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TV actor John Larroquette is probably the only libertarian who has
won five Emmy awards -- and also played a Klingon in a Star Trek movie.
Born in 1947 in New Orleans, Larroquette quit school after high school
and spent several years working as a radio disc jockey. He got his
first acting job in the 1966 movie, Follow Me, Boys! In 1974,
he was the uncredited narrator in the splatterfest classic, The
Texas Chain Saw Massacre. (He reprised his role in the 2003 remake,
this time with proper credit.) In 1975, he earned his first continuing
TV role in the daytime soap opera Doctors' Hospital, and
from 1976-1978 was a regular on Baa Baa Black Sheep.
In the early 80s, Larroquette appeared in a variety of films -- some
memorable, some not -- including Stripes (1981), Cat
People (1982), Meatballs II (1984), Choose Me
(1984) , and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984),
where he played the Klingon officer Maltz.
In 1984, Larroquette landed the role that would define his career.
He played smarmy, lewd Assistant District Attorney Dan Fielding on
Night Court, the NBC sitcom that ran from 1984 to 1992. The
role won him four consecutive Emmy awards (1985, 1986, 1987, 1988)
for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series. Larroquette returned
to TV to star in the NBC sitcom, The John Larroquette Show,
from 1993-1996.
In the years that followed, Larroquette guest-starred in a variety
of TV shows and movies. On the big screen, he appeared in Walter
and Henry (1999), The Heart Department (2001), Wedding
Daze (2004), and Southland Tales (2006). On the small
screen, he starred in the fantasy miniseries The 10th Kingdom
(2000), and made guest appearances on The West Wing, House, M.D.,
and The Practice. (He won his fifth Emmy, for Outstanding
Guest Actor in a Drama Series, for his 1998 role on The Practice.)
From 2001-2004, he hosted A&E's The Incurable Collector, a
show that focused on collectors and collectibles. (An "obsessive
but selective" collector himself, Larroquette owns 5,000+ rare
books, including hundreds by Irish writer Samuel Beckett. He also
collects antique fountain pens, cameras, and watches.) From 2004-2007,
he starred in the mystery series McBride on the Hallmark
Channel.
Then there's Larroquette political beliefs; he's been calling himself
a libertarian for more than a decade.
In 1997, on Tom Snyder's Late Late Show on NBC, Larroquette
told guest host Jon Stewart that he was a libertarian and a member
of the Libertarian Party, and said that libertarians are "serious
people with important ideas." According to Wikipedia, "Larroquette
mentioned that he almost quit the party when they nominated Howard
Stern to run for governor of New York."
Larroquette's politics came up again on a TV appearance in 2004. Wikipedia
noted: "[Larroquette] is also a registered member of the Libertarian
Party, a fact to which he alluded when he made an appearance on Dennis
Miller's CNBC show" [on March 18, 2004].
There appears to have been only one serendipitous occasion during
his long career when Larroquette's profession intersected with his
politics. In 1995, he guest-starred on the CBS sitcom Dave's World,
which was based on the writing of syndicated columnist Dave
Barry -- who is also a self-described libertarian.
Quotable
"[Libertarians
are] serious people with important ideas." -- John Larroquette
on the Late Late Show (1997)
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