John Larkin (radio and television actor)
Encyclopedia
John Larkin was an American
actor whose nearly-30-year career was capped by his 1950s portrayal of two fictional criminal attorneys — Perry Mason
on radio and Mike Karr on television daytime drama The Edge of Night
. After having acted in an estimated 7,500 dramatic shows on radio, he devoted his final decade to television and, from April 1962 to January 1965, was a key member of the supporting cast in two prime-time series and made at least twenty major guest-starring appearances in many of the top drama series of the period. His credits, as listed in varying reference sources, have been occasionally combined with those of nearly a score of other entertainment industry personalities bearing the same name — primarily stage and silent-screen actor John Larkin (1873–1929), African-American minstrel-show performer Johnny Larkins (1879–1936) who, returning in 1929 to his birth name, John Larkin, had a prolific career between 1930 and 1936 as a movie supporting player, as well as movie and television writer, producer and director, John Francis Larkin (1901–1965) who, after 1937, was billed as John Larkin, and whose death, on January 6, 1965, occurred three weeks before that of the subject.
city of Oakland, John Larkin developed a distinctively resonant voice perfectly suited to radio, the prime entertainment venue in American homes of the Depression 1930s. By the latter part of the decade, when he was in his mid-twenties, Larkin had worked for a number of stations, including KCKN and WHB
in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area
, where he was an announcer and, later, in Chicago, where he became known for his versatility in performing announcing and hosting duties in addition to acting in front of the microphone for numerous scripted shows, including Vic and Sade
, one of network radio's most popular programs of the 1930s, and the one for which he received his first major credit as a radio actor. Following military service in World War II
, he established himself in the capital city of network radio, New York
and, having become one of the medium's top dramatic voices, was offered, in 1947, the title role in CBS Radio Network
's three-and-a-half-year-old afternoon crime serial, Perry Mason
which, as was the case with all radio daytime dramas, consisted of an 11-minute script, broadcast Monday through Friday in a 15-minute time slot, including commercials, promos and credits.
A renowned criminal lawyer, Perry Mason was a fictional character created by attorney Erle Stanley Gardner
who, starting in 1933, became one of America's best-selling mystery writers. Almost immediately following his first appearance in book form, Mason was adapted to the big screen with three actors portraying him in six films produced by Warner Bros.
between 1934 and 1937. The radio show premiered during the middle of the war, in October 1943. While primarily concerned with crime, detection and legal procedure, it was still structured in the manner of a soap opera, with omnipresent organ music, laundry-product commercials from its sponsor, television's largest advertiser, Procter & Gamble
, and its 2:15 time slot, sandwiched between two "standard" soap dramas. A number of actors voiced Mason during the show's early years, with Bartlett Robinson, Santos Ortega
and Donald Briggs, each performing for several months. Shortly before John Larkin took over the role in May 1947, Irving Vendig
, who became the program's new head writer seven months earlier, reinvigorated Mason's personality and brought the show, which to Erle Stanley Gardner's dissatisfaction had become less and less distinguishable from Procter & Gamble's domestic soaps, back to its courtroom theatrics, suspense and crime detection roots.
Larkin's familiar authoritative voice had soon come to symbolize the Perry Mason radio persona and he remained with the role for eight-and-a-half years until the program's conclusion in December 1955. During the show's run, he also continued to perform in radio's primetime dramas, such as the May 30, 1948 Ford Theater adaptation of the novel
and film
, Laura, in which he voiced police lieutenant McPherson, who falls in love with the portrait of the title character. By the mid-1950s, however, most of radio's entertainment and information programming had already transferred to the new medium of television, with the process reaching its completion in the early 1960s.
December 13, 1954. Following the pattern set by radio, much of daytime programming, including all soaps, was structured as 15-minute productions during television's first eight years of full-schedule broadcasting (1948–56). The show's leading characters, Dr. Jim Brent, a surgeon, and his wife, were played by daytime veterans Don MacLaughlin
and Virginia Dwyer
who also voiced the roles in the radio version. Nine months after the show's cancellation on July 1, 1955, MacLaughlin and one of radio's earlier Perry Masons, Santos Ortega, would spend thirty and twenty years, respectively, on one of daytime's first two half-hour soaps, As the World Turns
. John Larkin, as Dr. Brent's friend, Frank Dana, had a medium-sized role amidst the show's large supporting cast, including thirty-year-old Jack Lemmon
who, later in the year, would be cast in his Oscar-winning
role as Ensign Pulver in Mister Roberts. Larkin played Frank Dana for the first four months of the show's course, with another actor briefly playing the part in subsequent episodes. Road of Life lasted only six-and-a-half months on TV, but continued on radio for another four years, finally ending its twenty-two-year run in 1959.
Larkin remained with Perry Mason until its final episode at the end of the year and was almost immediately offered a continuation of the role on television. Procter & Gamble could not, however, come to terms with Erle Stanley Gardner regarding Perry Mason's position as a daytime TV character and the defense attorney, while remaining with CBS, returned in twenty-one months, on September 21, 1957, as a primetime show, starring Raymond Burr
. Daytime's biggest advertiser, however, had another solution, which still permitted Larkin to portray afternoon TV's "Perry Mason" in all but name. Irving Vendig, having scripted the radio Perry Mason for the past nine years, proposed the creation of a late-afternoon daytime drama with basically the same Perry Mason-type scripts, except for the name of the lead criminal lawyer, who would be called Mike Karr. John Larkin thus had his first television leading role, and The Edge of Night, premiering, along with As the World Turns, on Monday, April 2, 1956, ushered in a new era of half-hour soaps to TV, with other daytime dramas eventually expanding to a 30 minutes, then an hour and, ultimately, in one unsuccessful experiment (Another World
) to 90 minutes. The Edge of Nights title was derived from the fact that it aired at the end of the afternoon period, 4:30, a late time slot which had never previously been occupied by a soap.
