Richard Kline, best remembered as Larry Dallas on the hit sitcom Three’s Company, has spent the decades since the show ended building a life and career that extended far beyond the character who made him famous. Now in his eighties, Kline’s appearance has naturally changed with age, but his story is not one of a vanished star stranded in the past. . Kline was born on April 29th, 1944, in Queens, New York, and grew up in a working-class family.
He developed an interest in acting early on, worked in theater for years, and spent considerable time honing his craft before television opened theoor for him. . When Three’s Company premiered, Kline stepped into the role of Larry Dallas, Jack Tripper’s longtime friend, a used-car salesman, and an unapologetic ladies’ man. Larry was confident, often ridiculous, and typically convinced he was far more charming than he actually was.
The role could have easily become a one-note caricature, but Kline chose a different approach. He imbued Larry with enough warmth and vulnerability that he became less a joke and more like the slightly embarrassing friend almost everyone recognizes. Audiences embraced him, and Kline appeared in more than 100 episodes, sharing the screen with John Ritter, Joyce DeWitt, and Suzanne Somers as the show became a massive television success. Television fame, though, creates a strange illusion.
Viewers often believe they know the person behindthe character they see week after week. , but Kline’s career stretched far beyond Larry Dallas. He continued to work in television, film, and theater, with credits including The Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote, That ’70s Show, and many others. He also returned to the stage, where his theatrical background allowed him to shine.
Kline was never simply a sitcom actor who faded away when Three’s Company ended. Hewas a working performer, constantly auditioning, showing up, and performing long after the show left the air. Beyond his career, Kline built a family life. He married actress Sandy Kline, and together they had a son, David.
He later married actress Linda Kline, continuing to balance his personal life with his professional work. While his appearance changed naturally over time, his connection to Larry never completely disappeared. For an actor, being permanently identified with a character played in youth can be both a blessing and a burden. People remember the hair, the clothes, the jokes, and the swagger, yet they often overlook everything the actor accomplished afterward.
Kline has continued to work in entertainment, including theater and television, maintaining a career far more varied than his most famous sitcom role might suggest. He did not spend his life trying to recreate 1970s television. Instead, he kept working, kept evolving, and allowed himself to become something more than the character who made millions laugh. Larry Dallas may be the role audiences cannot forget, but Richard Kline is the person who had to live after the laughter stopped.
His story serves as a reminder that while television can make a performance feel immortal, behind that performance is a real human being who keeps aging, changing, working, loving, and living long after the credits roll.
