Richard Kline

New York native Richard Kline gained status as a 1970s icon thanks to his role as dark-haired disco king Larry Dallas, a sleazy bachelor on the oft-repeated sitcom "Three's Company" (ABC, 1977-84), but traded in his barely-buttoned shirt and gold medallion for more behind the scenes pursuits and scattered guest roles before returning to a starring sitcom role as a charming gray-haired dad in NBC's "Inside Schwartz" (2001). An appealing stage-trained actor who earned his MFA from Northwestern and made his acting debut with the Lincoln Center Repertory Company, Kline racked up stage credits before tackling television. An early TV guest role on a 1976 episode of "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (CBS) and a part in the 1977 NBC miniseries "Seventh Avenue" predated his long run on "Three's Company". Following that success, he was to star in "His and Hers", a 1984 CBS sitcom that never made it past the pilot stage, though interestingly later starred in the similarly titled, short-lived sitcom "His & Hers" (1990) on the same network.

Guest work on such popular dramas as "Hill Street Blues", "St. Elsewhere" and "Hunter" (all NBC) kept the actor on the small screen, where he began working as a director, counting among his credits the sitcoms "Evening Shade" (CBS) and "Harry and the Hendersons" (syndicated). Intermittently appearing on television with guest shots throughout the 1980s and 1990s, Kline spent a year on the CBS soap "The Bold and the Beautiful" (1995-96) and earned some big screen credit in the Dennis Dugan comedies "Problem Child" (1990) and "Beverly Hills Ninja" (1997).

While the stage has been a consistent and rewarding source of work for Kline as an actor and director, (including a stint as a Sam Goldwyn-like movie producer in the Broadway musical "City of Angels" and a critically-acclaimed turn in the Off-Broadway one-man show "Boychik"), his film appearances, like his supporting turn in Barry Levinson's "Liberty Heights" (1999), were rare. The actor returned to the world of TV regulars on the Nickelodeon children's series "Noah Knows Best" (2000-01) and hoped to reach a wider audience on NBC's Thursday night lineup entry "Inside Schwartz" playing the gregarious Gene Schwartz, father of Breckin Meyer's Adam, whose active inner monologue and fantasy world served as sitcom fodder. Unfortunately, the series never caught on with viewers and was cancelled before the end of the year.

• Also Credited As:
  Richard T. Kline
• Born:
  April 29, 1951 in New York, New York
• Job Titles:
  Actor, Director, Producer, Acting teacher

Family

• Daughter: Colby Kline.
• Mother: Leah Kline.

Significant Others

• Wife: Sandra Kline.

Education

• Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, theater, MFA
• Queens College, Flushing, New York, BA

Milestones

• 1976 Had early TV role as a guest on "The Mary Tyler Moore Show" (CBS)
• 1977 Acted in the three-part miniseries "Seventh Avenue"
• 1984 Starred in the failed CBS pilot "His and Hers"
• 1985 Had leading role in the similarly themed failed ABC pilot "The Second Time Around"
• 1987 Guest starred on episodes of the NBC dramas "Hill Street Blues", "Hunter" and "St. Elsewhere"
• 1990 Directed an episode of the CBS sitcom "Evening Shade"; billed as Richard T. Kline
• 1990 Had a voice credit in the comedy "Problem Child", directed by Dennis Dugan
• 1990 Starred on the short-lived sitcom "His & Hers" (CBS), a reworking of the similarly titled 1984 pilot
• 1991 Featured in the NBC TV-movie "Hell Hath No Fury"
• 1992 Broadway debut replacing Rene Auberjonois as producer Buddy Fidler in the award-winning muscial "City of Angels"
• 1992 Helmed an episode of the ABC sitcom "Billy"
• 1994 Guest starred on the CBS detective drama series "Burke's Law"; also was featured in the ABC TV-movie mystery "Columbo: Butterflies in Shades of Grey"
• 1995 Appeared in the thriller "The November Conspiracy"
• 1996 Guested on episodes of "NYPD Blue" (ABC) And "Married... With Children" (Fox)
• 1997 Gave a winning performance as the star of the one-man Off-Broadway play "Boychik"
• 1997 Had a small role in the Dennis Dugan-directed comedy "Beverly Hills Ninja"
• 1997 Played title role in the Goodspeed Opera House staging of the Andrew Lloyd Webber-Alan Ayckbourne musical "By Jeeves"; reprised role in production at Washington, DC's Kennedy Center
• 1998 Cast as Fagin in a tour of "Oliver!" featuring Andrea McArdle
• 1998 Played an adulterous senator in the musical "Hello Again", produced at Hollywood's 2nd Stage Theater
• 1999 Directed the stage comedy "Parental Discretion"
• 1999 Guest starred on an episode of the Fox sitcom "That '70s Show" (Fox)
• 1999 Had rare feature supporting role in Barry Levinson's "Liberty Heights"
• 2000 Featured in the Geffen Playhouse production of Jon Robin Baitz's "Mizlansky/Zilinsky"
• 2000 Starred on the Nickelodeon children's series "Noah Knows Best"
• 2001 Played the gregarious father of Breckin Meyer's sportscaster in the NBC sitcom "Inside Schwartz"
• Acted in the independent feature comedies "Nothing But the Truth" and "Warm Blooded Kilers" (both lensed 1999)
• Co-starred as randy neighbor Larry Dallas on the popular sitcom "Three's Company" (ABC)
• Directed episodes of the syndicated comedy series "Harry and the Hendersons"
• Featured on the CBS soap "The Bold and the Beautiful"
• Had a recurring guest role on "Maude" (CBS)
• Made acting debut with the Lincoln Center Repertory Company in NYC
• Raised in the New York City area
• Served three years as a soldier stationed in Vietnam