Larry Richard Drake (February 21, 1949 – March 17, 2016) was an American actor. He was best known as Benny Stulwicz in ''

L.A. Law ''L.A. Law'' is an American legal drama television series created by Steven Bochco and Terry Louise Fisher for NBC. It ran for eight seasons and List of L.A. Law episodes, 172 episodes from September 15, 1986, to May 19, 1994. The series cente ...

'', for which he won two

Primetime Emmy Award The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Owned and operated by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the P ...

s. He also appeared as Robert G. Durant in both '' Darkman'' and '' Darkman II: The Return of Durant'', a homicidal mental patient who escapes an insane asylum in the slasher

black comedy Black comedy, also known as black humor, bleak comedy, dark comedy, dark humor, gallows humor or morbid humor, is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally ...

'' Dr. Giggles'', and was the voice of Pops in ''

Johnny Bravo ''Johnny Bravo'' is an American animated comedy television series created by Van Partible for Cartoon Network. The second of the network's Cartoon Cartoons, it aired from July 14, 1997, to August 27, 2004. The titular Johnny Bravo (voiced by ...

''.

Early life

Larry Richard Drake was born in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

, on February 21, 1949, the son of Raymond John Drake, a drafting engineer for an oil company, and Lorraine Ruth (née Burns), a

homemaker Homemaking is mainly an American English, American and Canadian English, Canadian term for the management of a home, otherwise known as housework, housekeeping, housewifery or household management. It is the act of overseeing the organizational ...

. He graduated from Tulsa Edison High School and the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma, United States. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two territories became the ...

Career

Drake is mostly remembered for his portrayal of developmentally disabled Benny Stulwicz in ''

'', from 1987 until the show's end in 1994, for which he twice won the

Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series The Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series is an award presented by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS). In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre, or ...

. in 1988 and 1989. He returned to the role of Benny in the 2002 reunion film '' L.A. Law: The Movie''. He appeared in numerous film and television roles, including ''Time Quest'', ''Dark Asylum'', ''Paranoid'', ''

Bean A bean is the seed of some plants in the legume family (Fabaceae) used as a vegetable for human consumption or animal feed. The seeds are often preserved through drying (a ''pulse''), but fresh beans are also sold. Dried beans are traditi ...

'', '' Overnight Delivery'', '' The Beast'', ''The Journey of August King'', ''Murder in New Hampshire'', '' Dr. Giggles'', '' Darkman'', '' Darkman II: The Return of Durant'', ''

The Taming of the Shrew ''The Taming of the Shrew'' is a comedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1590 and 1592. The play begins with a framing device, often referred to as the induction, in which a mischievous nobleman tricks a drunke ...

'', '' American Pie 2'', and '' Dark Night of the Scarecrow''. He was a regular on ''

Prey Predation is a biological interaction in which one organism, the predator, kills and eats another organism, its prey. It is one of a family of common feeding behaviours that includes parasitism and micropredation (which usually do not ki ...

''. Drake provided the voice of Pops in ''

''. In 2007, he co-starred in '' Gryphon'', a Sci-Fi Pictures original film.

Personal life

Drake was married from 1989 to 1991 to Ruth de Sosa, an actress and producer known for her roles in ''

The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles ''The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles'' (sometimes referred to as ''Young Indy'') is an American television series that aired on ABC from March 4, 1992, to July 24, 1993. Filming took place in various locations around the world, with "Old Indy" ...

'' and '' Planes, Trains and Automobiles''.

Death

On March 17, 2016, Drake was found dead in his Los Angeles home at the age of 67. Drake's manager, Steven Siebert, reported that he had some health problems in the months before his death. It was later reported that Drake had a rare form of

blood cancer Tumors of the hematopoietic and lymphoid tissues (American English) or tumours of the haematopoietic and lymphoid tissues (British English) are tumors that affect the blood, bone marrow, lymph, and lymphatic system. Because these tissues are al ...

that caused his blood to thicken.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Larry 1949 births 2016 deaths American male comedians American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors Burials at Hollywood Forever Cemetery Deaths from blood cancer in California Outstanding Performance by a Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Primetime Emmy Award winners Male actors from Tulsa, Oklahoma University of Oklahoma alumni 20th-century American comedians 21st-century American comedians 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Edison Preparatory School alumni Comedians from Tulsa, Oklahoma