A forceful and dynamic actor, the 44-year-old Larkin was the dramatic fulcrum of the live show, delivering vividly effective courtroom speeches and presenting human frailty tempered by stalwart determination in the face of the multiple vicissitudes which the plotlines devised for dedicated crime fighter Mike Karr and his eventual wife, Sara Lane, whom Mike married in 1958, at the start of the show's third year. As the storylines began, Mike was a police officer attending law school who, upon passing his bar exam, became an assistant district attorney and, in the course of time, a criminal attorney in private practice. The show was one of the most popular offerings in daytime television and made the middle-aged Larkin something of a sex symbol, receiving sackfuls of fan mail. Producers of prime-time shows had also taken notice, with Larkin receiving inquiries regarding his availability. The Edge of Night, however, which revolved almost entirely around him, required his full attention.
The show's place in its audience's affection was ultimately measured by a widely-reported event of Friday, February 17, 1961 when, in the final scene of the live episode, Sara ran out of the house after the Karrs' two-year-old, Laurie (played by Victoria Larkin, daughter of John Larkin and his wife, Audrey Blum), had wandered into the street, followed by the sound of screeching tires and an impact. Unseen over the weekend, Sara Karr turned out to have saved Laurie at the cost of her own life, as she lingered in a coma during Monday and Tuesday episodes, finally dying on Wednesday, February 22 and engendering an avalanche of calls to CBS along with thousands of letters (over 2,500 in the first day alone). In a response, unprecedented in the annals of daytime drama, Larkin and the actress who had played Sara, Teal Ames, appeared on-screen following the last scene of the next day's episode, with Teal Ames explaining that she was fine and had simply decided to leave the show in order to pursue other career options. Later that year, John Larkin had also decided that the time had come for a new career direction which, in his case, meant Hollywood. Mike Karr's final installment, on October 10, had the intrepid lawyer departing for the state capital to organize a crime commission. For the next six months, the plotlines centered around supporting character Ed Gibson, another crime-fighting attorney, played by Larry Hagman
, until Mike Karr, now portrayed by Laurence Hugo, returned in April 1962.
. In his remaining three years, he worked continuously, appearing in prime-time TV shows (including four guest-starring roles as four different characters on Raymond Burr's Perry Mason) as well as playing supporting roles in three feature films.
All of Larkin's prime-time appearances were in hour-long dramatic shows, with the first six broadcast within a five-week period in 1962. He was a guest star in the April 24 episode of Leslie Nielsen
's police drama The New Breed
, followed three days later, on April 27 by a role in The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor
. The following day, April 28, he appeared as one of the murder suspects in "The Case of the Counterfeit Crank", the first of his four Perry Masons. Three days later, on May 1, he was seen in the "Savage Sunday" installment of the prestigious anthology series, The Dick Powell Show
, which was structured as the pilot episode for his upcoming newspaper series, Saints and Sinners. On May 18, he returned to guest-star in another episode of The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor and, on May 31, appeared in an installment of the highly-rated 1920s crime series, The Untouchables
. The following months were spent in filming episodes of NBC
's Saints and Sinners, starring Nick Adams, who achieved high recognition in his previous series, ABC
's half-hour western The Rebel
, which ran from 1959 to 1961. Seeking to promote the highly-touted Saints and Sinners, NBC showed selected repeat episodes of The Rebel from June to September 1962 as a summer replacement program for The Joey Bishop Show. Monday, September 17, the day Saints and Sinners premiere episode was scheduled for broadcast in the 8:30–9:30 time slot, John Larkin made an appearance on NBC's afternoon series, Here's Hollywood, which specialized in celebrity interviews and show promotions, talking about his career and his hopes for the new venture.
A hard-hitting drama which focused on human-interest stories appearing in the fictional newspaper, New York Bulletin, Saints and Sinners posited Nick Adams as impetuous and emotional reporter Nick Alexander who wore his heart on his sleeve, and John Larkin as his mentor, the wise and understanding city editor Mark Grainger, a veteran newspaperman who had seen it all. A particularly noteworthy episode, "A Shame for the Diamond Wedding", written by Ernest Kinoy
and broadcast on November 26, 1962, guest-starred Oscar winner
Paul Muni
in his final acting role as a feisty ninety-year-old (Muni was 67 at the time) who files for divorce from his eighty-eight-year-old wife (played by Lili Darvas) to refocus the priorities of his venal and short-sighted children and in-laws to the true meaning of life. "New Lead Berlin", the 17th and final episode of the series, shown on January 28, 1963, spotlighted John Larkin in a dual role, as Mark Grainger confronted his lookalike, Bartley King. Ultimately, despite respectful critical notices and devoted viewing from a measurable segment of the audience, the drama could not overcome the competition from CBS' top-rated sitcoms The Lucy Show
and The Danny Thomas Show
and ABC's western, The Rifleman
, with the two-hour slot, which included Saints and Sinners 7:30–8:30 lead-in, It's a Man's World
, filled the following week by NBC Monday Night at the Movies.
and Bonanza
, followed by the Monday, January 7 episode of Saints and Sinners. The Saturday, January 5 Gunsmoke installment, "Louie Pheeters", spotlighted him as cunning murderer Murph Moody, while on Sunday, January 6, he had what may be considered the finest acting assignment of his guest-starring career—the title role in the Bonanza episode, "The Colonel". The central character is Frank Medford, a friend of Ben Cartwright from his youthful days, who arrives in Virginia City
, presenting himself as a successful businessman and charms all the ladies, especially the still-attractive, prosperous widow, Emily Colfax, played by Helen Westcott
. A charismatic, larger-than-life personality, who is ultimately exposed as a fraud, but one with his heart in the right place, Larkin's "Colonel" dominates the episode and his portrayal may be among the most memorable in the show's history.
