Larry Drake, Lovable Clerk on ‘L.A. Law,’ Dies at 67

From: New York Times

Larry Drake, a longtime actor best known for his Emmy-winning role as a developmentally disabled character on the television drama “L.A. Law,” was found dead on Thursday at his home in Los Angeles. He was 67.

His death was confirmed by his manager, Steven Siebert. The cause was not immediately known, but Mr. Drake was known to have had health problems.

On “L.A. Law,” a staple of NBC’s Thursday night lineup from 1986 to 1994, Mr. Drake played the lovable office clerk Benny Stulwicz.

Benny began as a small role, but Mr. Drake’s portrayal was so effective that the producers expanded his part, Mr. Siebert said. Mr. Drake won supporting-actor Emmy Awards in 1988 and 1989.

Standing 6-foot-3, he had had preparation of a sort for the role of Benny when he played the lumbering, childlike migrant worker Lennie Small in “Of Mice and Men” at the Old Globe Theater in San Diego in 1985. He also played a mentally challenged man in the made-for-television 1981 horror film “Dark Night of the Scarecrow,” in which his character is wrongly accused of attacking a young girl.

At the height of Mr. Drake’s fame on “L.A. Law,” some viewers wondered whether he was himself mentally challenged. "It’s a wonderful compliment,” he said in a 1988 interview. “Either I fool people, or they’re willing to play the game.”

Mr. Drake appeared in several movies in the 1990s. He had villainous roles in the horror films “Darkman” (1990) and “Dr. Giggles” (1992), in which he played the title character. His other films included the Rowan Atkinson comedy “Bean” (1997).

Larry Richard Drake was born in Tulsa, Okla., on Feb. 21, 1949, one of three sons of Raymond and Lorraine Drake.

He earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Oklahoma. He performed in dinner theater across the South and later in Dallas before moving to Los Angeles in the late 1970s.

In recent years, Mr. Drake primarily worked as an acting instructor. He led classes twice a week at the Stephen Book Acting Workshop in Hollywood, where the school’s founder, Stephen Book, said he was a very popular teacher.

But his chief obsession, according to his close friend Esben Melbye, was baseball. He had visited every major league stadium in the country, Mr. Melbye said, and he would sometimes show up at parties with an earbud in his ear so he wouldn’t miss the broadcast of a game.

Mr. Drake was married briefly to Ruth de Sosa, an actress, during his “L.A. Law” years. The marriage ended in divorce.