In 1957, Tyner made his debut on Broadway, in the play Orpheus Descending. Two year later, he appeared with Paul Newman, in the Broadway play Sweet Bird of Youth. It was during 1959, that he made his film debut, with an uncredited part in That Kind of Woman. He worked with Newman again in 1967, as Boss Higgins, the sadistic prison guard in Cool Hand Luke, and became a regular character actor, appearing in films such as The Reivers, Lawman, Harold and Maude, The Cowboys and Emperor of the North Pole. One of his better known roles was alongside Burt Reynolds, in the 1974 prison comedy The Longest Yard. Another one of his better known roles was that of the evil Howard Rodman in the television series Father Murphy.
Tyner returned to the stage in 1977, but continued to appear in films.
