Larry Richard Drake (February 21, 1950 – March 17, 2016) was an American actor and comedian. He was best known as Benny Stulwicz in '' L.A. Law'', 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. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

s. He also appeared as Robert G. Durant in both ''

Darkman ''Darkman'' is a 1990 American superhero film directed and co-written by Sam Raimi. Based on a short story Raimi wrote that paid homage to Universal's horror films of the 1930s, the film stars Liam Neeson as scientist Peyton Westlake, who i ...

'' and '' Darkman II: The Return of Durant'', a homicidal mental patient who escapes an insane asylum in the

slasher Slasher may refer to: * Slasher (basketball), a style of play in basketball * Slasher film, a subgenre of the horror film * Slasher (tool), a scrub-clearing implement * ''Slasher'' (2004 film), a 2004 documentary film * ''Slasher'' (2007 film ...

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

'' 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 and distributed by Warner Bros. Domestic Television Distribution. It is the second of the network's Cartoon Cartoons, which aired fr ...

''.

Early life

Larry Richard Drake was born in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region wit ...

, on February 21, 1950, 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 and 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, day-to-day operations of a hous ...

. He graduated from Tulsa Edison High School and the

University of Oklahoma , mottoeng = "For the benefit of the Citizen and the State" , type = Public research university , established = , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.7billion (2021) , pr ...

Career

Drake is mostly remembered for his portrayal of

developmentally disabled Developmental disability is a diverse group of chronic conditions, comprising mental or physical impairments that arise before adulthood. Developmental disabilities cause individuals living with them many difficulties in certain areas of life, espe ...

Benny Stulwicz in '' L.A. Law'', 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 This is a list of winners and nominees of the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series. In early Primetime Emmy Award ceremonies, the supporting categories were not always genre, or even gender, specific. Beginning ...

. in 1988 and 1989. He returned to the role of Benny in '' L.A. Law: The Movie'', a "reunion movie" that aired on

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...

in 2002. He appeared in numerous film and television roles, including ''Time Quest'', ''Dark Asylum'', ''Paranoid'', ''

Bean A bean is the seed of several plants in the family Fabaceae, which are used as vegetables for human or animal food. They can be cooked in many different ways, including boiling, frying, and baking, and are used in many traditional dishes th ...

'', '' Overnight Delivery'', '' The Beast'', ''The Journey of August King'', ''Murder in New Hampshire'', '' Dr. Giggles'', ''

'', '' 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 drunk ...

'', ''

American Pie 2 ''American Pie 2'' is a 2001 American sex comedy film directed by James B. Rogers and written by Adam Herz and David H. Steinberg from a story by Herz. A sequel to the 1999 comedy film '' American Pie'', it is the second film in the ''American ...

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

Prey Predation is a biological interaction where 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 kill ...

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

''. In 2007, he co-starred in ''

Gryphon The griffin, griffon, or gryphon ( Ancient Greek: , ''gryps''; Classical Latin: ''grȳps'' or ''grȳpus''; Late and Medieval Latin: ''gryphes'', ''grypho'' etc.; Old French: ''griffon'') is a legendary creature with the body, tail, and ...

'', 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'' 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" bookend segments filmed in Wilmington, Nort ...

'' and ''

Planes, Trains and Automobiles ''Planes, Trains and Automobiles'' is a 1987 American comedy film written, produced and directed by John Hughes and starring Steve Martin and John Candy with supporting roles by Laila Robins and Michael McKean. It tells the story of a high-stru ...

''.

Death

On March 17, 2016, Drake was found dead in his Los Angeles home at the age of 66. Drake's manager, Steven Siebert, reported that the actor had some health problems in the months before his death. It was later reported that Drake suffered from a rare form of blood cancer that caused his blood to thicken.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Drake, Larry 1950 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 Deaths from 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