Larry Hovis

Larry Hovis (February 20, 1936 – September 9, 2003) was an American actor and singer whose career spanned Broadway, television, and behind-the-scenes work in production and writing. Born in Wapato, Washington, he relocated to Houston, Texas as a young child. Wapato falls within the external boundaries of the Yakama Nation but is not part of the Yakama Indian Reservation. He attended the University of Houston and began performing as a singer from an early age, including an appearance on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts.

During the mid-1950s, Hovis sang in nightclubs with groups including the Mascots and was part of the Houston-based Bill Gannon Trio, appearing on their 1959 Carlton album Sweet Singing Swing. He signed with Capitol Records, which released one album, and his most notable song from that period was "We Could Have Lots of Fun." He also wrote songs during this time.

Hovis moved to New York City in 1959 and made his Broadway debut the following year in the 1960 revue From A to Z, which featured both his singing and comedy abilities. He would return to Broadway nearly two decades later, touring from 1979 to 1981 in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, in which he played the role of Melvin P. Thorpe. His Broadway career spanned the years 1960 to 1979.

In 1963, Hovis relocated to California to pursue television work. He was discovered by Andy Griffith's manager in 1964 and cast as Pvt. Larry Gotschalk on Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. He also appeared in two episodes of The Andy Griffith Show as Gilly Walker. His most prominent television role came in 1965, when he was cast as Sgt. Andrew Carter on Hogan's Heroes after another actor withdrew from the part. The character, a prisoner of war in a German camp with expertise in explosives, had appeared in the pilot as a lieutenant played with a different conception; for the series, the role was recast and redefined, replacing a character originally played by Leonid Kinskey. Hovis remained with Hogan's Heroes through its cancellation in 1971.

Concurrent with his work on Hogan's Heroes, Hovis wrote the screenplay for the 1966 Universal spy-spoof film Out of Sight and co-wrote Mitzi Gaynor's television specials in 1968 and 1969. He also appeared in and contributed comedy material to Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. In the mid-1970s, he made appearances on the game show Match Game and returned to Laugh-In alongside his Hogan's Heroes castmate Richard Dawson. He subsequently produced and served as a regular panelist on the game show Liar's Club.

In 1982, Hovis worked as a writer and producer on So You Think You Got Troubles, hosted by actor and ventriloquist Jay Johnson. Later in the decade, he partnered with Gary Bernstein to form Bernstein-Hovis Productions, which produced the game shows Anything for Money, the original version of Lingo, and Yahtzee, a television adaptation of the dice game on which Hovis also announced and served as a regular panelist. He was hired as a co-producer on the hidden-camera series Totally Hidden Video but was dismissed by Fox executives after an investigation of the pilot found that three of four taped segments involved paid actors and scripted content. The investigation had been prompted in part by a lawsuit from Candid Camera creator Allen Funt.

Beginning in the 1990s, Hovis taught drama at Southwest Texas State University in San Marcos, Texas, the institution now known as Texas State University-San Marcos. He died of esophageal cancer in Austin, Texas, on September 9, 2003, at the age of 67.