Larry Ward (October 3, 1924 – February 16, 1985) was an American

actor An actor (masculine/gender-neutral), or actress (feminine), is a person who portrays a character in a production. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. ...

who appeared in many

film A film, also known as a movie or motion picture, is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, emotions, or atmosphere through the use of moving images that are generally, sinc ...

s and

television series A television show, TV program (), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming plat ...

. He was sometimes credited under the name Ward Gaynor.

Biography

Ward was born in Columbus,

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

. His father was a former

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

coach and a member of the

Ohio State Senate The Ohio Senate is the upper house of the Ohio General Assembly. The State Senate, which meets in the Ohio Statehouse in Columbus, Ohio, Columbus, first convened in 1803. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered every two years such t ...

. Ward studied at a number of universities before joining the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

, where he served for three years. Enrolling in the

American Theatre Wing The American Theatre Wing (the Wing for short) is a New York City–based non-profit organization "dedicated to supporting excellence and education in theatre", according to its mission statement. Originally known as the Stage Women's War Relief ...

under the G.I. Bill of Rights, Ward soon appeared in several outstanding productions. He turned his talents to writing but also kept his hand in the acting profession by appearing in a television

soap opera A soap opera (also called a daytime drama or soap) is a genre of a long-running radio or television Serial (radio and television), serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term ''soap opera'' originat ...

titled ''

The Brighter Day ''The Brighter Day'' is an American daytime soap opera which aired on CBS from January 4, 1954, to September 28, 1962. Originally created for NBC Radio by Irna Phillips in 1948, the radio and television versions ran simultaneously from 1954&ndas ...

'' in 1954. Here he played a character called Dr. Randy Hamilton, but Ward had his sights set on

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

and left the show in 1957 when his character died of a

myocardial infarction A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

. Ward got his break in 1962 while he was visiting the

Warner Brothers Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

studio to discuss a film script with producer Jules Schermer, who was so impressed with his appearance that he gave him a minor part as Blake Stevens in the episode "The Holdout" of the western series '' Lawman'', starring John Russell and Peter Brown, which was filming the following morning during its last season on the air. This break was followed by minor roles in other TV series, and in 1963 Schermer gave Ward the starring role of U.S. Marshal Frank Ragan in a new western series called ''

The Dakotas The Dakotas, also known as simply Dakota, is a collective term for the U.S. states of North Dakota and South Dakota. It has been used historically to describe the Dakota Territory, and is still used for the collective heritage, culture, geo ...

'', which also featured Chad Everett, Mike Greene, and

Jack Elam William Scott "Jack" Elam (November 13, 1920 – October 20, 2003) was an American film and television actor best known for his numerous roles as villains in Western films and, later in his career, comedies (sometimes spoofing his villaino ...

as Ward's deputies. The series was suddenly canceled after a public outcry over the nineteenth episode, in which a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deity, deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in parti ...

was injured during a gunfight at a church. In the 1966–1967 season, Ward guest starred on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a subsidiary of Comcast. It is one of NBCUniversal's ...

series '' The Road West'' in the episode entitled "Shaman". In 1966, he appeared as a guest star on season 1 of Lost in Space, in the episode "All That Glitters" with Werner Klemplerer from "Hogan's Heroes". In 1976, Ward appeared in an episode of the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

western series '' Sara''. His last on-screen appearances were on two episodes in 1982 of CBSs ''

M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (an acronym for Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richa ...

''. Ward died at the age of 60 in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, in 1985.

Filmography

Film

* '' A Distant Trumpet'' (1964) - Sgt. Kroger * '' Hombre'' (1967) - Soldier * '' Kill the Wicked!'' (1967) - Benny Hudson * ''Non sta bene rubare il tesoro'' (1967) - Bill * ''Sapevano solo uccidere'' (1968) - Saguaro * '' Five for Hell'' (1969) - Thompson (English version, voice, uncredited) * ''Macabre'' (1969) - Peter and John * '' Naked Violence'' (1969) - Sampero (English version, voice, uncredited) * '' Blackie the Pirate'' (1971) - Blackie (English version, voice, uncredited) * ''

A Bay of Blood A, or a, is the first letter and the first vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, and others worldwide. Its name in English is '' a'' (pronounced ), plural ''aes''. It is similar in shape to the Ancient ...

