Tighe was born in Los Angeles, California, the son of an actor. His first big screen appearance was a bit role in The Graduate (as a fraternity member, with a few lines of dialogue late in the film) after which he served a stint in the US Army. After his military service, he returned to acting, working under contract for Paramount Pictures, and then auditioned for producer Jack Webb and won a starring role in Emergency!.

Tighe has had many guest appearances in other television series since then, including Adam-12, The Love Boat, Murder She Wrote, Star Trek: Voyager, Freaks and Geeks, Law & Order (both :SVU and :CI), The 4400 and The West Wing where he portrayed Governor Jack Buckland, among others. On Lost, he has appeared numerous times (2005-2007) as the villainous Anthony Cooper, father of John Locke.

Tighe has also become a dependable character actor and has appeared in supporting or featured roles in several movies, notably Matewan, Eight Men Out, K-9 (the first of two films with Jim Belushi, the other being Race The Sun), Road House, Another 48 Hours, What's Eating Gilbert Grape, I Love a Man in Uniform (for which he won a Genie Award for best supporting actor in 1994) and a TV-remake of Escape to Witch Mountain.

Tighe has lived in Skagit County of Washington state for the last 30 years, with his wife Rebecca. They have one daughter.