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John Larroquette (born 25 November 1947; age 76) is the American actor who played Maltz in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock. He is perhaps most famous for his role as Assistant District Attorney Reinhold "Dan" Fielding in the NBC sitcom Night Court, for which he won four consecutive Emmy Awards as Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

Career[]

Television[]

Regular and recurring roles[]

Early in his career, Larroquette was a regular on two series from NBC, Doctor's Hospital (1975-1976) and Baa Baa Black Sheep (1976-1978). He portrayed 2nd Lt. Robert Anderson on the latter series, which co-starred James Whitmore, Jr.

Larroquette landed the role of ADA Dan Fielding on Night Court in 1983; the series premiered in January the following year. In addition to his Emmy Awards, Larroquette was nominated for a Golden Globe for his performance on Night Court. Larroquette also directed two episodes of the show, both of which aired in 1986.

Among the Star Trek alumni who made recurring appearances on Night Court are Karen Austin, Jeff Corey, Alex Henteloff, Gregory Itzin, Keye Luke, George Murdock, Craig Richard Nelson, Annie O'Donnell, Bumper Robinson, Eugene Roche, Margot Rose, John Staible, Michael Hungerford, Kenneth Tigar, William Utay, and Brent Spiner. Other Trek alumni who made memorable one-time appearances include Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Nana Visitor, Jack Axelrod, Robert Barron, James Cromwell, Larroquette's Search for Spock co-star Robin Curtis, Bibi Besch, Raye Birk, Paddi Edwards, Max Grodénchik, Kevin Peter Hall, Teri Hatcher (as his boss' daughter who kept trying to seduce him), Harvey Jason, Tony Jay, Paul Lambert, Stephen Lee, Eric Menyuk, Katherine Moffat, Nancy Parsons, Stephen Root, Ron Taylor, Wendy Schaal, Tony Todd, and Ray Walston.

After Night Court ended in 1992 after nine seasons, Larroquette starred in his own series, The John Larroquette Show, also for NBC and which featured guest appearances by Kelsey Grammer and Bertila Damas. This series ran from 1993 through 1996 and earned Larroquette a fifth Emmy nomination – his first as Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series.

Larroquette won his fifth Emmy Award (his sixth nomination) for his 1997 guest appearance as sadistic lawyer Joey Heric on The Practice. He appeared several more times on this series, earning an additional Emmy nomination in 2002. Among the other Star Trek alumni he worked with on this show were Albert Hall, Richard McGonagle, Tracy Middendorf, Lawrence Pressman, Jack Shearer, and Bill Smitrovich.

In 1999, Larroquette starred in and executive produced CBS' Payne, acting alongside Ellen Albertini Dow. During the 2003-2004 television season, Larroquette starred on the NBC sitcom Happy Family. Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine guest star Susan Gibney was also a regular on this series, playing the neighbor of Larroquette's character.

In 2007 and 2008, Larroquette starred as Crane, Poole & Schmidt's managing partner Carl Sack on Boston Legal, opposite his Star Trek III castmate William Shatner. Larroquette replaced former regular René Auberjonois on the series, who was among the actors removed from the regular cast to make way for new players like Larroquette. However, Larroquette was able to work with Auberjonois on a few subsequent episodes, notably the last two of the series, which aired together as a two-hour series finale on 8 December 2008.

From 2014-2018, Larroquette starred in The Librarians (also starring Rebecca Romijn) as Jenkins. Other guest stars included René Auberjonois, Jerry O'Connell, and John de Lancie.

Larroquette joined, in a recurring role, the cast of CSI: NY starring Robert Joy, and appeared in the seventh season episodes "Hide Sight", "Scared Stiff" and "Justified".

Most recently, Larroquette reprised his Night Court role for the 2023 series revival of the same name. In the second season episode "Wrath of Comic-Con", Larroquette once again donned Klingon makeup when Dan tried to avoid a woman seeking revenge on him; when she (dressed as Catwoman and not recognizing him) asked him his name, he responded "Maltz", referencing Larroquette's Star Trek III character.

Guest appearances[]

In 1975, Larroquette appeared on two different shows with Next Generation guest star Albert Hall: the sitcom Sanford and Son and the crime drama Kojak. After Baa Baa Black Sheep ended in 1976, Larroquette made appearances on Three's Company and Fantasy Island. He worked with several actors from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan on these shows; his episode of Three's Company also had Paul Kent, while Fantasy Island featured Ike Eisenmann and series regular Ricardo Montalban. (Stefan Gierasch also appeared in Larroquette's Fantasy Island episode.)

In the 1980s, Larroquette guest-starred on such shows as Mork & Mindy (starring Robin Williams and working alongside Night Court co-star Richard Moll) and Remington Steele (in an episode with Rosemary Forsyth, Marianna Hill, and Kate Vernon). He also appeared in a two-episode arc of the primetime soap opera Dallas, working with Paul Carr, Susan Howard, J. Patrick McNamara, Paul Sorensen, Ray Wise, and Morgan Woodward.