The remaining seven guest shots were on February 26, in another installment of The Dick Powell Show, then March 12, in another Untouchables, followed by "The Case of the Greek Goddess", the April 18 episode of Perry Mason in which, as sculptor John Kenyon, he is exonerated by Raymond Burr's Mason of murdering his Greek model's hostile mother. He was next seen five days later, on April 23, in yet another Dick Powell, followed by "Dear Uncle George", the May 10 episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. The year's last two appearances came in episodes of the 1963–64 season, with yet another Mason, "The Case of the Reluctant Model", where he's again a murder suspect, broadcast on October 31, and an episode of The Fugitive
, seen on November 12.
Finally, 1964 ushered in five more guest-starring roles, a second series, and three feature films, which represent John Larkin's entire career on the theatrical screen. "Better Than a Dead Lion", the January 20 episode of the psychiatric series Breaking Point, marked his first performance in the new year, followed by the February 7 broadcast of "The Evil of Adelaide Winters", another installment of Hitchcock. February 12 saw the release of the Rod Serling
-scripted film, Seven Days in May
, directed by John Frankenheimer
. The political drama about a planned military takeover of the U.S. Government, was filmed during the final months of the Kennedy administration and starred Burt Lancaster
as the chief plotter, General Scott, with an unbilled John Larkin appearing in two scenes as one of his co-conspirators, Colonel Broderick. Then, on March 9, came an episode of Wagon Train
, "The Duncan McIvor Story", with Ron Hayes
as the title character, an army lieutenant, and Larkin, playing yet another colonel, as his superior.
The final two guest shots were seen during the 1964–65 season. Larkin's fourth Mason episode, "The Case of the Betrayed Bride", was his last and, once again presented him as a murder suspect. At the end, on December 31, there was an episode of Kraft Suspense Theatre
, "The Wine-Dark Sea". Each of the two feature films, lensed between April and October, gave him three scenes with some well-defined medium shots. Walt Disney
's family drama, Those Calloways, directed by Norman Tokar
, billed him eighth, behind Brian Keith
, Vera Miles
, Brandon de Wilde
, Walter Brennan
, Ed Wynn
, Linda Evans
and Philip Abbott
. Playing Linda Evans' father, a wise and compassionate small-town shopkeeper, he provided supportive advice to his daughter and the object of her affection, played by Brandon de Wilde. The other feature, The Satan Bug
, a doomsday thriller about the theft from a bacteriological lab of a deadly virus capable of causing immense casualties was directed by John Sturges
and scripted by James Clavell
from the novel by Alistair MacLean
. Larkin, playing a government scientist received fifth billing, after George Maharis
, Richard Basehart
, Anne Francis
and Dana Andrews
. His longest scene comes at midpoint and consists of a detailed explanation of the danger posed by the "bug".
. True to pattern, he was, once again, cast as an authority figure, the stern yet humane Major General Wiley Crowe, the supervising commander of strategic bombing crews, relaying orders to Frank Savage, the youthful Brigadier General in direct charge of the missions. Although the Quinn Martin
production was based on the 1949 film
in which Gregory Peck
portrayed General Savage, Larkin's character was originated for the series. Quinn Martin, who used Larkin in two of the series he produced, The Untouchables and The Fugitive, provided strong dramatic confrontations between the top-billed Lansing, whose General Savage held a delicate balance between personal concern for his men and the responsibilities of command decision, and second-billed Larkin, himself a World War II veteran, who imbued General Crowe with the palpable comprehension of the heavy burden incumbent in relaying life-and-death orders from the top. Filming of the first episodes began in May 1964 and the premiere episode was broadcast on Friday, September 18, in the 9:30–10:30 time slot. A few of the episodes placed Larkin at the center of dramatic conflict, particularly "The Climate of Doubt" (October 23), in which General Crowe faces a board of inquiry for a risky strategy intended to aid the French Resistance
. At the time of his death on January 29, the day episode 19 was broadcast, Larkin was in the midst of filming the 25th episode of the 32 scheduled for the season. He continued to be seen until the installment of March 19, with the remaining seven episodes featuring generals portrayed by John Zaremba
, Paul Newlan and Lin McCarthy.
John Larkin died at Valley Doctor's Hospital in North Hollywood after being stricken with a heart attack at his home. He had a daughter, Cathleen, from his first marriage and, another daughter, Sharon, from his second marriage, on June 10, 1950, to Edge of Night actress Teri Keane, who, after his departure from the series, spent eleven years (1964–75) as a member of the cast. In addition to his daughter Victoria, he and his third wife, Audrey, were also the parents of a son, John Jr.
The two films on which John Larkin received billing, Those Calloways and The Satan Bug, both premiered in New York on April 14, 1965, three days after what would have been his 53rd birthday.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
actor whose nearly-30-year career was capped by his 1950s portrayal of two fictional criminal attorneys — Perry Mason
Perry Mason
Perry Mason is a fictional character, a defense attorney who was the main character in works of detective fiction authored by Erle Stanley Gardner. Perry Mason was featured in more than 80 novels and short stories, most of which had a plot involving his client's murder trial...
on radio and Mike Karr on television daytime drama The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night
The Edge of Night is an American television mystery series/soap opera produced by Procter & Gamble. It debuted on CBS on April 2, 1956, and ran as a live broadcast on that network until November 28, 1975; the series then moved to ABC, where it aired from December 1, 1975, until December 28, 1984...
. After having acted in an estimated 7,500 dramatic shows on radio, he devoted his final decade to television and, from April 1962 to January 1965, was a key member of the supporting cast in two prime-time series and made at least twenty major guest-starring appearances in many of the top drama series of the period. His credits, as listed in varying reference sources, have been occasionally combined with those of nearly a score of other entertainment industry personalities bearing the same name — primarily stage and silent-screen actor John Larkin (1873–1929), African-American minstrel-show performer Johnny Larkins (1879–1936) who, returning in 1929 to his birth name, John Larkin, had a prolific career between 1930 and 1936 as a movie supporting player, as well as movie and television writer, producer and director, John Francis Larkin (1901–1965) who, after 1937, was billed as John Larkin, and whose death, on January 6, 1965, occurred three weeks before that of the subject.
