Larry Storch at the 2007 Twilight Zone Convention, Hilton Hasbrook Heights, Sunday August 5 2007
If you are a fan of classic sitcoms, you no doubt remember Larry Storch in his Emmy Award-nominated role as scheming Corporal Randolph Agarn on the mid-1960s ABC sitcom F Troop. Sadly, Larry Storch passed away in his sleep on July 8. He was 99.
“It is with the heaviest of hearts that we share with you the news our beloved Larry passed away in his sleep overnight,” read a message on his Facebook page. “We are shocked and at a loss for words at the moment. Please remember he loved each and every one of you and wouldn’t want you to cry over his passing. He is reunited with his wife Norma and his beloved F Troop cast and so many friends and family.”
Born January 8, 1923 in New York City, Larry Storch began his career as a stand-up comedian. Moving to the small screen, he rose to early fame as a summer replacement host on the TV variety show Cavalcade of Stars in 1949. That led to his own variety series, The Larry Storch Show, in 1953.
Storch began making the rounds as a guest star on TV series like The Phil Silvers Show, The Ed Sullivan Show, Hennesey and Car 54, Where Are You? And he became a prominent voice actor on a wide array of animated entries like Tennessee Tuxedo, Koko the Clown, Cool Cat, The Brady Kids, The Inspector, Groovie Goolies and The Pink Panther Show.
While Storch was a familiar face for decades with guest spots on I Dream of Jeannie, Get Smart, Gomer Pyle, USMC, That Girl, All in the Family, The Doris Day Show, The Love Boat, and Love, American Style, among dozens of other TV shows, it was his two season (and 65-episode) stint on aforementioned F Troop that cemented his status as a TV icon.
UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1970: Photo of Larry Storch Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
Storch also appeared as a regular on one season sitcom The Queen and I in 1969, and he appeared often on stage as well, with Broadway credits including Porgy and Bess (1983), Arsenic and Old Lace (1986), Annie Get Your Gun (1999) and Sly Fox (2004).
Storch’s final TV appearances included playing himself in a 1995 episode of Married With Children, and guesting a 1996 episode of Days of Our Lives. In 2010, he appeared in an entry titled Medium Rare.
