LOS ANGELES (AP) — Larry Storch, the rubber-faced comedian whose very long job in theater, videos and television was capped by his “F Troop” position as zany Cpl. Agarn in the 1960s spoof of Western frontier Tv set demonstrates, died Friday. Storch was 99.
Storch died of purely natural leads to early Friday in his New York Metropolis condominium, in accordance to his supervisor, Matt Beckoff.
Even though “F Troop” lasted only two seasons on ABC, from 1965 to 1967, it turned a cult beloved in reruns. Its devoted admirers could recite nearly all of the adventures of the extremely incompetent soldiers of Fort Braveness and the associates of the nearby Indigenous American tribe who only pretended to be at war with them.
As Agarn, Storch was the wild-eyed lover and protege of Forrest Tucker’s wily Sgt. O’Rourke, who normally schemed with Frank DeKova’s Main Wild Eagle to fleece unsuspecting people. Ken Berry’s Capt. Parmenter was Fort Courage’s clueless commander.
Even though “F Troop” brought him long lasting fame, Storch appeared in scores of movies and Tv set shows both right before and just after the show. He also appreciated a extended career in theater and as a comedian at resorts in New York State’s Catskill Mountains region.
He by no means regretted currently being ideal identified for the series, his supervisor claimed.
“He embraced it. He beloved being Agarn” and relished doing work with his co-stars, mentioned Beckoff. Storch was the “kindest, sweetest human being,” who constantly experienced time for autograph-seekers and was generous to people in have to have, he explained.
Storch’s credits bundled “Funny Valentine,” “Sweet 16,” “Sex and the One Lady,” “S.O.B.,” “Airport,” “Treasure Island” and “Oliver Twist.” On Tv set, he visitor-starred on these reveals as “Married… With Youngsters,” “Archie Bunker’s Position,” “Trapper John, M.D.,” “Fantasy Island,” CHiPS,” “The Love Boat,” “Get Smart,” “Love American Design and style,” “Gilligan’s Island” and “Car 54 Wherever Are You?”
His numerous theater appearances ranged from a brutal detective in a 1983 Broadway revival of “Porgy and Bess” to Main Sitting down Bull in the 2000 revival of “Annie Get Your Gun” with Reba McEntire.
Storch reported in a 1998 job interview that he was amazed to be regarded for an Army comedy such as “F Troop,” with it remaining very well recognized that he served in the Navy through Globe War II. “All I understood about horses was that they give milk and can bite from both equally ends,” he quipped.
In truth, it was his Navy service that had tremendously boosted his career. All through the war, he experienced satisfied a radio operator in the Marshall Islands named Bernie Schwartz who had advised him, “I’m heading to be a motion picture star.” Storch, previously a seasoned comic on the vacation resort circuit, had tried to chat him out of it, warning him that the business could be rough.
They achieved once again immediately after the war, and Schwartz, who by now had changed his identify to Tony Curtis, remembered the amusing male from the islands. Storch went on to look in eight of Curtis’ videos, including “Captain Newman,” “Who Was That Girl?” and “The Fantastic Race.”
Laurence Samuel Storch was born in New York City wherever, he recalled proudly, he went on to turn out to be class clown at DeWitt Clinton High College and “was invited not to come back again.”
He practiced his comedy in Harlem theaters for $2 a night ahead of graduating to the famed coaching ground for comedians of his era, the Catskills.
His to start with big break arrived on Television set in the early 1950s with “The Cavalcade of Stars,” with Jackie Gleason. That led to “The Larry Storch Display,” a 1953 summer sequence. Normal film and Tv set do the job adopted.
Storch was married to Norma Greve from 1961 right until her death in 2003.
The late Related Push author Bob Thomas contributed to this report.
