Larry Mathews (actor)

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Larry Mathews (born August 15, 1955 in Burbank , California as Lawrence James Mazzeo ) is an American former actor who gained fame in the United States primarily as a child actor .

In later years he became an accountant executive (a senior position of account manager ) and worked under the name Larry Mazzeo as a post-production coordinator on various US television series.

Live and act

Larry Mathews was born on August 15, 1955, the second oldest of seven children of Francis Mazzeo and his wife (née Thedinga) in Burbank, California, and was christened Lawrence James Mazzeo. The then six-year-old, who lived in Burbank, was attending drama school in Hollywood when he was cast out of 40 children for the role of Richard "Ritchie" Petrie on the CBS series The Dick Van Dyke Show . He began taking acting classes under Lois Hour at the age of four and a half and was originally one of two children selected for the role of Ritchie ; In the end, however, Carl Reiner relied on the still unknown Mathews. By the time the series closed in 1966 after 158 airing episodes, Mathews was in every single one. In parallel, he also appeared in an episode of the NBC series Tonight in 1962 , Dick Powell! With. During the filming of The Dick Van Dyke Show , Mathews was unable to attend school, so he received a private tutor during this time and even skipped a class. Outside of filming, he also took part in lessons in schools.

After the end of The Dick Van Dyke Show , it was largely quiet around Mathews, who then completed his education at Notre Dame High School in Sherman Oaks and began studying at the University of California, Los Angeles . At the same time, he also worked in local theater productions. He finished his acting studies at UCLA in 1976 and subsequently worked mainly as an accountant executive . From 1979 to 1981, according to the Internet Movie Database, he worked on 32 episodes of Soap as post-production coordinator . In the same years he also did this in some episodes of Benson and in the years 1980 to 1981 in some episodes of It's a Living . He also held numerous other positions in film and television. In the course of the decades he appeared again and again in television shows and in interviews, where he spoke about his role and his work in the series. Most recently (as of January 2020) he had an appearance at the annual Hollywood Christmas Parade in 2019.

Married to wife Jennifer in 1987, Mathews still lives in the Los Angeles area where he is Vice President of Sales at post production company CCI Digital . In addition, he is also active in the voiceover sector and is also involved in numerous companies outside the entertainment industry. He is also planning to publish a book about real life in Hollywood's show business over the next few years. In 2016, Mathews himself was featured in the book X Child Stars: Where Are They Now? portrayed by Kathy Garver , herself a former child actress, and Fred Ascher.

Filmography (selection)

Film appearances (also short appearances)
  • 1993: Chairman's Choice
  • 2004: The Dick Van Dyke Show Revisited
  • 2011: A Day in the Life of Plain Jen (short film)
Series appearances (also guest and short appearances)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Larry Mathews in the California Birth Index , accessed January 23, 2020
  2. ↑ Monrovian's Kin To Appear on New TV Comedy , Daily News-Post, September 27, 1961, p. 7, accessed January 23, 2020
  3. ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Larry Mathews on the official website of the Hollywood Christmas Parade (English), accessed on January 24, 2020
personal data
SURNAME Mathews, Larry
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Mazzeo, Lawrence James (full name); Mazzeo, Larry
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH 15th August 1955
PLACE OF BIRTH Burbank , California , United States