Richard Kline

**Richard Kline** (born **Richard Klein** on April 29, 1944 in Queens, NY) is an American Actor and Director. He is best known to TV audience as Larry Dallas, the best friend of Jack Tripper (played by the late John Ritter) on the ABC sitcom *Three's Company*. He has also appeared as a panelist on the short-lived *The Match Game/Hollywood Squares Hour*.

Born Richard Klein in New York City, raised in Queens. His parents practiced Reform Judaism. Kline attended Queens College and has a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater from Northwestern University. After he graduated, he served with the United States Army in the Vietnam War.

Kline later became involved in theater and made his professional debut in 1971 as part of the Lincoln Center Repertory Company. Regional theater productions during this period included *Chemin de Fer* (in Chicago with actor Dennis Franz), *Death of a Salesman*, and *Love's Labour's Lost*. A classically trained singer, Kline made his Broadway career debut in *City of Angels*, a musical in 1990.

In 1977, Kline landed his most notable role to sitcom audiences, the womanizing playboy and used car salesman and Jack Tripper's best friend Larry Dallas on the ABC sitcom *Three's Company* (first appearance in the episode titled "No Children, No Dogs"). He continued to appear in a guest starring role for the first three seasons before becoming a series regular for the remaining five seasons. He also appeared as his character Larry on the *Three's Company* spinoff shows *The Ropers* and *Three's a Crowd*.

Kline has also appeared in a string of guest starring roles on shows which include *Maude*, *The Love Boat*, *Matlock*, *NYPD Blue*, *The Nanny*, and *Step by Step* (reuniting him with his former *Three's Company* cast mate Suzanne Somers).

Richard is also very well known in the game show world for his appearances as a panelist on various game shows. In 1974, he first appeared as a civilian contestant on *The $10,000 Pyramid* and won $10,000. He later returned to *The $10,000/$25,000/$100,000 Pyramid* as a celebrity player. He also appeared as a celebrity panelist on the game shows *Super Password*, *Beat the Clock*, and *Body Language*. He also served as a one week guest host on the game show *Sweethearts* (filling in for former Match Game regular Charles Nelson Reilly). He also hosted two game show pilots, *Jumble* in 1988 and *To Tell the Truth* in 1990. The show's rights were then sold to NBC. This revival of this classic game show lasted only nine months and saw three different hosts during that time; first with Gordon Elliott, then Lynn Swann and lastly Alex Trebek (who was pulling triple duty with hosting *Jeopardy!* and *Classic Concentration* in addition to *TTTT*). Kline's *TTTT* pilot did air on the East Coast as a mistake on September 3, 1990, the day the show debuted.

In February 2010, he was cast as the Wizard in the first national tour of *Wicked*.

Kline has married three times. He was first married to Kathleen Doyle from 1973 to 1980. He married his second wife Sandy Molloy in November 1982 and divorced in 2002 and during the marriage, they had one child, daughter and actress Colby Kline. Richard is now married to his third wife Beverley Osgoode, they married the same year Kline divorced his second wife.

He is not related to actors Kevin Kline and Robert Klein.