Template:Realworld John Larroquette (born 25 November 1947; age 76) is the American actor who played the Klingon officer 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, Bumper Robinson, Eugene Roche, Margot Rose, Kenneth Tigar, William Utay, and Star Trek: The Next Generation star Brent Spiner. Other Trek alumni who made memorable one-time appearances include Star Trek: Deep Space Nine's Nana Visitor, James Cromwell, Larroquette's Search for Spock co-star Robin Curtis, Bibi Besch, Raye Birk, Max Grodénchik (playing a stalker who wanted Dan dead), Kevin Peter Hall, Teri Hatcher (as his boss' daughter who kept trying to seduce him), Paul Lambert, Stephen Lee, Katherine Moffat, 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 the short-lived CBS sitcom Payne, acting alongside Ellen Albertini Dow. During the 2003-2004 television season, Larroquette starred on the NBC sitcom Happy Family. Next Generation and 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 the hit ABC series Boston Legal, opposite his Star Trek III castmate William Shatner. Larroquette replaced former regular Rene 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.
It has been announced that Larroquette will be joining in a recurring role, the cast of CSI New York starring Robert Joy. Larroquette appeared in the seventh season episodes "Hide Sight", "Scared Stiff" and "Justified".
Guest appearances
In 1975, Larroquette appeared on two different shows with TNG 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, M.D. (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 the NBC crime drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, in which he played a southern lawyer attempting to take down a racist talk show host played by Bruce McGill. (John Schuck also appeared in the episode.)
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 Bare Essence, a CBS romantic drama which also featured 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 2000 NBC mini-series The 10th Kingdom. 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 popular 1974 horror classic The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. 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 The 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 1984's Meatballs Part II (with Hamilton Camp), 1985's Summer Rental (with Night Court co-star Karen Austin and Richard Herd), and 1987's Blind Date (with George Coe, Brian George, and Armin Shimerman). He also appeared in the 1984 romantic comedy Choose Me, which starred Geneviève Bujold and Keith Carradine.
With the success of Night Court on television, Larroquette landed starring roles in two comic films: 1989's Second Sight (co-starring John Schuck) and 1990's Madhouse (in which he and Star Trek II actress Kirstie Alley played a yuppie married couple). He then had a supporting role in the 1990 comedy Tune in Tomorrow..., along with sometime Boston Legal co-star Henry Gibson.
Larroquette appears in the Director's Cut of Oliver Stone's Academy Award-winning 1991 film JFK, which also featured Bill Bolender, Bob Gunton, and Tony Plana. He then played the villain in 1994's Richie Rich, based on the comic book character and featuring Rick Worthy. In the 1995 Tales from the Crypt film Demon Knight, 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 the direct-to-video sequel 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 the 2006 science fiction black comedy Southland Tales, which also included Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, Holmes Osborne and Wallace Shawn.
Most recently, Larroquette was the voice of Tomar Re in the direct-to-video animated movie Green Lantern: First Flight. This movie also featured the voices of fellow Trek alumni Olivia d'Abo, Larry Drake, Victor Garber, David L. Lander, Richard McGonagle, William Schallert, Kurtwood Smith, and Malachi Throne.
Stage Work
Larroquette is currently starring 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 link
- John Larroquette at Wikipedia
- Template:IMDb-link