John Larch
Encyclopedia
John Larch was an American
film
and television
actor
.
After his lead role in the radio serial Captain Starr of Space (1953–54), John Larch entered films in 1954. He usually appeared in westerns (How The West Was Won
) and action films, including Miracle of the White Stallions
as General George S. Patton Jr. (1963), Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur as General Omar Bradley
(1976), replacing James Gregory
as Mac in the Matt Helm
movie The Wrecking Crew
(1969) starring Dean Martin
, Sharon Tate
and Elke Sommer
. Larch, an old friend of Clint Eastwood
, appeared in Eastwood films, including Dirty Harry
(1971) and Play Misty for Me
(1971).
He also appeared on a number of television programs, including Naked City
(three episodes), Route 66
(three episodes), The Fugitive
(two episodes), The Invaders
, The Restless Gun
(four episodes), Gunsmoke (seven episodes), The Virginian
(four episodes), Bonanza
, Hawaii Five-0, Mission Impossible (two episodes), The Troubleshooters
, Bus Stop
, Laramie
, The Law and Mr. Jones
, and possibly most famously as Bill Mumy
's father in The Twilight Zone
episode "It's a Good Life
" in 1961. He also appeared in two other The Twilight Zone episodes, playing a psychiatrist in "Perchance to Dream" and the sheriff in "Dust
".
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
.
After his lead role in the radio serial Captain Starr of Space (1953–54), John Larch entered films in 1954. He usually appeared in westerns (How The West Was Won
How the West Was Won
How the West Was Won may refer to:* How the West Was Won * How the West Was Won * How the West Was Won * How the West Was Won * How the West Was Won...
) and action films, including Miracle of the White Stallions
Miracle of the White Stallions
Miracle of the White Stallions is a 1963 film released by Walt Disney starring Robert Taylor , Lilli Palmer, and Eddie Albert. It is the story of the evacuation of the Lipizzaner horses from the Spanish Riding School in Vienna during World War II.Major parts of the movie were shot in the...
as General George S. Patton Jr. (1963), Collision Course: Truman vs. MacArthur as General Omar Bradley
Omar Bradley
Omar Nelson Bradley was a senior U.S. Army field commander in North Africa and Europe during World War II, and a General of the Army in the United States Army...
(1976), replacing James Gregory
James Gregory (actor)
James Gregory was an American character actor noted for his deep, gravelly voice and playing brash roles such as McCarthy-like Senator John Iselin in The Manchurian Candidate , the audacious General Ursus in Beneath the Planet of the Apes, and loudmouthed Inspector Luger in Barney Miller...
as Mac in the Matt Helm
Matt Helm
Matt Helm is a fictional character created by author Donald Hamilton. He is a U.S. government counter-agent—a man whose primary job is to kill or nullify enemy agents—not a spy or secret agent in the ordinary sense of the term as used in spy thrillers.-The character and the series:The...
movie The Wrecking Crew
The Wrecking Crew (1969 film)
The Wrecking Crew, released in 1969 and starring Dean Martin, Elke Sommer, and Sharon Tate is the fourth and final film in a series of American comedy-spy-fi theatrical releases featuring Martin as secret agent Matt Helm....
(1969) starring Dean Martin
Dean Martin
Dean Martin was an American singer, film actor, television star and comedian. Martin's hit singles included "Memories Are Made of This", "That's Amore", "Everybody Loves Somebody", "You're Nobody till Somebody Loves You", "Sway", "Volare" and "Ain't That a Kick in the Head?"...
, Sharon Tate
Sharon Tate
Sharon Marie Tate was an American actress. During the 1960s she played small television roles before appearing in several films. After receiving positive reviews for her comedic performances, she was hailed as one of Hollywood's promising newcomers and was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for...
and Elke Sommer
Elke Sommer
Elke Sommer , born Baroness Elke Schletz, is a German actress, entertainer and artist.-Career:Sommer was born in Berlin to a Lutheran minister and his wife...
. Larch, an old friend of Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
, appeared in Eastwood films, including Dirty Harry
Dirty Harry
Dirty Harry is a 1971 American crime thriller produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan....
(1971) and Play Misty for Me
Play Misty for Me
Play Misty for Me is a 1971 American psychological thriller film, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, in his directorial debut. Jessica Walter and Donna Mills co-star. The original music score was composed by Dee Barton.-Plot:...
(1971).
He also appeared on a number of television programs, including Naked City
Naked City (TV series)
Naked City is a police drama series which aired from 1958 to 1963 on the ABC television network. It was inspired by the 1948 motion picture of the same name, and mimics its dramatic "semi-documentary" format....
