‘The Larry Sanders Show’ Turns 30: Where’s the Cast Now?
The HBO comedy The Larry Sanders Show was doing meta long before it was cool, with star and co-creator Garry Shandling playing the titular late-night talk show host in a role based on his own experiences filling in for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show.
“Garry was such a great observer of people that while hosting The Tonight Show, he noticed all of the neuroses in that show,” Judd Apatow, who wrote for The Larry Sanders Show, told The Ringer last year. “He didn’t want to be a host. He wanted to comment about the world of talk shows, the people who work there, and what we all have in common. He was mainly interested in the show explaining what keeps people apart. … Garry said the show is about people who love each other, but show business gets in the way.”
Along for the ride were Rip Torn as Larry’s producer Artie and Jeffrey Tambor as his on-air sidekick, Hank Kingsley — alongside Wallace Langham, Penny Johnson Jerald, Janeane Garofalo, and Scott Thompson as staffers on the fictional talk show. With the show turning 30 years old on August 15, here are updates on those cast members…
Garry Shandling as Larry Sanders
Garry Shandling
Following The Larry Sanders Show, Shandling appeared in movies including What Planet Are You From? and Town & Country and played Senator Stern in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He voiced Verne in the animated film Over the Hedge and Ikki in the live-action version of The Jungle Book. Shandling died of pulmonary thrombosis in 2016 at age 66.
Jeffrey Tambor as Hank Kingsley
Jeffrey Tambor
Tambor gave critically-acclaimed performances as George Bluth Sr. in the Fox-to-Netflix comedy Arrested Development and as Maura Pfefferman in the Prime Video dramedy Transparent. In 2017, multiple women accused Tambor of sexual misconduct — accusations which he denies — and he hasn’t acted onscreen in material filmed since then.
Rip Torn as Arthur
Rip Torn
Torn continued his comedic career after Larry Sanders, continuing his role as MIB chief Zed in the Men in Black series, playing dodgeball legend Patches O’Houlihan in the 2003 comedy movie Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story, and guest-starring as fictional General Electric CEO Don Geiss in the NBCcomedy 30 Rock. Torn died of complications from Alzheimer’s disease in 2019 at age 88.
Wallace Langham as Phil
Wallace Langham
These days, Langham is most famous for his role as technician David Hodges on the CBS procedural CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, a role he reprised in CSI: Vegas. More recently, he played TV mogul Auggie Cartwright in the Apple TV+ dramedy Physical, and he’ll portray attorney Melville Phipps in the second season of the HBO drama Perry Mason.
Penny Johnson Jerald as Beverly Barnes
Penny Johnson Jerald
In the years after Larry Sanders, Jerald played Sherry Palmer, ex-wife of President David Palmer, on the Fox action series 24 and starred as Captain Victoria Gates on the ABC procedural Castle. Now she’s playing Dr. Claire Finn on the Fox-turned-Hulu sci-fi series The Orville.
Janeane Garofalo as Paula
Janeane Garofalo
Among other TV roles, Garofalo played communications director Louise Thornton on the NBC drama The West Wing, FBI analyst Janis Gold on 24, and entertainment lawyer Lyla on the Bravo comedy Girlfriend’s Guide to Divorce. More recently, she reprised her role as Beth in Netflix’s pair of Wet Hot American Summer miniseries and recurred on Younger and Billions.
Scott Thompson as Brian
Scott Thompson
Thompson starred as FBI analyst Jimmy Price in the NBC thriller Hannibal and guest-starred in the shows Man Seeking Woman, American Gods, and Reno 911!. And earlier this year, he went back to his sketch-comedy roots as Amazon Prime Video gave The Kids in the Hall a sixth season — only 27 years after the fifth season ended!
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