'' (1971) - Simon (English version, voice, uncredited) * '' Caliber 9'' (1972) - Fonzino and Masucci (English version, voice, uncredited) * '' The Deathhead Virgin'' (1974) - Frank Cutter * '' Mister Scarface'' (1976) - (English version, voice, uncredited)

Television

* '' Have Gun Will Travel'' (1962) - S6/E7: "Memories of Monica" as Monica's (

Judi Meredith Judi Clare Meredith (born Judith Clare Boutin; October 13, 1936 – April 30, 2014) was an American actress. Early life Born on October 13, 1936, to Herbert Boutin and Janice M. Starr in Portland, Oregon, Meredith graduated from St. Mary's Acad ...

) ex-boyfriend who is released from prison and is determined to take her away from her husband, the sheriff (

Bing Russell Neil Oliver "Bing" Russell (May 5, 1926 – April 8, 2003) was an American actor and Class A minor-league baseball club owner. He was the father of Hollywood actor Kurt Russell and grandfather of ex–major league baseball player Matt Franco ...

). * '' The Outer Limits'' (1964) – S2/E14: "Counterweight" as Keith Ellis * ''

Gunsmoke ''Gunsmoke'' is an American radio and television Western drama series created by director Norman Macdonnell and writer John Meston. It centered on Dodge City, Kansas, in the 1870s, during the settlement of the American West. The central charact ...

'' (1965) - “The New Society” as Sid Pierce * ''

Lost in Space ''Lost in Space'' is an American science fiction television series created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. Lightly dramatic, sometimes comedic in tone, the series was inspired by the 1812 J ...

'' (1965) – "All That Glitters" as Ohan * '' The Fugitive'' (1965) - S3/E15: "When The Wind Blows" as Steve Jackson * ''

The Time Tunnel ''The Time Tunnel'' is an American color science-fiction television series written around a theme of time travel adventure; it starred James Darren and Robert Colbert. The show was creator-producer Irwin Allen's third science-fiction televisi ...

'' (1966) – "One Way To the Moon" as Colonel Kane * '' The Invaders'' (1967) - "The Condemned" as Detective Carter * ''

Land of the Giants ''Land of the Giants'' is a one-hour American science fiction television series that aired on ABC for two seasons, beginning on September 22, 1968, and ending on March 22, 1970. The show was created and produced by Irwin Allen. ''Land of the G ...

'' (1969) – "Shell Game" as Talf Ekorb * ''

The Virginian (TV series) ''The Virginian'' (later renamed ''The Men from Shiloh'' in its final year) is an American Westerns on television, Western television series starring James Drury in the title role, along with Doug McClure, Lee J. Cobb, and others. It originall ...

'' (1969) saison 7 episode 16 ''(Last grave at socorro creek)'' : Bill Burden * ''

'' (1970) saison 8 épisode 20 ''(No war for the warrior)'' : Sheriff Gray * '' Sara'' (1976) – "The Mountain Man" as Joe * ''

'' (1982) - "Where There's a Will, There's a War" as General Kratzer * ''M*A*S*H'' (1982) - " The Moon Is Not Blue" as General Rothaker (final appearance)

External links

*
Larry Ward
at Find a Grave {{DEFAULTSORT:Ward, Larry 1924 births 1985 deaths Male actors from Columbus, Ohio American male film actors American male television actors Male actors from Greater Los Angeles United States Navy sailors 20th-century American male actors Warner Bros. contract players Burials at Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery United States Navy personnel of World War II Members of the English Language Dubbers Association of Rome