Larry Hovis

Larry Hovis was born February 20 1936 in Wapato Washington He grew up in Houston Texas He started out as a vocalist singing with his sister Joan Hovis then joined a quartet called The Mascots and they appeared on Arthur Godfreys Talent Scouts 1948 While Larry was earning his degree in philosophy at the University of Houston he was signed to Capitol Records where he recorded the album My Heart Belongs to Only You In the late 1950s he moved to New York and appeared in the Broadway shows The Billy Barnes Revue 1959 and From A to Z 1960 In 1963 Larry relocated his family to California where he performed standup comedy routines in local clubs His first notable appearance on a major TV show was in 1964 on Gomer Pyle USMC 1964 appearing in ten episodes He also appeared in two episodes of The Andy Griffith Show 1960 Larry eventually landed a minor role on the pilot episode of Hogans Heroes 1965 When two other actors backed out of the series he was given the permanent role of demolition man Sgt Carter While a regular on the popular TV series Hovis continued to write scripts for television specials and also wrote and performed on the breakthrough comedy series Rowan Martins LaughIn 1967 In 1966 he wrote the screenplay for the film Out of Sight 1966 After the unexpected cancellation of Hogans Heroes 1965 Hovis appeared in such TV programs as The Doris Day Show 1968 Adam12 1968 Chico and the Man 1974 Holmes and YoYo 1976 Alice 1976 and others Behind the scenes Larry produced several game shows including Liars Club 1976 in which he was a panelist from 1976 to 1978 In 1993 he appeared in the theatrical film Shadow Force 1992