Radio career and Perry Mason
A native of the San Francisco BaySan Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
city of Oakland, John Larkin developed a distinctively resonant voice perfectly suited to radio, the prime entertainment venue in American homes of the Depression 1930s. By the latter part of the decade, when he was in his mid-twenties, Larkin had worked for a number of stations, including KCKN and WHB
WHB
WHB is a commercial sports radio station in Kansas City, Missouri, and is known as the first full-time Top 40 station in the country...
in the Kansas City Metropolitan Area
Kansas City Metropolitan Area
The Kansas City Metropolitan Area is a fifteen-county metropolitan area that is anchored by Kansas City, Missouri and is bisected by the border between the states of Missouri and Kansas. As of the 2010 Census, the metropolitan area has a population of 2,035,334. The metropolitan area is the...
, where he was an announcer and, later, in Chicago, where he became known for his versatility in performing announcing and hosting duties in addition to acting in front of the microphone for numerous scripted shows, including Vic and Sade
Vic and Sade
Vic and Sade was an American radio program created and written by Paul Rhymer. It was regularly broadcast on radio from 1932 to 1944, then intermittently until 1946, and was briefly adapted to television in 1949 and again in 1957....
, one of network radio's most popular programs of the 1930s, and the one for which he received his first major credit as a radio actor. Following military service in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, he established himself in the capital city of network radio, New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and, having become one of the medium's top dramatic voices, was offered, in 1947, the title role in CBS Radio Network
CBS Radio Network
The CBS Radio Network provides news, sports and other programming to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by CBS Corporation, and operated by CBS Radio ....
's three-and-a-half-year-old afternoon crime serial, Perry Mason
Perry Mason (radio)
The radio criminal serial Perry Mason, based on the novels of Erle Stanley Gardner, was broadcast on CBS Radio from 1943-1955. The series was adapted into Edge of Night which ran on television for an additional 30 years.-Adapting Perry Mason to other media:...
which, as was the case with all radio daytime dramas, consisted of an 11-minute script, broadcast Monday through Friday in a 15-minute time slot, including commercials, promos and credits.
A renowned criminal lawyer, Perry Mason was a fictional character created by attorney Erle Stanley Gardner
Erle Stanley Gardner
Erle Stanley Gardner was an American lawyer and author of detective stories, best known for the Perry Mason series, he also published under the pseudonyms A.A. Fair, Kyle Corning, Charles M. Green, Carleton Kendrake, Charles J...
who, starting in 1933, became one of America's best-selling mystery writers. Almost immediately following his first appearance in book form, Mason was adapted to the big screen with three actors portraying him in six films produced by Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
between 1934 and 1937. The radio show premiered during the middle of the war, in October 1943. While primarily concerned with crime, detection and legal procedure, it was still structured in the manner of a soap opera, with omnipresent organ music, laundry-product commercials from its sponsor, television's largest advertiser, Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble
Procter & Gamble is a Fortune 500 American multinational corporation headquartered in downtown Cincinnati, Ohio and manufactures a wide range of consumer goods....
, and its 2:15 time slot, sandwiched between two "standard" soap dramas. A number of actors voiced Mason during the show's early years, with Bartlett Robinson, Santos Ortega
Santos Ortega
Santos Ortega was an American actor.-Radio:Ortega was active in radio, starring in The Adventures of Nero Wolfe and narrating a popular radio show called Gangbusters as well as Stroke of Fate. Perhaps his most famous and notable radio role was Commissioner Weston on The Shadow...
and Donald Briggs, each performing for several months. Shortly before John Larkin took over the role in May 1947, Irving Vendig
Irving Vendig
Irving Vendig was an American soap opera writer.-Career:He created The Edge of Night for Procter and Gamble Productions and CBS Daytime in 1956. He had been a writer on the Perry Mason radio show...
, who became the program's new head writer seven months earlier, reinvigorated Mason's personality and brought the show, which to Erle Stanley Gardner's dissatisfaction had become less and less distinguishable from Procter & Gamble's domestic soaps, back to its courtroom theatrics, suspense and crime detection roots.
Larkin's familiar authoritative voice had soon come to symbolize the Perry Mason radio persona and he remained with the role for eight-and-a-half years until the program's conclusion in December 1955. During the show's run, he also continued to perform in radio's primetime dramas, such as the May 30, 1948 Ford Theater adaptation of the novel
Laura (novel)
Laura is a detective novel by Vera Caspary. It is her best known work, and was adapted into a popular film in 1944, with Gene Tierney in the title role.-Publication history:...
and film
Laura (1944 film)
Laura is a 1944 American film noir directed by Otto Preminger. It stars Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews and Clifton Webb. The screenplay by Jay Dratler, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Elizabeth Reinhardt is based on the 1943 novel of the same title by Vera Caspary....
, Laura, in which he voiced police lieutenant McPherson, who falls in love with the portrait of the title character. By the mid-1950s, however, most of radio's entertainment and information programming had already transferred to the new medium of television, with the process reaching its completion in the early 1960s.
Daytime television and The Edge of Night
Although Larkin had done some television announcing and isolated acting appearances during the medium's early years, his first sustained work came in the final year of his Perry Mason radio run. Another Procter & Gamble radio soap, Road of Life, which had been on the air since 1937, had initiated a separate TV version, which premiered on CBS' daytime scheduleCBS Daytime
CBS Daytime is a television programming block on CBS. It's the branding for the CBS Television Network's late morning and early afternoon programming. The block has historically encompassed soap operas, game shows, and talk shows...
