John Larroquette
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Biography
John Larroquette spent a majority of his acting career in the courtroom, playing crude and sex-obsessed Dan Fielding in "Night Court" (NBC, 1984-1992). The tall actor won four Emmy Awards for Best Supporting Actor as the hilariously vulgar Assistant District Attorney on the long-running courtroom comedy. Larroquette won his fifth Emmy in 1998 as a guest star on two episodes of another legal themed series "The Practice" (ABC, 1997-2004). In 2007, after having played everything from a bus driver to a detective to a Klingon, the TV veteran made a triumphant return to the courtroom when he joined the cast of "Boston Legal" (ABC, 2004-09). He also shined in non-legal roles, starring as a recovering alcoholic in the darkly funny sitcom "The John Larroquette Show" (NBC 1993-96) and as a newly-retired inventor on "Me, Myself and I" (CS 2017- ).
John Bernard Larroquette was born on Nov. 25, 1947 in New Orleans, LA to Bertha Oramous, a department store clerk, and John Edgar Larroquette, who served in the U.S. Navy. As a child, the actor loved music and played reed instruments while growing up in the South. After a brief time in the Naval Reserve, he started working as a radio disc jockey immediately after high school, soon landing several jobs in film and television doing voiceovers. In 1974, a year after moving to Los Angeles, CA, Larroquette narrated Tobe Hooper's cult flick "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre," yet his role was uncredited. Several years later, the actor finally got the credit he deserved when he was asked to narrate the horror film's 2003 remake, and again three years later with "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning" (2006).
The mid 1970s marked a major change in Larroquette's career; moving from voiceover work to appearing on camera. He made his network TV debut as Dr. Paul Herman in the soap opera "Doctor's Hospital" (NBC, 1975-76), followed by a recurring role in "Baa Baa Black Sheep" (NBC, 1976-78), where he played Lt. Robert Anderson. Larroquette rounded out the rest of the decade and up to the early 1980s with appearances in several hit TV shows of that time, including "Three's Company" (ABC, 1977-1984), "Fantasy Island" (ABC, 1978-1984), and "Dallas" (CBS, 1978-1991). He also kept busy with film work, appearing in comedies such as "Stripes" (1981) and "Meatballs 2" (1984).
Larroquette eventually caught the attention of NBC and the producers of "Night Court," who cast him as the hilariously ill-mannered Dan Fielding. The role was a career highlight for the New Orleans native, and one that earned him a record-making four Emmy wins in a row between 1985 and 1988. The actor asked not to be considered for the award in 1989, yet remained a central part of the show's ratings success and an audience favorite. Larroquette, along with costars Harry Anderson and Richard Moll, appeared in every episode of the series - but with Fielding, it was often spent leering at women or hitting on his fellow attorney, Christine Sullivan (Markie Post). The rare instances when Fielding wore his heart on his sleeve were even highly effective, but the greatest laughs derived from his callous disregard for anything other than winning his case or wooing women. Between seasons, Larroquette continued his film work, joining the cast of "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" (1984) as Klingon officer Maltz and appearing in Blake Edwards' "Blind Date" (1987). In 1991, the actor played a Johnny Carson-type talk show host in Oliver Stone's "JFK," but his part was cut from the theatrical version. The scene was later added in the director's cut on DVD, and the actor wrote a letter to Carson himself, telling him how he inspired the role.
After "Night Court" ended in 1992, Larroquette was offered his own show on the peacock network. "The John Larroquette Show" (NBC, 1993-96) had a much darker tone compared to the slapstick comedy of "Night Court," with the actor playing the role of John Hemingway, a recovering alcoholic who worked at a St. Louis, MO bus station. It was a character that hit close to home for Larroquette, who battled alcoholism as a young man. "I was known to have a cocktail or 60," he once joked.
