Larry Drake

For the major league outfielder, see Larry Drake (baseball).

Larry Richard Drake (February 21, 1949 – March 17, 2016)^[1] was an American actor. He was best known as Benny Stulwicz in L.A. Law, for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards. He also appeared as Robert G. Durant in both Darkman and Darkman II: The Return of Durant, a homicidal mental patient who escapes an insane asylum in the slasher black comedy Dr. Giggles, and was the voice of Pops in Johnny Bravo.

Larry Drake
Larry Drake on the red carpet at the 40th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards, August 28, 1988.
Born	Larry Richard Drake (1949-02-21)February 21, 1949 Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S.
Died	March 17, 2016(2016-03-17) (aged 67) Hollywood, California, U.S.
Resting place	Hollywood Forever Cemetery
Alma mater	University of Oklahoma
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1971–2016
Spouse	Ruth de Sosa ​ ​ (m. 1989; div. 1991)​

Early life

Larry Richard Drake was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on February 21, 1949, the son of Raymond John Drake, a drafting engineer for an oil company, and Lorraine Ruth (née Burns), a homemaker. He graduated from Tulsa Edison High School and the University of Oklahoma.^[2]

Career

Drake is mostly remembered for his portrayal of developmentally disabled Benny Stulwicz in L.A. Law, from 1987 until the show's end in 1994, for which he twice won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. in 1988 and 1989.^[3][4][5][6] He returned to the role of Benny in L.A. Law: The Movie, a reunion film that aired on NBC in 2002.^[7]

He appeared in numerous film and television roles, including Time Quest, Dark Asylum, Paranoid, Bean, Overnight Delivery, The Beast, The Journey of August King, Murder in New Hampshire, Dr. Giggles,^[8] Darkman,^[9] Darkman II: The Return of Durant,^[10] The Taming of the Shrew, American Pie 2,^[11] and Dark Night of the Scarecrow. He was a regular on Prey.^[12] Drake provided the voice of Pops in Johnny Bravo. In 2007, he co-starred in Gryphon, a Sci-Fi Pictures original film.^{[citation needed]}

Personal life

Drake was married from 1989 to 1991 to Ruth de Sosa,^[13] an actress and producer known for her roles in The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

Death

On March 17, 2016, Drake was found dead in his Los Angeles home at the age of 67. Drake's manager, Steven Siebert, reported that he had some health problems in the months before his death. It was later reported that Drake suffered from a rare form of blood cancer that caused his blood to thicken.^[14]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1971	This Stuff'll Kill Ya!	Bubba
1975	Trucker's Woman	Joe 'Diesel Joe'
1976	The Electric Chair	Courtroom Observer	Uncredited
1976	Date with a Kidnapper	Age Home Attendant
1978	The Seniors	Bus Sign Installer	Uncredited
1980	The Big Brawl	Judge #1
1981	The White Lions	Fiske
1981	Dark Night of the Scarecrow	Bubba Ritter	Television film
1983	The Taming of the Shrew	Baptista	Short
1984	The Karate Kid	Yahoo #1 At Beach
1986	The Ladies Club	Cop #2
1988	For Keeps	Night Clerk
1988	Too Good to Be True	Glen Robie	Television film
1989	Oh, Henry!	Henry	Television film
1990	Darkman	Robert G. Durant	Nominated – Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor
1991	Murder in New Hampshire: The Pamela Wojas Smart Story	Mark Sisti	Television film
1992	Dr. Giggles	Dr. Evan Rendell Jr. / Dr. Giggles
1992	Blind Geronimo and His Brother	Unknown
1994	One More Mountain	Patrick Breen	Television film
1995	Darkman II: The Return of Durant	Robert G. Durant	Direct-to-video
1995	The Journey of August King	Olaf Singletary
1996	The Beast	Lucas Coven	Television film
1997	Bean	Elmer
1998	Overnight Delivery	Hal Ipswich
1998	Paranoia	Calvin Hawks
1998	The Treat	Ray
1999	Inferno	Ramsey Hogan
1999	Durango Kids	Dudley
2000	Runaway Virus	Dr. Griggs	Television film
2000	Time of Her Time	Dr. Joyce
2000	Timequest	J. Edgar Hoover
2001	American Pie 2	Natalie's Dad
2001	Dark Asylum	'The Trasher'
2002	L.A. Law: The Movie	Benny Stulwicz	Television film
2002	Spun	Dr. K.
2005	Jenny Says	Dr. Weinhouse	Short
2005	I Will Avenge You, Iago!	The Warden
2005	Officer Down	Captain Raymond Taggart	Television film
2005	Mrs. Harris	Harris, Defense Team Psychiatrist	Television film
2006	Living the Dream	Richard
2006	Love Hollywood Style	Walter
2006	National Lampoon's Dorm Daze 2	Dean Dryer
2007	Gryphon	Armand The Sorcerer
2008	Pathology	'Fat Bastard'
2009	Green Lantern: First Flight	Ganthet	Voice, direct-to-video[15]
2009	Dead Air	Vernon
2016	The Secrets of Emily Blair	John Doe	Final film role