December 13, 1954. Following the pattern set by radio, much of daytime programming, including all soaps, was structured as 15-minute productions during television's first eight years of full-schedule broadcasting (1948–56). The show's leading characters, Dr. Jim Brent, a surgeon, and his wife, were played by daytime veterans Don MacLaughlin
Don MacLaughlin
Don MacLaughlin was an American soap opera actor.He was born on November 24, 1906, in Webster, Iowa, under the name William Donald McLaughlin....
and Virginia Dwyer
Virginia Dwyer
Virginia Dwyer is an American actress known for her roles on several daytime soap operas. From 1954 to 1962, she had roles on at least five daytime programs, including The Road of Life, The Secret Storm, Young Dr...
who also voiced the roles in the radio version. Nine months after the show's cancellation on July 1, 1955, MacLaughlin and one of radio's earlier Perry Masons, Santos Ortega, would spend thirty and twenty years, respectively, on one of daytime's first two half-hour soaps, As the World Turns
As the World Turns
As the World Turns is an American television soap opera that aired on CBS from April 2, 1956 to September 17, 2010. Irna Phillips created As the World Turns as a sister show to her other soap opera Guiding Light...
. John Larkin, as Dr. Brent's friend, Frank Dana, had a medium-sized role amidst the show's large supporting cast, including thirty-year-old Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...
who, later in the year, would be cast in his Oscar-winning
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
role as Ensign Pulver in Mister Roberts. Larkin played Frank Dana for the first four months of the show's course, with another actor briefly playing the part in subsequent episodes. Road of Life lasted only six-and-a-half months on TV, but continued on radio for another four years, finally ending its twenty-two-year run in 1959.
Larkin remained with Perry Mason until its final episode at the end of the year and was almost immediately offered a continuation of the role on television. Procter & Gamble could not, however, come to terms with Erle Stanley Gardner regarding Perry Mason's position as a daytime TV character and the defense attorney, while remaining with CBS, returned in twenty-one months, on September 21, 1957, as a primetime show, starring Raymond Burr
Raymond Burr
Raymond William Stacey Burr was a Canadian actor, primarily known for his title roles in the television dramas Perry Mason and Ironside. His early acting career included roles on Broadway, radio, television and in film, usually as the villain...
. Daytime's biggest advertiser, however, had another solution, which still permitted Larkin to portray afternoon TV's "Perry Mason" in all but name. Irving Vendig, having scripted the radio Perry Mason for the past nine years, proposed the creation of a late-afternoon daytime drama with basically the same Perry Mason-type scripts, except for the name of the lead criminal lawyer, who would be called Mike Karr. John Larkin thus had his first television leading role, and The Edge of Night, premiering, along with As the World Turns, on Monday, April 2, 1956, ushered in a new era of half-hour soaps to TV, with other daytime dramas eventually expanding to a 30 minutes, then an hour and, ultimately, in one unsuccessful experiment (Another World
Another World (TV series)
Another World is an American television soap opera that ran on NBC from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It ran for a total of 35 years. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...
) to 90 minutes. The Edge of Nights title was derived from the fact that it aired at the end of the afternoon period, 4:30, a late time slot which had never previously been occupied by a soap.
A forceful and dynamic actor, the 44-year-old Larkin was the dramatic fulcrum of the live show, delivering vividly effective courtroom speeches and presenting human frailty tempered by stalwart determination in the face of the multiple vicissitudes which the plotlines devised for dedicated crime fighter Mike Karr and his eventual wife, Sara Lane, whom Mike married in 1958, at the start of the show's third year. As the storylines began, Mike was a police officer attending law school who, upon passing his bar exam, became an assistant district attorney and, in the course of time, a criminal attorney in private practice. The show was one of the most popular offerings in daytime television and made the middle-aged Larkin something of a sex symbol, receiving sackfuls of fan mail. Producers of prime-time shows had also taken notice, with Larkin receiving inquiries regarding his availability. The Edge of Night, however, which revolved almost entirely around him, required his full attention.
The show's place in its audience's affection was ultimately measured by a widely-reported event of Friday, February 17, 1961 when, in the final scene of the live episode, Sara ran out of the house after the Karrs' two-year-old, Laurie (played by Victoria Larkin, daughter of John Larkin and his wife, Audrey Blum), had wandered into the street, followed by the sound of screeching tires and an impact. Unseen over the weekend, Sara Karr turned out to have saved Laurie at the cost of her own life, as she lingered in a coma during Monday and Tuesday episodes, finally dying on Wednesday, February 22 and engendering an avalanche of calls to CBS along with thousands of letters (over 2,500 in the first day alone). In a response, unprecedented in the annals of daytime drama, Larkin and the actress who had played Sara, Teal Ames, appeared on-screen following the last scene of the next day's episode, with Teal Ames explaining that she was fine and had simply decided to leave the show in order to pursue other career options. Later that year, John Larkin had also decided that the time had come for a new career direction which, in his case, meant Hollywood. Mike Karr's final installment, on October 10, had the intrepid lawyer departing for the state capital to organize a crime commission. For the next six months, the plotlines centered around supporting character Ed Gibson, another crime-fighting attorney, played by Larry Hagman
Larry Hagman
Larry Martin Hagman is an American film and television actor, producer and director known for playing J.R. Ewing in the 1980s primetime television soap opera Dallas and Major Anthony "Tony" Nelson in the 1960s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie.-Early life and career:Hagman was born in Fort Worth, Texas...
, until Mike Karr, now portrayed by Laurence Hugo, returned in April 1962.
First year in Hollywood and Saints and Sinners
Although he was born in the San Francisco Bay area, John Larkin had spent his entire career in other venues and was now, shortly before his fiftieth birthday, returning to his native state of CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. In his remaining three years, he worked continuously, appearing in prime-time TV shows (including four guest-starring roles as four different characters on Raymond Burr's Perry Mason) as well as playing supporting roles in three feature films.