After years acting in film and television, Larroquette showed his theatrical talent, starring in the 1989 production "Happy Jack." It was the first time since moving to Los Angeles and appearing in local theater productions of "The Crucible" and "Enter Laughing" that the actor had acted on stage. "Happy Jack" was a critical success, receiving several Dramalogue nominations after its release. It also gave Larroquette the opportunity to work opposite his wife, actress Elizabeth Ann Cookson. The couple had three children and lived in L.A., where the actor stored his collection of rare books, and antique fountain pens, cameras, photographs, and watches. His love for collectibles - including over 5,000 first edition books by writers such as Samuel Beckett, Charles Bukowski, and Anthony Burgess - made him the ideal host of A&E's "The Incurable Collector" a series that ran from 2001-04.
Larroquette's portrayal of a wisecracking psychopath who killed his gay lovers on a 1998 episode of "The Practice" won the actor his fifth Emmy and his first for a non-comedic role. He then went on to star in a series of crime-solving movies as Mike McBride for Hallmark Channel's "McBride" between 2005 and 2007, as well as appear in independent films such as "Southland Tales" (2006) and "The Rapture of the Athlete Assume into Heaven" (2007).
"The Practice" creator David E. Kelley asked Larroquette to join the cast of its spin-off show, "Boston Legal" in 2007. He played Carl Sack, a senior partner from the New York offices of Crane Poole & Schmidt, who transfers to the Boston office. The role reunited Larroquette with his former "Star Trek" costar William Shatner and the two proceeded to one-up each other to great effect on screen. After the series ended in 2008, Larroquette stayed busy as a guest actor on various comedies and dramas before taking a recurring role on lighthearted adventure fantasy series "The Librarians" (TNT 2014- ). He returned to network television on the sitcom "Me Myself and I" (CBS 2017-18), but the series -- following the life of an aspiring inventor as a teenager, middle-aged man and retiree -- received mixed reviews and was pulled from the schedule midway through its first season.
Filmography
Director (Feature Film)
Cast (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1975
Made TV series debut as a regular on "Doctors' Hospital"
1976
Played squadron member Robert Anderson on the war drama series "Baa Baa Black Sheep"
1979
Made TV-movie debut in "The 416th"
1979
Made his feature acting debut in "Heart Beat"
1981
Played an incompetent commanding officer in the comedy "Stripes," starring alongside Bill Murray and Harold Ramis
1984
Played lawyer Dan Fielding on the long-running sitcom "Night Court"
1986
Made TV directorial debut with an episode of "Night Court"
1987
Played Kim Basinger's obsessed ex-boyfriend in the comedy "Blind Date"
1989
Co-starred on stage with his wife in a Los Angeles production of "Happy Jack"
1989
Had first lead role in a feature in "Second Sight"
1990
Co-starred with Kirstie Alley as a married couple in "Madhouse"
1993
Starred as John Hemingway in the series "The John Larroquette Show" (NBC), first credit as an executive producer
1994
Had a supporting role in "Richie Rich," a live-action film based on the Harvey Comics comic book character
1997
Had memorable guest role as a gay man accused of murdering his lover on the "The Practice" (ABC)
1999
Returned to series TV in the short-lived sitcom "Payne"
2003
Cast as the family patriarch in the short lived comedy "Happy Family" (NBC)
2004
Played the title role in the "McBride" series of American TV movies
2007
Co-starred in Richard Kelly's ensemble "Southland Tales"
2007
Joined the cast of of ABC's "Boston Legal" as a senior partner from the New York offices
2010
Was cast in the off-Broadway premiere of Elizabeth Meriwether's "Oliver!"
2011
Made his Broadway debut as Daniel Radcliffe's boss in the revival of "How To Succeed In Business Without Really Trying"; earned a Tony nomination for Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Musical
2013
Played Senator Dwight Haverstock on "Deception"
2015
Was cast as Robert Kittredge on the sitcom "The Brink"
2017
Played an older Alex on "Me, Myseld and I"
Family
Companions
