# Larry Storch
**Larry Storch** (born Lawrence Samuel Storch; January 8, 1923 – July 8, 2022) was an American actor and comedian best known for playing the bumbling Corporal Randolph Agarn on the 1960s ABC sitcom *F Troop* and for voicing Mr. Whoopee on the cartoon series *Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales*.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/larry-storch) He had been performing since the 1930s, starting out in burlesque venues as a comedian and impressionist, and went on to do stand-up, appear on television hundreds of times, take roles in movies and on stage, and provide voices for animated films.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/08/comic-actor-larry-storch-dies/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Born / died | January 8, 1923, New York City; July 8, 2022, at his home in Manhattan, at age 99[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/larry-storch) • [2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/08/comic-actor-larry-storch-dies/) |
| Signature role | Corporal Randolph Agarn on *F Troop* (ABC, 1965–67, two seasons)[3](https://www.tvline.com/news/larry-storch-dead-obituary-f-troop-corporal-agarn-1234849594/) |
| Emmy nomination | Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series, 1967, for *F Troop*[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/larry-storch) |
| Voice work | Mr. Whoopee on *Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales*; first voice of the Joker in the 1960s *The Adventures of Batman* cartoons[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/larry-storch) • [4](https://obits.dallasnews.com/news/larry-storch-1923-2022-star-of-f-troop) |
| Military service | More than three years in the U.S. Navy during World War II, aboard the submarine tender *Proteus*[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/08/comic-actor-larry-storch-dies/) • [5](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-navy/2022/07/08/navy-wwii-vet-larry-storch-who-found-fame-playing-a-soldier-on-tv-dies-at-99/) |
| Early TV work | Replaced Jackie Gleason as host of *Cavalcade of Stars*; hosted his own summer series, *The Larry Storch Show*, in 1953[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/08/comic-actor-larry-storch-dies/) • [6](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/TV-Stars-The-Complete-Directory-to-Prime-Time-1964-Present-B--221117.pdf) |
## Early life and start in comedy
Storch was born January 8, 1923, in New York City, the son of a realtor and a telephone operator. He attended DeWitt Clinton High School in the Bronx, where a classmate was the future comic actor [Don Adams](https://www.edgepedia.org/don-adams), and dropped out as a teenager to perform as an impressionist.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/08/comic-actor-larry-storch-dies/) He credited his ear for accents to the rooming house his mother ran on West 77th Street: many of the tenants were immigrants, and the communal telephone sat right outside the family's apartment, where he listened to the accents for hours.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/08/comic-actor-larry-storch-dies/)
His professional debut came at 17, doing impressions at a strip club in [Albany, New York](https://www.edgepedia.org/albany-new-york); he was fired on opening night when the owner learned his act contained nothing on the "dirty side".[7](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-larry-storch-la-comedy-20140910-story.html) He worked nightclubs from Boston to Miami and taught himself the saxophone, and he practiced in Harlem theaters for $2 a night before graduating to the Catskills resorts, the training ground for comedians of his era.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/08/comic-actor-larry-storch-dies/) • [5](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-navy/2022/07/08/navy-wwii-vet-larry-storch-who-found-fame-playing-a-soldier-on-tv-dies-at-99/)