(three episodes), Route 66
Route 66 (TV series)
Route 66 is an American TV series in which two young men traveled across America. The show ran weekly on CBS from 1960 to 1964. It starred Martin Milner as Tod Stiles and, for two and a half seasons, George Maharis as Buz Murdock. Maharis was ill for much of the third season, during which time Tod...
(three episodes), The Fugitive
The Fugitive (TV series)
The Fugitive is an American drama series produced by QM Productions and United Artists Television that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1967. David Janssen stars as Richard Kimble, a doctor from the fictional town of Stafford, Indiana, who is falsely convicted of his wife's murder and given the death...
(two episodes), The Invaders
The Invaders
The Invaders, a Quinn Martin Production , is an ABC science fiction television program created by Larry Cohen that ran in the United States for two seasons, from January 10, 1967 to March 26, 1968...
, The Restless Gun
The Restless Gun
The Restless Gun is a western television series that appeared on NBC between 1957 and 1959, with John Payne in the role of Vint Bonner, a wandering cowboy in the era after the American Civil War. A skilled gunfighter, Bonner is an idealistic person who prefers peaceful resolutions of conflict...
(four episodes), Gunsmoke (seven episodes), The Virginian
The Virginian (TV series)
The Virginian is an American Western television series starring James Drury and Doug McClure, which aired on NBC from 1962 to 1971 for a total of 249 episodes. Filmed in color, The Virginian became television's first 90-minute western series...
(four episodes), Bonanza
Bonanza
Bonanza is an American western television series that both ran on and was a production of NBC from September 12, 1959 to January 16, 1973. Lasting 14 seasons and 430 episodes, it ranks as the second longest running western series and still continues to air in syndication. It centers on the...
, Hawaii Five-0, Mission Impossible (two episodes), The Troubleshooters
The Troubleshooters (1959 TV series)
The Troubleshooters is a 26-segment half-hour adventure series starring Keenan Wynn as Kodiak and Bob Mathias as Frank Dugan, which aired new episodes on NBC Television from September 11, 1959, to April 10, 1960. Based on unusual events at international construction sites, the program was...
, Bus Stop
Bus Stop (TV series)
Bus Stop is a 26-episode drama which aired on ABC from October 1, 1961, until March 25, 1962, starring Marilyn Maxwell as Grace Sherwood, the owner of a bus station and diner in the fictitious town of Sunrise in the Colorado Rockies...
, Laramie
Laramie (TV series)
Laramie is an American Western television series that aired on NBC from 1959 to 1963. Laramie was a Revue Studios production which originally starred John Smith as Slim Sherman, Robert Fuller as Jess Harper, Hoagy Carmichael as Jonesy and Robert Crawford, Jr...
, The Law and Mr. Jones
The Law and Mr. Jones
The Law and Mr. Jones is a 45-episode half-hour television crime drama starring James Whitmore. The series aired on ABC in two nonconsecutive seasons from October 7, 1960, to September 22, 1961, and again from April 19 to July 5, 1962...
, and possibly most famously as Bill Mumy
Bill Mumy
Charles William "Bill" Mumy, Jr. is an American actor, musician, pitchman, instrumentalist, voice-over artist and a figure in the science-fiction community. He is known primarily for his work as a child television actor....
's father in The Twilight Zone
The Twilight Zone (1959 TV series)
The Twilight Zone is an American anthology television series created by Rod Serling, which ran for five seasons on CBS from 1959 to 1964. The series consisted of unrelated episodes depicting paranormal, futuristic, dystopian, or simply disturbing events; each show typically featured a surprising...
episode "It's a Good Life
It's a Good Life (The Twilight Zone)
"It's a Good Life" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone. It is based on a 1953 short story of the same name by Jerome Bixby.-Synopsis:...
" in 1961. He also appeared in two other The Twilight Zone episodes, playing a psychiatrist in "Perchance to Dream" and the sheriff in "Dust
Dust (The Twilight Zone)
"Dust" is an episode of the American television anthology series The Twilight Zone.-Synopsis:An unscrupulous peddler, after selling the executioner some rope needed for a hanging, sells a bag of "magic dust" to the condemned man's father. The condemned man had just been found guilty for murdering a...
".
Partial filmography
- The Phenix City StoryThe Phenix City StoryThe Phenix City Story is a film noir directed by Phil Karlson and written by Daniel Mainwaring and Crane Wilbur. The drama features John McIntire, Richard Kiley, among others.-Plot:...
(1955) - The Killer Is LooseThe Killer Is LooseThe Killer Is Loose is a 1956 crime film noir directed by Budd Boetticher and starring Joseph Cotten, Rhonda Fleming and Wendell Corey.-Plot:An employee for a savings and loan desperate for cash plans and successfully robs a bank as an inside job...
