As a kid in the 1930s growing up in a tough New York neighborhood, kinetic wiseguy Larry Storch took in the multi-ethnic flavor of his surroundings and started blurting out various accents as a juvenile to provoke laughs and earn attention. Little did he know that this early talent would take him on a six-decade journey as a prime actor and comedian. Larry's gift as an impressionist paid off early as a teen in vaudeville houses. Following military duty during WWII as a seaman from 1961 until her death from cancer in 2003.
A staunch New Yorker, he likes to play his sax in Riverside Park.
Stepfather of June Cross and Lynda Gravatt.
Started out as an M.C. in burlesque houses in New York. When television came along, many clubs closed because patrons were staying home to watch the new invention, so Storch started working in the new medium.
During WWII he served on a submarine tender, the USS Proteus, with Tony Curtis. They became lifelong friends. Storch and Curtis have appeared in eight movies together, and, in 2003 both were in the (theatrical) musical version of Some Like It Hot that toured across the country.
Older brother of actor Jay Lawrence.
Attended the 2007 Twilight Zone Convention at the Hilton Hasbrouck Heights, Hasbrouck Heights, NJ, August 4-5, 2007.
Inadvertently set in motion the Cary Grant line, "Judy, Judy, Judy... " during one of his nightclub acts. Legend has it that Storch was in the middle of a Grant impersonation when Judy Garland walked in. Apparently, this is how he addressed the star. Even though the line was never said in any of Grants movies, Storchs impression inexplicably stuck and was often used by other impressionists.
According to the liner notes of the Columbia/Sony CD of the original cast album of "Flower Drum Song," Storch was signed for the role of Sammy Fong. He was replaced during the plays out-of-town tryouts by Larry Blyden (ironically, Jack Soo , who had a small part in the original, ended up playing the role of Sammy Fong in the film adaptation).
As of January 2010, was living in the Upper West Side of New York City.
His Hollywood Hills residence was located in Nichols Canyon. He would stand on his back deck and practice blowing his horns. Entertainer and tenor John Castello built a hill-top enclave at the top of Nichols Canyon on Solar Drive. Entertaining guests for dinner, the sounds of a sax and a trumpet would break the night silence of the hill-top wind! Guests would ask, "Whos playing the horn?" Nonchalantly, Castello would reply, "Oh, thats only Larry !".
His best known role remains that of Cpl. Randolph Agarn, the bumbling sidekick of the double-dealing Sgt. Morgan ORourke (Forrest Tucker ) on the 1965-67 sitcom "F Troop" . On Thursday night, September 11, 2014, 91-year=old Storch made his final L.A. stand-up performance at the Comedy Store on the Sunset Strip. Five days later he received his star on the Palm Springs Walk of Fame. The Comedy Store show, "Larry Storch Live: At Ease, Boys and Girls!" featured appearances by Bernie Kopell , Hank Garrett , Bob Burns, Ken Berry --who starred with him as the hapless Capt. Wilton Parmenter on "F Troop"--and Marion Ross. Berry, who introduced Storch to the Comedy Club audience, had been a longtime fan of his comedy and impressions even before "F Troop." Berry said, "He used to do things like The Ed Sullivan Show. I never saw anyone work like that before. Working with Larry and some of those other guys was great--it was like recess every day." Hank Garrett, who performed some of his own stand-up material, worked with Storch when the comedian guest starred in the 1961-63 NBC sitcom "Car 54, Where Are You?" (Garrett played Officer Ed Nicholson on the comedy series). I learned so much watching Larry," said Garrett, who, like Berry, has remained close with Storch. "I call him all the time. Hes an amazing guy--and at 91 he does yoga head-stands." The Comedy Store played an important part in Storchs early career. Then known as the famed Ciros nightclub, it was where Storch made his first professional comedy appearance there serving in the U.S. Navy on the submarine tender USS Proteus (AS-19) during World War II (one of his fellow crew members was Tony Curtis ). "I wanted to hitchhike across the country [to New York City] in my sailors uniform because nobody would refuse a sailor," said Storch. As fate would have it, bandleader Phil Harris picked him up in Los Angeles. "Phil Harris said, Get in sailor, after Storch told Phil he was heading to New York City. Harris said, Your first stop will be Palm Springs. On the way to the desert, Storch told Harris about his comedy background and did his impressions. "When we got to Palm Springs, he turned the car around and said were going back to Hollywood," said Storch. "He takes me to Ciros nightclub, and sitting in an empty room was Lucille Ball listening to her husband Desi Arnaz rehearse the band for tomorrow evenings opening. I did Frank Morgan and various other notable actors. Lucille Ball said lose the sailor suit, get into a blue suit and be here tomorrow at 8 p.m. You will lead off, and Des will follow you onstage. Thats the way it worked out".
He kept his classmates at DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx in stitches with his impressions of such famed actors as Claude Rains and Basil Rathbone and "The Wizart of Oz" himself, Frank Morgan. "Thats why I never graduated," he quipped, "I was invited never to come back. My mother wanted me to stay in high school and get a diploma. The principal told her my record was so bad, let him go out and learn what hes going to be in life." So at the age of 17 Storch made his professional debut doing impressions at a strip joint in Albany, NY. The audience wasnt quite as receptive as his schoolmates. "When the boss found out that all I did was impressions and nothing on the dirty side, he took me aside and said, Larry, you are a nice kid, and I like you, but Im afraid Ive got to fire you. I was fired opening night on my very first job in show business".