**Navy service.** During World War II Storch served more than three years in the Navy aboard the submarine tender *Proteus*. One shipmate was a fellow New Yorker named Bernie Schwartz, who spoke of wanting to be an actor; Storch advised him to leave the business. Schwartz became the film star [Tony Curtis](https://www.edgepedia.org/tony-curtis), who later remembered his funny shipmate.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/08/comic-actor-larry-storch-dies/) According to Storch's own account, he and Curtis were aboard the *Proteus* in [Tokyo Bay](https://www.edgepedia.org/tokyo-bay) on September 2, 1945, and witnessed Japan's formal surrender from the nearby battleship *Missouri*.[5](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-navy/2022/07/08/navy-wwii-vet-larry-storch-who-found-fame-playing-a-soldier-on-tv-dies-at-99/)
## Television career
In the early 1950s Storch replaced [Jackie Gleason](https://www.edgepedia.org/jackie-gleason) as host of the variety program *Cavalcade of Stars* and briefly hosted his own show, *The Larry Storch Show*, in 1953, but neither led to a lasting series. He worked in television guest spots and small film parts through the decade.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/08/comic-actor-larry-storch-dies/) • [6](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/TV-Stars-The-Complete-Directory-to-Prime-Time-1964-Present-B--221117.pdf) Tony Curtis cast him in supporting roles in several of his films, including *40 Pounds of Trouble*, *Captain Newman, M.D.*, *Sex and the Single Girl*, and *The Great Race*.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/08/comic-actor-larry-storch-dies/)
**F Troop.** The western comedy *F Troop*, which premiered on ABC on September 14, 1965, made Storch a household name.[3](https://www.tvline.com/news/larry-storch-dead-obituary-f-troop-corporal-agarn-1234849594/) • [4](https://obits.dallasnews.com/news/larry-storch-1923-2022-star-of-f-troop) Set at the fictional Fort Courage, a post-Civil War Army outpost in the Old West, the show starred [Ken Berry](https://www.edgepedia.org/ken-berry) as the inept Captain Parmenter, Forrest Tucker as the scheming Sergeant O'Rourke, and Storch as Corporal Agarn, O'Rourke's daft sidekick and protégé.[3](https://www.tvline.com/news/larry-storch-dead-obituary-f-troop-corporal-agarn-1234849594/) • [8](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Encyclopedias/Les-Brown-Television/Encyclopedia-of-Television-Brown-3rd-1992.pdf) With his expressive face and gift for mimicry, Storch played Agarn as something between a rogue and a buffoon, and he emerged as the show's comic star.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/08/comic-actor-larry-storch-dies/) He also periodically played Agarn's lookalike cousins, including a Russian, a French-Canadian, and a Mexican relative.[3](https://www.tvline.com/news/larry-storch-dead-obituary-f-troop-corporal-agarn-1234849594/)
The show ran two seasons and was canceled, but it became a favorite in syndicated reruns, which continued for decades; a 1970 *Time* article listed *F Troop* among the series already running daily as reruns.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/08/comic-actor-larry-storch-dies/) • [9](https://time.com/6258549/sesame-street-time-cover-1970/) Storch received a 1967 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Continued Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Comedy Series; Don Adams won that year for *Get Smart*.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/larry-storch) • [10](https://www.televisionacademy.com/awards/nominees-winners/1967/outstanding-lead-actor-in-a-comedy-series) Storch said in a 1998 interview that he had been surprised to be cast in an Army comedy at all, since his Navy service was well known, quipping, "All I knew about horses was that they give milk and can bite from both ends."[5](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-navy/2022/07/08/navy-wwii-vet-larry-storch-who-found-fame-playing-a-soldier-on-tv-dies-at-99/)
## Later work
Storch worked steadily in television guest roles for decades, appearing on series including *Car 54, Where Are You?*, *Get Smart*, *The Doris Day Show*, *The Love Boat*, *Fantasy Island*, *CHiPs*, and *Married... with Children*, on which he played himself in a 1995 episode.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/08/comic-actor-larry-storch-dies/) • [3](https://www.tvline.com/news/larry-storch-dead-obituary-f-troop-corporal-agarn-1234849594/) In 1975 he was reunited with Tucker for the live-action Saturday-morning series *The Ghost Busters*, which had no connection to the 1984 film *Ghostbusters*.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/08/comic-actor-larry-storch-dies/) • [6](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/TV-Stars-The-Complete-Directory-to-Prime-Time-1964-Present-B--221117.pdf)
