Tony nomination in 1960 for his performance in Tennessee Williams' Sweet Bird Of Youth.

Following a meeting with then-Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy in 1963 about starting a national theater program, he was put under surveillance by the FBI, which made it difficult to find roles for years.

'I began to see things in gossip columns, stories about me,' he said of the spying.

Torn married actress Ann Wedgeworth in 1955, though the two divorced in 1961. They shared a daughter, Danae Torn.

He subsequently married Interiors actress Geraldine Page in 1963, with whom he shared daughter Angelica Page and sons Tony and Jon Torn. The two were married at the time of her death in 1987.

He's survived by his actress wife Amy Wright, whom he married in 1989, and their two children, Katie and Claire Torn.