Larry Dobkin (Lawrence Dobkins) Collection

Lawrence Dobkins
(1919 – 2002)

Lawrence Dobkin was born in Manhattan, 1919, and was performing off-Broadway by his teens. He understudied for the anti-Nazi propaganda production The Watch on the Rhine. To further his craft, he attended the Yale University School of Drama, where his roommate was future director Richard Fleischer and son of animator Max Fleischer. Of course, Yale is a place where education does not come cheap so Larry turned to radio as a way to fund his studies.

During the War, Dobkin was assigned to a radio propaganda unit with the Army Air Corp. After his discharge, he returned to network radio and built a reputation as a reliable "Radio Row" player who could be counted on to fill any role at any time. He was one of the five actors to play the mystery writer on The Adventures of Ellery Queen (1947-48 season), and one of six to play Nero Wolfe’s assistant, Archie Goodwin, in The Adventures of Nero Wolfe. He also lent his talents as an occasional guest star on Let George Do It, Chandu the Magician, The Adventures of Philip Marlowe, Jeff Regan, Investigator, and Yours Truly Johnny Dollar, among others. One of Larry’s most noteworthy detective programs was The Saint, where he was cast as Simon Templar’s sidekick, Louie the cab-driver. Although he was the second banana, when "The Fish Case" was broadcast star Tom Conway was too drunk to perform, so Dobkin stepped in, placing him on the list of the few actors to play The Saint character. He also found regular work on anthology programs like Escape and Suspense.

One area Larry seemed to shine in was the "grown-up" radio Western. Although he did not have a regular character on Gunsmoke, Dobkin seemed to get nearly as much airtime as Doc or Chester, usually as the featured bad-guy. He also had guest parts on Fort Laramie, Luke Slaughter of Tombstone, Frontier Gentleman, and Have Gun – Will Travel. Earlier, he had been a regular part of the company for the kiddie-Western, Wild Bill Hickok.

Dobkin would build an impressive movie and TV resume. One of his earliest screen appearances was as the Assistant District Attorney in Not Wanted, directed by Ida Lupino. Lupino had not intended to direct the film and was not credited, she had taken up the duties behind the camera after Elmer Clifton suffered a heart attack. Seeing an actor of Lupino’s caliber directing may have inspired Dobkin to eventually make the move behind the camera as well, which he eventually did after working with Lupino and her husband almost a decade later in the series Mr. Adams and Eve.

On the big screen, Dobkin had supporting roles in Twelve O’Clock High (1949), Broken Arrow (1950), The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951), North By Northwest (1959), Patton (1970) and others. On TV, his memorable voice was used as the narrator for The Naked City. He appeared in The Adventures of Superman, The Adventures of the Falcon, Mr. and Mrs. North, Space Patrol, I Love Lucy, You Are There, The Untouchables, 77 Sunset Strip, MacGyver, LA Law, Melrose Place and several others. His experience in radio Westerns carried over into TV on Death Valley Days, The Rifleman, Rawhide, Have Gun – Will Travel, Bret Maverick, and of course Gunsmoke.