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	American Playhouse	Conveener / Homer	Episode: "The Skin of Our Teeth"
1983	Hardcastle and McCormick	Jesse Roberts	Episode: "Just Another Round of That Old Song"
1986	Code of Vengeance	Jack Fergusen	Episode: "Rustler's Moon"
1987	Hunter	Kirkland	Episode: "Hot Pursuit, Part 2"
1987–1994	L.A. Law	Benny Stulwicz	144 episodes Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (1988–1989) Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actor in a Quality Drama Series (1988–1989) Nominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actor – Series, Miniseries or Television Film (1989–1990, 1992) Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (1990)
1989–1990	Tales from the Crypt	Killer Santa, Tobias	2 episodes
1995	The Outer Limits	Robert Vitale	Episode: "The Message"
1995	The Naked Truth	Dr. Bryce Fromm	Episode: "Elvis Is Coming!"
1996	Superman: The Animated Series	Mr. Eelan	Voice, episode: "My Girl"[15]
1996	Road Rovers	Captain Zachary Storm	Voice, 2 episodes[15]
1997	Spy Game	Leo Ludwig	Episode: "Well, Nothing to Fear but Death Itself"
1997	Dead Man's Gun	Samuel 'Buryin' Sam' Roller	Episode: "Buryin' Sam"
1998	Prey	Dr. Walter Attwood	14 episodes
1998	Fantasy Island	Bill Terken	Episode: "Estrogen"
1999	Batman Beyond	Jackson Chappell	Voice, episode: "The Winning Edge"[15]
1999–2004	Johnny Bravo	Pops, various voices	Voice, 34 episodes[15]
2000	The Fearing Mind	Police Officer Hooper	Episode: "On the Road"
2000	Star Trek: Voyager	Chellick	Episode: "Critical Care"
2001	Stargate SG-1	Burrock	Episode: "Beast of Burden"
2001	Thieves	Robert Ventana	Episode: "The Long Con"
2002	As Told by Ginger	Dr. Weinstein	Voice, episode: "Never Can Say Goodbye"[15]
2002	Six Feet Under	Inspector Gerson	Episode: "The Last Time"
2002	A Nero Wolfe Mystery	Hackett	Episode: "Help Wanted, Male"
2002	Firefly	Sir Warwick Harrow	Episode: "Shindig"
2003	Crossing Jordan	Tom	Episode: "Wild Card"
2003	Justice League	Colonel Vox	Voice, episode: "Maid of Honor"[15]
2004	What's New, Scooby-Doo?	Moss T. Meister	Voice, episode: "Recipe for Disaster"
2006	7th Heaven	Mr. Riley	Episode: "And More Secrets"
2008	Boston Legal	Bishop Luke Bernard	Episode: "The Gods Must Be Crazy"

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2008	Star Wars: The Force Unleashed	Kazdan Paratus	[15]

References

1. "Larry Drake, L.A. Law & Darkman Actor, Passes Away at 67". MovieWeb. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
2. Davis, Chuck (May 8, 1988). "L.A. Law Actor Turns One Scene Into Regular Character on Show". The Oklahoman. Oklahoma City.
3. Haithman, Diane (November 3, 1988). "Larry Drake of L.A. Law Goes Mainstream". Los Angeles Times.
4. O'Connor, John J. (October 17, 1991). "Review/Television; On 'L.A. Law', New Faces but the Same Nasty Edge". The New York Times.
5. "Review/Television; Life on 'L.A. Law' Grows Ever Odder". The New York Times. May 18, 1989.
6. Selby, Holly (September 24, 1990). "Larry Drake's portrayal of Benny shatters stereotypes of the retarded". The Baltimore Sun.
7. King, Susan (May 12, 2002). "Together Again". Los Angeles Times.
8. Canby, Vincent (October 24, 1992). "Movie Review: Dr Giggles". The New York Times.
9. James, Caryn (August 24, 1990). "Movie Review –With Brains and Skin, Another Cloaked Avenger Fights Evil". The New York Times.
10. MacLaggan, Sean D. (2008). "Darkman-II-The-Return-of-Durant". Movies & TV Dept. The New York Times. Archived from the original on March 23, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2016.
11. "American Pie 2 (2001)". Retrieved March 18, 2016.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
12. James, Caryn (January 15, 1998). "Humanoids Make Scientists Paranoids". The New York Times. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
13. Dagan, Carmel (March 17, 2016). "'L.A. Law' Star Larry Drake Dies at 66". Variety. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
14. "'L.A. Law' Star Larry Drake Rare Blood Cancer Led to Death". TMZ. Retrieved December 14, 2021.
15. "Larry Drake (visual voices guide)". Behind The Voice Actors. Retrieved December 28, 2023. A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.

External links

• Larry Drake at IMDb
• Larry Drake at Find a Grave