(1956) - Seven Men from NowSeven Men from NowSeven Men from Now is a 1956 Western film directed by Budd Boetticher and produced by John Wayne's Batjac Productions.-Plot summary:Ben Stride walks into an encampment in the desert at night during a rainstorm. He encounters two men taking shelter next to a fire and asks to join them...
(1956) - Written on the WindWritten on the WindWritten on the Wind is a 1956 American drama film directed by Douglas Sirk. It stars Rock Hudson, Lauren Bacall, Robert Stack and Dorothy Malone....
(1956) - Man in the ShadowMan in the ShadowMan in the Shadow is a 1957 crime film starring Jeff Chandler, Orson Welles, Colleen Miller, Ben Alexander, and John Larch.-Plot summary:...
(1957) - From Hell to TexasFrom Hell to TexasFrom Hell to Texas is a 1958 film directed by Henry Hathaway. It stars Don Murray and Diane Varsi.-Cast:*Don Murray as Tod Lohman*Diane Varsi as Juanita Bradley*Chill Wills as Amos Bradley*Dennis Hopper as Tom Boyd*R.G. Armstrong as Hunter Boyd...
(1958) - Hell to EternityHell to EternityHell to Eternity is a 1960 World War II film starring Jeffrey Hunter, David Janssen, Vic Damone and directed by Phil Karlson. This film biopic is about the true experiences of Marine hero Pfc...
(1960) - How the West Was WonHow the West Was WonHow the West Was Won may refer to:* How the West Was Won * How the West Was Won * How the West Was Won * How the West Was Won * How the West Was Won...
(1962) (uncredited) - Miracle of the White StallionsMiracle of the White StallionsMiracle of the White Stallions is a 1963 film released by Walt Disney starring Robert Taylor , Lilli Palmer, and Eddie Albert. It is the story of the evacuation of the Lipizzaner horses from the Spanish Riding School in Vienna during World War II.Major parts of the movie were shot in the...
(1963) - The Wrecking CrewThe Wrecking Crew (1969 film)The Wrecking Crew, released in 1969 and starring Dean Martin, Elke Sommer, and Sharon Tate is the fourth and final film in a series of American comedy-spy-fi theatrical releases featuring Martin as secret agent Matt Helm....
(1969) - The Great Bank RobberyThe Great Bank RobberyThe Great Bank Robbery is a 1969 Western comedy film from Warner Brothers directed by Hy Averback and written by William Peter Blatty, based on the novel by Frank O'Rourke...
(1969) - Cannon for CordobaCannon for CordobaCannon for Cordoba was a western film that was released in 1970. Filmed in Spain, the large part of the movie takes place in Mexico in 1912...
(1970) - Play Misty for MePlay Misty for MePlay Misty for Me is a 1971 American psychological thriller film, directed by and starring Clint Eastwood, in his directorial debut. Jessica Walter and Donna Mills co-star. The original music score was composed by Dee Barton.-Plot:...
(1971) - Dirty HarryDirty HarryDirty Harry is a 1971 American crime thriller produced and directed by Don Siegel, the first in the Dirty Harry series. Clint Eastwood plays the title role, in his first outing as San Francisco Police Department Inspector "Dirty" Harry Callahan....
(1971) - SanteeSantee (film)----Santee 1973 is a Western movie, starring Glenn Ford and directed by Gary Nelson.- Plot :Jody Deakes joins up with his father after many years, just to discover that his dad is part of an outlaw gang on the run from a relentless bounty hunter named Santee...
(1973) - Winter KillWinter KillWinter Kill is a 1974 U.S. made-for-tv movie directed by Jud Taylor and written by John Michael Hayes and David Karp. It stars Andy Griffith as Sam McNeill, the sheriff in a small resort town in the mountains of northern California...
(1974) (TV) - Bad RonaldBad RonaldBad Ronald is a television film that aired in 1974, starring Scott Jacoby, Dabney Coleman and sisters Lisa and Cindy Eilbacher. It is based on the book of the same title by Jack Vance....
(1974) (TV) - The Amityville HorrorThe Amityville HorrorThe Amityville Horror: A True Story is a book by Jay Anson, published in September 1977. It is also the basis of a series of films released between 1979 and 2005...
(1979) - Airplane II: The SequelAirplane II: The SequelAirplane II: The Sequel is an American comedy sequel to the 1980 film Airplane!. First released on December 10, 1982, the film was written and directed by Ken Finkleman and stars Robert Hays, Julie Hagerty, Lloyd Bridges, Chad Everett, William Shatner, Rip Torn, and Sonny Bono.-Plot:In the near...
(1982)
External links
- Sample episode of Captain Starr of Space (right click and "save target" to download)