All of Larkin's prime-time appearances were in hour-long dramatic shows, with the first six broadcast within a five-week period in 1962. He was a guest star in the April 24 episode of Leslie Nielsen
Leslie Nielsen
Leslie William Nielsen, OC was a Canadian and naturalized American actor and comedian. Nielsen appeared in more than one hundred films and 1,500 television programs over the span of his career, portraying more than 220 characters...
's police drama The New Breed
The New Breed (TV series)
The New Breed is an American crime drama series that aired on ABC from October 3, 1961 to June 5, 1962, with thirty-six episodes.-Synopsis:...
, followed three days later, on April 27 by a role in The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor
The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor
The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor is an American crime drama series which ran on ABC during its first two seasons, and on NBC during its third and final season...
. The following day, April 28, he appeared as one of the murder suspects in "The Case of the Counterfeit Crank", the first of his four Perry Masons. Three days later, on May 1, he was seen in the "Savage Sunday" installment of the prestigious anthology series, The Dick Powell Show
The Dick Powell Show
The Dick Powell Show is an American anthology series that ran on NBC from 1961- 1963, primarily sponsored by the Reynolds Metals Company. It was hosted by longtime film star Dick Powell until his death from lymphatic cancer on January 2, 1963, then by a series of guest hosts until the series ended...
, which was structured as the pilot episode for his upcoming newspaper series, Saints and Sinners. On May 18, he returned to guest-star in another episode of The Detectives Starring Robert Taylor and, on May 31, appeared in an installment of the highly-rated 1920s crime series, The Untouchables
The Untouchables (1959 TV series)
The Untouchables is an American crime drama that ran from 1959 to 1963 on ABC. Based on the memoir of the same name by Eliot Ness and Oscar Fraley, it fictionalized the experiences of Eliot Ness, a real-life Prohibition agent, as he fought crime in Chicago during the 1930s with the help of a...
. The following months were spent in filming episodes of NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
's Saints and Sinners, starring Nick Adams, who achieved high recognition in his previous series, ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's half-hour western The Rebel
The Rebel (TV series)
The Rebel is an American Western television series that ran originally on the ABC network from 1959 to 1961. The program was produced by Goodson-Todman Productions, marking one of their few non-game show ventures...
, which ran from 1959 to 1961. Seeking to promote the highly-touted Saints and Sinners, NBC showed selected repeat episodes of The Rebel from June to September 1962 as a summer replacement program for The Joey Bishop Show. Monday, September 17, the day Saints and Sinners premiere episode was scheduled for broadcast in the 8:30–9:30 time slot, John Larkin made an appearance on NBC's afternoon series, Here's Hollywood, which specialized in celebrity interviews and show promotions, talking about his career and his hopes for the new venture.
A hard-hitting drama which focused on human-interest stories appearing in the fictional newspaper, New York Bulletin, Saints and Sinners posited Nick Adams as impetuous and emotional reporter Nick Alexander who wore his heart on his sleeve, and John Larkin as his mentor, the wise and understanding city editor Mark Grainger, a veteran newspaperman who had seen it all. A particularly noteworthy episode, "A Shame for the Diamond Wedding", written by Ernest Kinoy
Ernest Kinoy
-Early life:Kinoy was born in New York City on April 1, 1925; his father and mother were both high-school teachers. His older brother Arthur Kinoy later became a leading constitutional lawyer. Kinoy attended the Ethical Culture Fieldston School and later Columbia University, although his studies...
and broadcast on November 26, 1962, guest-starred Oscar winner
Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
Paul Muni
Paul Muni
Paul Muni was an Austrian-Hungarian-born American stage and film actor...
in his final acting role as a feisty ninety-year-old (Muni was 67 at the time) who files for divorce from his eighty-eight-year-old wife (played by Lili Darvas) to refocus the priorities of his venal and short-sighted children and in-laws to the true meaning of life. "New Lead Berlin", the 17th and final episode of the series, shown on January 28, 1963, spotlighted John Larkin in a dual role, as Mark Grainger confronted his lookalike, Bartley King. Ultimately, despite respectful critical notices and devoted viewing from a measurable segment of the audience, the drama could not overcome the competition from CBS' top-rated sitcoms The Lucy Show
The Lucy Show
The Lucy Show is an American situation comedy that aired on CBS from 1962 until 1968. It was Lucille Ball's follow-up to I Love Lucy. A significant change in cast and premise for the 1965-66 season divides the program into two distinct eras; aside from Ball, only Gale Gordon, who joined the program...
and The Danny Thomas Show
The Danny Thomas Show
The Danny Thomas Show is an American sitcom which ran from 1953-1957 on ABC and from 1957-1964 on CBS...
and ABC's western, The Rifleman
The Rifleman
The Rifleman is an American Western television program that starred Chuck Connors as homesteader Lucas McCain and Johnny Crawford as his son, Mark McCain. It was set in the 1880s in the town of North Fork, New Mexico Territory. The show, filmed in black-and-white with a half hour running time, ran...
, with the two-hour slot, which included Saints and Sinners 7:30–8:30 lead-in, It's a Man's World
It's a Man's World (TV series)
It's a Man's World is a 19-episode comedy/drama television series centered on four young men who live in a houseboat called the Elephant, which is moored at an Ohio River town named Cordella, in Ohio...
, filled the following week by NBC Monday Night at the Movies.
Guest appearances and feature films in 1963–64
1963 was another busy year for John Larkin, with nine guest appearances plus the final four installments of Saints and Sinners. In early January, he was seen on three consecutive days, with the first two occurring on TV's most popular western series, GunsmokeGunsmoke
Gunsmoke is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman MacDonnell and writer John Meston. The stories take place in and around Dodge City, Kansas, during the settlement of the American West....
and 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...
