Larry Storch

The 5'8" actor was born on January 8, 1923, in New York City, the son of a realtor and telephone operator. Although he attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, he never graduated, earning money as a stand-up comic. Larry's gift as an impressionist paid off early during those teen years in vaudeville houses.

As a kid in the 1930s growing up in a tough New York neighborhood, kinetic wiseguy Larry Storch took in the multi-ethnic flavor of his surroundings and started blurting out various accents as a juvenile to provoke laughs and earn attention. Little did he know that this early talent would take him on a six-decade journey as a prime actor and comedian.

Following military duty during WWII as a seaman (1942-1946), a happenstance meeting with comedian Phil Harris in Palm Springs led to an opening act gig at Ciro's for Lucille Ball's and Desi Arnaz' show. Larry received his biggest break on radio with "The Kraft Music Hall" when he was asked to sub for an ailing Frank Morgan. He not only delivered his patented star impersonations, he did a devastating one of Morgan himself that went over famously.

His daughter, Candace, was born in 1948, and given up for adoption. She was reunited with her parents during the filming of Frontline: Secret Daughter (1996).

Moving to the small screen, a summer hosting replacement on the TV variety show Cavalcade of Stars (1949) was followed by Larry's own variety series, The Larry Storch Show (1953).

In musical revues from the early 1950s with such showcases as "Red, Hot and Blue" and "Curtain Going Up," he also became a fixture on the nightclub circuit.

Curtis started finding work for his buddy in his films, beginning with an unbilled bit in the Universal costumer The Prince Who Was a Thief (1951).

He made a leap into legit acting with the musical "You Never Know" (1955) and comedies "The Tender Trap" (1956) and "Who Was that Lady I Saw You With?" (1958), in which he played a hyper Russian spy. A long-lasting friendship with Tony Curtis that formulated during his Navy days paid off in spades.

TV audiences soon started seeing his manic-looking mug regularly on episodic TV, including The Phil Silvers Show (1955) and Car 54, Where Are You? (1961). Larry's biggest claim to fame would come via his Emmy-nominated role as Forrest Tucker's loyal but not particularly bright sidekick Cpl.

He also appeared with his friend Curtis again, this time in a musical stage version of Curtis' classic film Some Like It Hot (1959).

When Larry's career was going through a noticeable lull in the early 1960s, Curtis again came to the rescue by giving him top supporting roles in some of his prime cinematic fluff--Who Was That Lady? (1960) (in which he recreated his stage role), 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962), Sex and the Single Girl (1964) and Wild and Wonderful (1964).

He also provided the voice of Koko the Clown in the syndicated cartoon show Out of the Inkwell (1961).

While continuing to make an "impression" in nightclubs, Larry found a lucrative outlet in animation, too, giving vocal life to four decades' worth of cartoons, including the series Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales (1963), Underdog (1964), The Pink Panther Show (1969) and Scooby Doo, Where Are You! (1969).

Randolph Agarn in the western comedy F Troop (1965).

Larry went on to appear in typical oddball form in such low-budget films as Airport 1975 (1974), The Happy Hooker Goes to Washington (1977), Record City (1977), Without Warning (1980) (as a scoutmaster), S. O. B.

Beginning in the 1980s Storch made a comic resurgence of sorts under the theater lights with a healthy run opposite Jean Stapleton and Marion Ross in "Arsenic and Old Lace" from 1986-1988, and in the musicals "Oklahoma!" (1990) and "Annie Get Your Gun" (2000), the latter as Chief Sitting Bull.

(1981) (as a guru), Fake-Out (1982), Sweet Sixteen (1983), A Fine Mess (1986), The Perils of P. K.

(1986), The Silence of the Hams (1994), Funny Valentine (2005) and Bittersweet Place (2005). TV guest appearances included "The Fall Guy," "Knight Rider," "Out of This World," "Married. . .

During WWII he served on a submarine tender, the USS Proteus, with Tony Curtis. They became lifelong friends. Storch and Curtis appeared in eight movies together, and, in 2003, both were in the (theatrical) musical version of Some Like It Hot (1959) that toured across the country.

Attended the 2007 Twilight Zone Convention at the Hilton Hasbrouck Heights, Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, August 4-5, 2007.

with Children," "Days of Our Lives," and his last, a 2010 appearance on "Medium Rare.

His best known role remains that of Cpl. Randolph Agarn, the bumbling sidekick of the double-dealing Sgt. Morgan O'Rourke (Forrest Tucker) on the 1965-67 sitcom F Troop (1965). On Thursday night, September 11, 2014, 91-year=old Storch made his final L.A. stand-up performance at the Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip. Five days later he received his star on the Palm Springs Walk of Fame. The Comedy Store show, "Larry Storch Live: At Ease, Boys and Girls!" featured appearances by Bernie Kopell, Hank Garrett, Bob Burns, Ken Berry--who starred with him as the hapless Capt. Wilton Parmenter on "F Troop"--and Marion Ross. Berry, who introduced Storch to the Comedy Club audience, had been a longtime fan of his comedy and impressions even before "F Troop." Berry said, "He used to do things like 'The Ed Sullivan Show.' I never saw anyone work like that before. Working with Larry and some of those other guys was great--it was like recess every day." Hank Garrett, who performed some of his own stand-up material, worked with Storch when the comedian guest starred in the 1961-63 NBC sitcom Car 54, Where Are You? (1961) (Garrett played Officer Ed Nicholson on the comedy series). I learned so much watching Larry," said Garrett, who, like Berry, has remained close with Storch. "I call him all the time. He's an amazing guy--and at 91 he does yoga head-stands." The Comedy Store played an important part in Storch's early career. Then known as the famed Ciro's nightclub, it was where Storch made his first professional comedy appearance there serving in the U.S. Navy on the submarine tender USS Proteus (AS-19) during World War II (one of his fellow crew members was Tony Curtis). "I wanted to hitchhike across the country [to New York City] in my sailor's uniform because nobody would refuse a sailor," said Storch. As fate would have it, bandleader Phil Harris picked him up in Los Angeles. "Phil Harris said, 'Get in sailor,' after Storch told Phil he was heading to New York City. Harris said, 'Your first stop will be Palm Springs.' On the way to the desert, Storch told Harris about his comedy background and did his impressions. "When we got to Palm Springs, he turned the car around and said we're going back to Hollywood," said Storch. "He takes me to Ciro's nightclub, and sitting in an empty room was Lucille Ball listening to her husband Desi Arnaz rehearse the band for tomorrow evening's opening. I did Frank Morgan and various other notable actors. Lucille Ball said lose the sailor suit, get into a blue suit and be here tomorrow at 8 p.m. You will lead off, and Des will follow you onstage. That's the way it worked out".