**Voice acting.** His skill with impressions carried into animation. He voiced Mr. Whoopee, the encyclopedic teacher figure on *Tennessee Tuxedo and His Tales*, and was the first voice of the Joker in the 1960s *The Adventures of Batman* cartoons; other credits included *[The Pink Panther Show](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-pink-panther-show)*, *The Brady Kids*, and *Scooby-Doo*.[1](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/larry-storch) • [4](https://obits.dallasnews.com/news/larry-storch-1923-2022-star-of-f-troop)
His theater work included regional productions of *Arsenic and Old Lace* and *Annie Get Your Gun* and a national tour of *Porgy and Bess*, in which he played a devious, racist detective, the opera's only White character.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/08/comic-actor-larry-storch-dies/) In 2000 he played Chief Sitting Bull in the Broadway revival of *Annie Get Your Gun* starring [Reba McEntire](https://www.edgepedia.org/reba-mcentire).[5](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-navy/2022/07/08/navy-wwii-vet-larry-storch-who-found-fame-playing-a-soldier-on-tv-dies-at-99/) He kept performing into his 90s and was never embarrassed by the slapstick comedy that made him famous; his manager said he embraced being identified with Agarn and loved the role.[2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/08/comic-actor-larry-storch-dies/) • [5](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-navy/2022/07/08/navy-wwii-vet-larry-storch-who-found-fame-playing-a-soldier-on-tv-dies-at-99/)
## Death
Storch died on July 8, 2022, at his home in Manhattan, six months before his 100th birthday. His manager, Matt Beckoff, said he died of natural causes; his stepdaughter, June Cross, told *The Washington Post* the cause was complications from Alzheimer's disease.[3](https://www.tvline.com/news/larry-storch-dead-obituary-f-troop-corporal-agarn-1234849594/) • [2](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/08/comic-actor-larry-storch-dies/) • [5](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-navy/2022/07/08/navy-wwii-vet-larry-storch-who-found-fame-playing-a-soldier-on-tv-dies-at-99/)
Storch married Norma Greve in 1961, and the marriage lasted until her death in 2003.[5](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-navy/2022/07/08/navy-wwii-vet-larry-storch-who-found-fame-playing-a-soldier-on-tv-dies-at-99/)
## References
1. [Larry Storch, Emmy Awards and Nominations, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/bios/larry-storch)
2. [Larry Storch, comic actor in TV sitcom 'F Troop,' dies at 99, The Washington Post (2022)](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/07/08/comic-actor-larry-storch-dies/)
3. [F Troop's Larry Storch Dead At 99, TVLine (2022)](https://www.tvline.com/news/larry-storch-dead-obituary-f-troop-corporal-agarn-1234849594/)
4. [Larry Storch (1923–2022), star of "F Troop," Legacy.com (2022)](https://obits.dallasnews.com/news/larry-storch-1923-2022-star-of-f-troop)
5. [Navy WWII vet Larry Storch, who found fame playing a soldier on TV, dies at 99, Military Times / Associated Press (2022)](https://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-navy/2022/07/08/navy-wwii-vet-larry-storch-who-found-fame-playing-a-soldier-on-tv-dies-at-99/)
6. [TV Stars: The Complete Directory to Prime Time, entry for Larry Storch](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Radio-Programming/TV-Stars-The-Complete-Directory-to-Prime-Time-1964-Present-B--221117.pdf)
7. [Larry Storch aims to leave 'em laughing one last time on L.A. stage, Los Angeles Times (2014)](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-larry-storch-la-comedy-20140910-story.html)
8. [F Troop, Les Brown's Encyclopedia of Television](https://www.worldradiohistory.com/BOOKSHELF-ARH/Encyclopedias/Les-Brown-Television/Encyclopedia-of-Television-Brown-3rd-1992.pdf)
9. [Who's Afraid of Big, Bad TV?, Time (1970)](https://time.com/6258549/sesame-street-time-cover-1970/)
10. [Outstanding Continued Performance By An Actor In A Leading Role In A Comedy Series 1967, Television Academy](https://www.televisionacademy.com/awards/nominees-winners/1967/outstanding-lead-actor-in-a-comedy-series)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Screen people and creators › Screen actors of the Anglosphere and Europe › American actors: 1940s to 1960s › Surnames Q to St*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license