, followed by the Monday, January 7 episode of Saints and Sinners. The Saturday, January 5 Gunsmoke installment, "Louie Pheeters", spotlighted him as cunning murderer Murph Moody, while on Sunday, January 6, he had what may be considered the finest acting assignment of his guest-starring career—the title role in the Bonanza episode, "The Colonel". The central character is Frank Medford, a friend of Ben Cartwright from his youthful days, who arrives in Virginia City
Virginia City
Virginia City is a city located in Storey County, Nevada.Virginia City may also refer to:* Virginia City, Montana* Virginia City, Nevada* Virginia City, Virginia* Virginia City , a 1940 film starring Errol Flynn...
, presenting himself as a successful businessman and charms all the ladies, especially the still-attractive, prosperous widow, Emily Colfax, played by Helen Westcott
Helen Westcott
Helen Westcott was an American stage and screen actor and former child actor....
. A charismatic, larger-than-life personality, who is ultimately exposed as a fraud, but one with his heart in the right place, Larkin's "Colonel" dominates the episode and his portrayal may be among the most memorable in the show's history.
The remaining seven guest shots were on February 26, in another installment of The Dick Powell Show, then March 12, in another Untouchables, followed by "The Case of the Greek Goddess", the April 18 episode of Perry Mason in which, as sculptor John Kenyon, he is exonerated by Raymond Burr's Mason of murdering his Greek model's hostile mother. He was next seen five days later, on April 23, in yet another Dick Powell, followed by "Dear Uncle George", the May 10 episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour. The year's last two appearances came in episodes of the 1963–64 season, with yet another Mason, "The Case of the Reluctant Model", where he's again a murder suspect, broadcast on October 31, and an episode of 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...
, seen on November 12.
Finally, 1964 ushered in five more guest-starring roles, a second series, and three feature films, which represent John Larkin's entire career on the theatrical screen. "Better Than a Dead Lion", the January 20 episode of the psychiatric series Breaking Point, marked his first performance in the new year, followed by the February 7 broadcast of "The Evil of Adelaide Winters", another installment of Hitchcock. February 12 saw the release of the Rod Serling
Rod Serling
Rodman Edward "Rod" Serling was an American screenwriter, novelist, television producer, and narrator best known for his live television dramas of the 1950s and his science fiction anthology TV series, The Twilight Zone. Serling was active in politics, both on and off the screen and helped form...
-scripted film, Seven Days in May
Seven Days in May
Seven Days in May is an American political thriller novel written by Fletcher Knebel and Charles W. Bailey II and published in 1962. It was made into a motion picture and released in February 1964, with a screenplay by Rod Serling, directed by John Frankenheimer, and starring Burt Lancaster, Kirk...
, directed by John Frankenheimer
John Frankenheimer
John Michael Frankenheimer was an American film and television director known for social dramas and action/suspense films...
. The political drama about a planned military takeover of the U.S. Government, was filmed during the final months of the Kennedy administration and starred Burt Lancaster
Burt Lancaster
Burton Stephen "Burt" Lancaster was an American film actor noted for his athletic physique and distinctive smile...
as the chief plotter, General Scott, with an unbilled John Larkin appearing in two scenes as one of his co-conspirators, Colonel Broderick. Then, on March 9, came an episode of Wagon Train
Wagon Train
Wagon Train is an American Western series that ran on NBC from 1957–62 and then on ABC from 1962–65...
, "The Duncan McIvor Story", with Ron Hayes
Ron Hayes
Ronald G. Hayes was an American television actor who, as an activist in the environmental movement, worked for the establishment of the first Earth Day, observed on April 22, 1970. He was a member of the Sierra Club and a founder of the ecological interest group Wilderness World...
as the title character, an army lieutenant, and Larkin, playing yet another colonel, as his superior.
The final two guest shots were seen during the 1964–65 season. Larkin's fourth Mason episode, "The Case of the Betrayed Bride", was his last and, once again presented him as a murder suspect. At the end, on December 31, there was an episode of Kraft Suspense Theatre
Kraft Suspense Theatre
Kraft Suspense Theatre, an anthology series, was telecast from 1963 to 1965 on NBC. Sponsored by Kraft Foods, it was seen three weeks out of every four and was pre-empted for Perry Como's Kraft Music Hall specials once monthly...
, "The Wine-Dark Sea". Each of the two feature films, lensed between April and October, gave him three scenes with some well-defined medium shots. Walt Disney
Walt Disney Pictures
Walt Disney Pictures is an American film studio owned by The Walt Disney Company. Walt Disney Pictures and Television, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Studios and the main production company for live-action feature films within the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group, based at the Walt Disney...
's family drama, Those Calloways, directed by Norman Tokar
Norman Tokar
Norman Tokar was a prolific director of serial television and feature films, who directed many of the early episodes of Leave it to Beaver, and found his greatest success directing over a dozen films for Walt Disney Productions, spanning the 1950s to the...
, billed him eighth, behind Brian Keith
Brian Keith
Brian Keith was an American film, television, and stage actor who in his four decade-long career gained recognition for his work in movies such as the 1961 Disney family film The Parent Trap, the 1966 comedy The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, and the 1975 adventure saga The Wind and...
, Vera Miles
Vera Miles
Vera Miles is an American film actress who gained popularity for starring in films such as The Searchers, The Wrong Man, The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance, Psycho and Psycho II.-Early life:...
, Brandon de Wilde
Brandon De Wilde
Andre Brandon deWilde was an American theatre and film actor. He was born into a theatrical family in Brooklyn. Debuting on Broadway at the age of 7, De Wilde became a national phenomenon by the time he completed his 492 performances for The Member of the Wedding and was considered a child...
, Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan
Walter Brennan was an American actor. Brennan won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor on three separate occasions, which is currently the record for most wins.-Early life:...
, Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn
Ed Wynn was a popular American comedian and actor noted for his Perfect Fool comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a dramatic actor....