Larroquette's more recent guest-starring credits have included episodes of The West Wing (in an episode with Daniel Roebuck), House (on which Jennifer Morrison was a regular), and Chuck (produced by Robert Duncan McNeill, in an episode directed by Allan Kroeker and co-starring Bonita Friedericy and Melinda Clarke). In 2009, Larroquette guest-starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (with Bruce McGill and John Schuck)

Movies and mini-series[]

Larroquette's first TV movie was 1980's Stunts Unlimited, directed by Hal Needham and starring Needham, Glenn Corbett, Stefan Gierasch, and Chip Mayer. This was followed in 1982 with a supporting role in CBS' Bare Essence, featuring Next Generation star Jonathan Frakes. In 1983, Larroquette appeared in the Paramount Television movie The Last Ninja, as did Robin Gammell, Richard Lynch, and Carolyn Seymour.

In the 1986 movie Convicted, Larroquette worked alongside Gabriel Damon, who played his character's son. Larroquette then starred in the 1988 CBS movie Hot Paint with John Glover and in the 1991 movie One Special Victory with Ray Walston and Concetta Tomei. Larroquette was also an executive producer on the latter movie. In 1997, he starred in The Defenders: Payback, a TV movie follow-up to the 1961-1965 TV series, The Defenders.

Larroquette portrayed Tony Lewis in The 10th Kingdom (2000, with Dawnn Lewis and directed by David Carson). From 2005 through 2007, Larroquette played lawyer Mike McBride in the multiple McBride made-for-television movies which air on The Hallmark Channel. He also directed many of these movies; one (McBride: Anybody Here Murder Marty?) was directed by James Contner. Among the other performers who appeared in the McBride movies are Nikita Ager, Todd Babcock, David Bowe, Wren T. Brown, David Carpenter, Marta Dubois, Richard Fancy, Amanda Foreman, John Kassir, Richard Lineback, Eric Pierpoint, Joel Polis, Irene Roseen, and Time Winters.

Films[]

One of Larroquette's earliest film experiences came as the narrator of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974). Nearly three decades later, he returned to narrate the 2003 remake of that film. He also narrated the 2006 prequel, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning.

Prior to his role on Star Trek III, Larroquette had supporting roles in films such as Stripes (1981, co-starring Lance LeGault and William Lucking), Cat People (1982, with Ed Begley, Jr. and Malcolm McDowell), and Hysterical (with Julie Newmar). He was also seen as a Ku Klux Klan member in the infamous John Landis-directed segment of Twilight Zone: The Movie, filming of which resulted in the accidental on-set death of actor Vic Morrow and two child actors.

Following the release of Star Trek III, Larroquette had major roles in several comedies, including Meatballs Part II (1984, with Hamilton Camp), Summer Rental (1985, with Night Court co-star Karen Austin and Richard Herd), and Blind Date (1987, with William Daniels, George Coe, Brian George, and Armin Shimerman). He also appeared in Choose Me (1984, starring Geneviève Bujold and Keith Carradine).

With the success of Night Court on television, Larroquette landed starring roles in Second Sight (1989, co-starring John Schuck) and Madhouse (1990, with Star Trek II actress Kirstie Alley). He then had a supporting role in Tune in Tomorrow (1990, with Henry Gibson).

Larroquette appears in the Director's Cut of JFK (1991, featuring Bill Bolender, Bob Gunton, and Tony Plana). He then appeared in Richie Rich (1991, featuring Rick Worthy). In Demon Knight (1995), Larroquette made an uncredited cameo as an actor playing a serial killer, under the direction of the Crypt Keeper (voiced by John Kassir). William Sadler, Brenda Bakke, Tim de Zarn, Dick Miller, and the aforementioned John Schuck were among the stars of this film.

Larroquette's next film was the 2000 comedy Isn't She Great, in which he co-starred with Christopher McDonald. Larroquette then co-starred with Clint Howard and Richard Riehle in Beethoven's 5th (film)|Beethoven's 5th and appeared with Michelle C. Bonilla and John Savage in the 2006 comic drama Kill Your Darlings. In addition, Larroquette was part of the ensemble cast of Southland Tales (2000, with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Holmes R. Osborne and Wallace Shawn).

Larroquette was later the voice of Tomar Re in Green Lantern: First Flight (2009, featuring the voices of Olivia d'Abo, Larry Drake, Victor Garber, David L. Lander, Richard McGonagle, William Schallert, Kurtwood Smith, and Malachi Throne).

Larroquette also, more recently appeared in the Broadway play Gore Vidal's The Best Man opposite Michael McKean. Recent performances of the play were halted when McKean was struck by a car in Manhattan with McKean sustaining a broken leg. McKean was recently forced to withdraw from the play as his injuries warranted a transfer to a rehab center.

External links[]

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