What a run for him! He made it to 99! I’m so glad he was a part of my childhood and then some too. Larry was invisible to me in my early childhood as Mr. Whoopee in Tennessee Tuxedo cartoons, the guy who explained how machines worked with his magic chalkboard. Whenever I had the chance to watch Seventies-style cable TV at my Grandma’s house, Channel 44 constantly plugged how they had reruns of F-Troop via the clip with Larry doing his Palamino joke. Years later I would re-enact this with Playmobil toys in front of my girlfriend and cynical roommate.
While reading his official obit, I had forgotten how he started out as a comedian and impressionist, likely competing with Frank Gorshin and Rich Little back in the Sixties. He is also the guy responsible for the “Judy, Judy, Judy” bit everyone did whenever they tried their hand at being Cary Grant. By the time I was alive, Larry was making a good living as a voice actor for stuff I watched all the time: The Groovie Ghoulies, Sabrina the Teenage Witch (1969) and The Pink Panther. He was the Joker with Hanna Barbera until the Seventies when the Superfriends came around.
The biggest show I loved him for was on Saturday mornings in the mid Seventies and it reunited him with his F-Troop partner Forest Tucker…The Ghost Busters. Long before the unfunny movie in 1984 with Bill Murray telling weak jokes, these two vets along with a guy in a gorilla costume, hunted down ghosts of historical figures played by other comedy pros: Howard Morris, Jim Backus, Ted Knight and Nora Denney. At the end of every episode, they would send the wise-cracking ghosts back to some kind of Phantom Zone with a special camera. A perfect follow-up show to The Far Out Space Nuts starring Bob Denver and Chuck McCaan! Never missed either.
Lastly, Larry was definitely a lovable working actor! Throughout his prime, if he wasn’t a cast member on a weekly show, you could count on him being the guest of the week somewhere when this stuff was the norm. The Love Boat, Fantasy Island, Grizzly Adams, Love American Style, etc. It’s a world of show biz which has been slowly dying and taking away what used to be Hollywood’s beloved working middle class via TV as the production companies, networks and streaming services’ greed has destroyed this.
Thanks for everything Larry! You made my childhood awesome. You went on to be a go-to for the inner circle of those who love comedy. I’m sure the joke Dennis Miller made about your acting was without malice yet we all know and adore the “What is balloon” explanation to the neighboring Hikawa Tribe. Your legacy lives on in another generation of great impressionists: Maria Bamford and James Adomian readily come to mind. I will also make sure others will remember you.