, Linda Evans
Linda Evans
Linda Evans is an American actress. She is known primarily for her roles on television, and rose to fame playing Audra Barkley in the 1960s Western TV series, The Big Valley...
and Philip Abbott
Philip Abbott
Philip Abbott was an American character actor and occasional voice actor.Abbott was a secondary lead in several films of the 1950s and 1960s. Miracle of the White Stallions...
. Playing Linda Evans' father, a wise and compassionate small-town shopkeeper, he provided supportive advice to his daughter and the object of her affection, played by Brandon de Wilde. The other feature, The Satan Bug
The Satan Bug
The Satan Bug is a science fiction film directed by John Sturges that stars George Maharis and Anne Francis. It was loosely adapted from Alistair MacLean's 1962 novel of the same name...
, a doomsday thriller about the theft from a bacteriological lab of a deadly virus capable of causing immense casualties was directed by John Sturges
John Sturges
John Eliot Sturges was an American film director. His movies include Bad Day at Black Rock , Gunfight at the O.K. Corral , The Magnificent Seven , The Great Escape and Ice Station Zebra .-Career:He started his career in Hollywood as an editor in 1932...
and scripted by James Clavell
James Clavell
James Clavell, born Charles Edmund DuMaresq Clavell was an Australian-born, British novelist, screenwriter, director and World War II veteran and prisoner of war...
from the novel by Alistair MacLean
Alistair MacLean
Alistair Stuart MacLean was a Scottish novelist who wrote popular thrillers or adventure stories, the best known of which are perhaps The Guns of Navarone, Ice Station Zebra and Where Eagles Dare, all three having been made into successful films...
. Larkin, playing a government scientist received fifth billing, after George Maharis
George Maharis
George Maharis is an American actor who portrayed Buz Murdock in the first three seasons of the TV series Route 66...
, Richard Basehart
Richard Basehart
John Richard Basehart was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson.-Career:...
, Anne Francis
Anne Francis
Anne Lloyd Francis was an American actress, best known for her role in the science fiction film classic Forbidden Planet , and as the female private detective in the television series Honey West . She won a Golden Globe and was nominated for an Emmy award for her role in Honey West...
and Dana Andrews
Dana Andrews
Dana Andrews was an American film actor. He was one of Hollywood's major stars of the 1940s, and continued acting, though generally in less prestigious roles, into the 1980s.-Early life:...
. His longest scene comes at midpoint and consists of a detailed explanation of the danger posed by the "bug".
Final work on Twelve O'Clock High and death
John Larkin's last work came in filming episodes for his second series, ABC's Twelve O'Clock HighTwelve O'Clock High (TV series)
Twelve O'Clock High or 12 O'Clock High is an American drama series set in World War II. This TV series originally broadcasted on ABC-TV for two-and-one-half TV seasons from September 18, 1964, through January 13, 1967; was based on the motion picture Twelve O'Clock High...
. True to pattern, he was, once again, cast as an authority figure, the stern yet humane Major General Wiley Crowe, the supervising commander of strategic bombing crews, relaying orders to Frank Savage, the youthful Brigadier General in direct charge of the missions. Although the Quinn Martin
Quinn Martin
Quinn Martin was one of the most successful American television producers. He had at least one television series running in prime time for 21 straight years , an industry record.-Early life:...
production was based on the 1949 film
Twelve O'Clock High
Twelve O'Clock High is a 1949 American war film about aircrews in the United States Army's Eighth Air Force who flew daylight bombing missions against Nazi Germany and occupied France during the early days of American involvement in World War II. The film was adapted by Sy Bartlett, Henry King ...
in which Gregory Peck
Gregory Peck
Eldred Gregory Peck was an American actor.One of 20th Century Fox's most popular film stars from the 1940s to the 1960s, Peck continued to play important roles well into the 1980s. His notable performances include that of Atticus Finch in the 1962 film To Kill a Mockingbird, for which he won an...
portrayed General Savage, Larkin's character was originated for the series. Quinn Martin, who used Larkin in two of the series he produced, The Untouchables and The Fugitive, provided strong dramatic confrontations between the top-billed Lansing, whose General Savage held a delicate balance between personal concern for his men and the responsibilities of command decision, and second-billed Larkin, himself a World War II veteran, who imbued General Crowe with the palpable comprehension of the heavy burden incumbent in relaying life-and-death orders from the top. Filming of the first episodes began in May 1964 and the premiere episode was broadcast on Friday, September 18, in the 9:30–10:30 time slot. A few of the episodes placed Larkin at the center of dramatic conflict, particularly "The Climate of Doubt" (October 23), in which General Crowe faces a board of inquiry for a risky strategy intended to aid the French Resistance
French Resistance
The French Resistance is the name used to denote the collection of French resistance movements that fought against the Nazi German occupation of France and against the collaborationist Vichy régime during World War II...
. At the time of his death on January 29, the day episode 19 was broadcast, Larkin was in the midst of filming the 25th episode of the 32 scheduled for the season. He continued to be seen until the installment of March 19, with the remaining seven episodes featuring generals portrayed by John Zaremba
John Zaremba
John Zaremba was an American actor most noted for supporting roles on science fiction films and TV series....
, Paul Newlan and Lin McCarthy.
John Larkin died at Valley Doctor's Hospital in North Hollywood after being stricken with a heart attack at his home. He had a daughter, Cathleen, from his first marriage and, another daughter, Sharon, from his second marriage, on June 10, 1950, to Edge of Night actress Teri Keane, who, after his departure from the series, spent eleven years (1964–75) as a member of the cast. In addition to his daughter Victoria, he and his third wife, Audrey, were also the parents of a son, John Jr.
The two films on which John Larkin received billing, Those Calloways and The Satan Bug, both premiered in New York on April 14, 1965, three days after what would have been his 53rd birthday.