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John Larroquette
Larroquette attends the 13th Annual Broadway Barks Benefit on July 9, 2011
Born	John Edgar Bernard Larroquette, Jr. (1947-11-25) November 25, 1947 (age 64) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1966–present

John Edgar Bernard Larroquette, Jr. (born November 25, 1947) is an American film, television and stage actor. His roles include Dan Fielding on the series Night Court, Mike McBride in the Hallmark Channel series McBride, John Hemingway on The John Larroquette Show, and Carl Sack in Boston Legal.

Personal life[link]

Larroquette was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, the son of: Berthalla Oramous Larroquette (née Helmstetter), a department store clerk; and John Edgar Bernard, Sr.,^[1] who was in the U.S. Navy.^[2] He grew up in the Ninth ward of New Orleans not far from the French Quarter. He played clarinet and saxophone through childhood but quit when he discovered acting after seeing some actors rehearse the Tennessee Williams play Vieux Carré in 1973.^[3] He moved to Hollywood in 1973 after working in radio and the record business.

Larroquette met his wife Elizabeth Ann Cookson in 1974 while working in a play called Enter Laughing.^[4] They have three children; one of his sons, Jonathan Larroquette, co-hosts a popular comedy podcast called Uhh Yeah Dude.

In the seventies and eighties, Larroquette battled alcoholism. On The Tonight Show with Jay Leno on March 10, 2007 he joked, "I was known to have a cocktail or 60".^[5] He had also revealed that he'd suffered from blackouts when drinking, a condition he describes as "horrible".^{[citation needed]} To illustrate the severity of these blackouts, he told Leno about one experience he had while drinking in which he woke up from a nap, realizing he was on a plane and had no idea where it was headed, and was too embarrassed to ask. (He eventually found out the plane was headed from Los Angeles to his hometown of New Orleans.)^[6] He stopped drinking in February 1982.^[3]

Hobbies and interests[link]

Larroquette enjoys collecting rare books. Authors whose works he has focused on include Samuel Beckett, Charles Bukowski, Anthony Burgess, William Burroughs and Robinson Jeffers.^[7]

Career[link]

Early career[link]

Larroquette's first role was uncredited, as a U.S. soldier in Follow Me, Boys! (1966). He also provided the opening voiceover narration for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974). His most memorable non-comedy role was in the 1970s NBC program Baa Baa Black Sheep where he portrayed a WWII U.S. Marine Corps fighter pilot named 2nd Lt. Bob Anderson. Larroquette first broke into TV on the soap opera Doctors' Hospital. In a 1975 appearance on Sanford and Son, Larroquette plays Lamont's counterpart in a fictitious sitcom based on Fred and Lamont called "Steinberg and Son". During the filming of Stripes (1981), his nose was nearly cut off in an accident. He was running down a hall into a door which was supposed to open, but it didn't, and his head went through the window in the door.^[7]

[edit] Night Court (1984-1992)

Larroquette attending the Emmy Awards in 1988

Larroquette is perhaps best known for his role as boorish, sex-obsessed attorney Dan Fielding on Night Court; the character was initially rather conservative but changed after the show's creator Reinhold Weege came to learn more about Larroquette's sense of humor.^[3][4] The role won him Emmy Awards in 1985, 1986, 1987, and 1988. In 1989, he asked not to be considered for an Emmy.^[8] His four consecutive wins were, at the time, a record. Night Court ran on NBC from 1984 until 1992. Only Larroquette, Harry Anderson (as Judge Harry Stone), and Richard Moll (as Bull Shannon) appeared in every episode of the series. There was talk of spinning Dan Fielding off into his own show, but Larroquette said no to the idea.^[3]

[edit] The John Larroquette Show, other roles

Larroquette later starred on The John Larroquette Show as the character John Hemingway. The show was lauded by critics and enjoyed a loyal cult following. In 1998, he guest-starred on three episodes of the legal drama The Practice. His portrayal of Joey Heric, a wealthy, wisecracking, narcissistic psychopath with a habit of stabbing his gay lovers to death, won him his fifth Emmy Award. He reprised the role for one episode in 2002, for which he was once again Emmy-nominated. He also appeared in an episode of The West Wing as Lionel Tribbey, White House Counsel.

His starring roles include the 1989 movie Second Sight, with Bronson Pinchot, and Madhouse, with Kirstie Alley. Other movies Larroquette had significant roles in include: Blind Date, Stripes, Meatballs Part II, Summer Rental, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, JFK, and Richie Rich.

[edit] McBride, Boston Legal, and other roles

In 2003, Larroquette reprised his narration for the remake of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. From 2004 to 2006, he played the title role in the McBride series of American TV movies. In 2007 he joined the cast of Boston Legal playing Carl Sack, a serious, ethical lawyer (the polar opposite of his more famous lawyer character, Dan Fielding). He also guest starred in the drama House where he played a previously catatonic father awakened to try to save his son, and on Chuck as veteran spy Roan Montgomery.^[9] He has also made two voice roles in Phineas and Ferb for Bob Weber, for a lifeguard as well as a man to marry his wife and the boy's aunt Tiana Weber in another episode. Most recently, Larroquette has been seen on CSI: NY as Chief Carver, making his first appearance on November 12, 2010.

Theatre[link]

Larroquette made his musical stage debut in the Los Angeles production of How the Grinch Stole Christmas! as Old Max in 2009. He made his Broadway debut in the 2011 revival of How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying as J. B. Biggley^[3] alongside Daniel Radcliffe. He won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical and the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance in the show.^[10]

He will next appear on Broadway in a revival of Gore Vidal's The Best Man; the all-star cast also includes James Earl Jones, Angela Lansbury, Candice Bergen, Michael McKean, Eric McCormack, and Jefferson Mays. The play will be directed by Michael Wilson and is scheduled to open in Spring 2012.

Filmography[link]

Larroquette has made many appearances on the The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson and on both of David Letterman's shows. He has hosted Saturday Night Live twice. He also won another Emmy Award for his guest spot on The Practice. He has also done commercials for Holiday Inn, Delissio pizza and American Express.

References[link]

External links[link]

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