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Actor

1950-02-21 · Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA · Male

22 series in the catalog

Lawrence Richard Drake (February 21, 1950 – March 17, 2016) was an American actor. He was best known for his role as Benny Stulwicz in L.A. Law, for which he won two Primetime Emmy Awards. 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 Dr. Giggles, and was the voice of Pops in Johnny Bravo.

Early life

Larry Richard Drake was born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, on February 21, 1950, the son of Raymond John Drake, a drafting engineer for an oil company, and Lorraine Ruth (née Burns), a homemaker. He graduated from Tulsa Edison High School and the University of Oklahoma.

Career

Drake is mostly remembered for his portrayal of developmentally disabled 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. 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, 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, American Pie 2, and Dark Night of the Scarecrow. He was a regular on Prey. Drake provided the voice of Pops in Johnny Bravo. In 2007, he co-starred in Gryphon, a Sci-Fi Pictures original film.

Drake also performed frequently on stage at theaters including South Coast Repertory, Old Globe Theatre, Los Angeles Theatre Center, and the Dallas Theater Center, with more than 100 roles over the course of his career.

He also wrote plays, including the comedies Whodunnit, Darling? and Double Entendre, both co-written with Charles Edward Pogue.

Drake was a longtime student of acting teacher and coach Stephen Book and his Improvisation Technique, the application of improvisation to scripted acting. In 2003, Drake became Book's assistant at the Stephen Book Acting Workshop in Hollywood and in 2006 began teaching his own classes there as well. He continued teaching at the workshop until his death.

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 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 that caused his blood to thicken.

Larry Drake at Find a Grave