Remembering Larry Ward

Larry Ward was born on October 3, 1924 in Columbus, Ohio. His father was a former college football coach and a member of the Ohio State Senate. Ward studied at a number of universities before joining the United States Navy, where he served for three years.

 

Enrolling in the American Theatre Wing under the G.I. Bill of Rights, Ward soon appeared in several outstanding productions. He turned his talents to writing but also kept his hand in the acting profession by appearing in a television soap opera titled ‘The Brighter Day’ in 1954. Here he played a character called Dr. Randy Hamilton, but Ward had his sights set on Hollywood and left the show in 1957 when his character died of a myocardial infarction.

 

Larry got his break in 1962 while he was visiting the Warner Brothers studio to discuss a film script with producer Jules Schermer, who was so impressed with his appearance that he gave him a minor part as Blake Stevens in the episode "The Holdout" of the western series ‘Lawman’, starring John Russell and Peter Brown, which was filming the following morning during its last season on the air. This break was followed by minor roles in other TV series, and in 1963 Schermer gave Ward the starring role of U.S. Marshal Frank Ragan in a new western series called ‘The Dakotas’, which also featured Chad Everett, Mike Greene, and Jack Elam as Ward's deputies. The series was suddenly canceled after a public outcry over the nineteenth episode, in which a priest was killed during a gunfight at a church.

 

In the 1966-1967 season, Ward guest starred on the NBC series ‘The Road West’ in the episode entitled "Shaman". In 1976, Ward appeared in an episode of the CBS western series Sara. As his career started to decline Larry followed many other American actors to Italy. Here he appeared in two Euro-westerns: “Kill the Wicked” (1967) and “Saguaro” (1968).

 

His last on-screen appearances were on two episodes in 1982 of CBS's M*A*S*H

 

Ward died at the age of sixty in Los Angeles, California on February 16, 1985.

 

Today we remember Larry Ward on what would have been his 90^th birthday.