Larry Gates | |
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Gates in trailer for "Invasion of the Body Snatchers" (1956)
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Born |
St. Paul, Minnesota, U.S. |
September 24, 1915
Died | December 12, 1996 Sharon, Connecticut, U.S. |
(aged 81)
Occupation | Actor |
Years active | 1952-1996 |
Spouse(s) | Judith Gates (19??-1996) |
Larry Gates (September 24, 1915 – December 12, 1996) was an American actor probably best known for his role as H.B. Lewis on daytime's Guiding Light and as Doc Baugh in the film version of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. He played the role of Lewis from 1983 to 1996 and received the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actor at the 1985 awards. (He had previously played the role of District Attorney Eric Van Gelder on Guiding Light in 1977 and 1978.)
Gates was born in St. Paul, Minnesota. As a chemical engineering student at the University of Minnesota, he acted in student plays. Some of his early acting experience came at the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia.
Gates had a long career in film, television, and theater. He appeared in the Broadway productions of First Monday in October (1978), The Highest Tree (1959), The Carefree Tree (1955), The Taming of the Shrew (1950), The Teahouse of the August Moon (1953) Bell, Book and Candle (1956) and A Case of Libel (1964). Gates played Polonius opposite Sam Waterston in a New York revival of Hamlet. He starred in the 1976 Broadway play Poor Murderer, which is about an actor who questions whether or not he, who is playing Hamlet, actually killed the actor playing Polonius, or if it was just a dream.
His films included Has Anybody Seen My Gal? (1952), Francis Covers the Big Town (1953), The Girl Rush (1955), Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), The Strange One (1957), The Brothers Rico (1957), Some Came Running (1958), Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (1958), The Remarkable Mr. Pennypacker (1959), One Foot in Hell (1960), Underworld U.S.A. (1961), The Young Savages (1961), Ada (1961), Toys in the Attic (1963), Cattle King (1963), The Sand Pebbles (1966), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Hour of the Gun (1967), Death of a Gunfighter (1969), Airport (1970), Lucky Luciano (1973), and Funny Lady (1975).