Larry Thor

A native of Lundar, Manitoba, Canada, Thor was a soldier, a construction worker, a farmer, and a rancher before he went into broadcasting. His first experience in radio came in 1937^[4] as an unpaid singer at CFAR in Flin Flon, Manitoba, Canada. He soon became the writer for CFAR, a job he held for three years. From there he went to CKGB in Timmins as an announcer. Later, he moved to CKCL in Toronto as a newscaster.^[1] In 1946, he moved to the United States, joining the staff of KFAC in Los Angeles.^[4] Following that, Thor worked at KMPC, in Hollywood, California, as a newscaster^[5] and writer.^[6] In 1948, he left KMPC and went to KNX in Hollywood as an announcer.^[7] From 1964 to 1967 he was the radio announcer on the TV program Gilligan's Island, and appeared as himself on S02 Episode 04 Smile, You're on Mars Camera.

Thor's involvement with drama on radio began in Canada. In addition to his work as an announcer (noted above), he began his own company, Peak Radio Ltd., which produced radio dramas.^[4] During Thor's time on American network radio, he was an announcer for Green Lama,^[8] Rocky Jordan,^[9] and Suspense.^[10] He was perhaps best known for starring in Broadway Is My Beat, playing Detective Danny Clover.^[9] He also was the announcer on the syndicated radio program, The Clyde Beatty Show.^[8]

In 1964, Thor recorded a 12-song album for children.^[3] Galloping on My Dinosaur was released on the Harmony label.^[11] Thor also wrote the music and lyrics for the songs in the album.^[4]

Thor wrote his first script for an episode of Suspense. "The Man Who Cried Wolf" was broadcast February 9, 1953.^[10] He went on to write scripts for episodes of This is our Heritage, Fantasy of Fact, The Record Collectors, and Hallmark Hall of Fame. He also wrote four books.^[4]

Thor began teaching in the screenwriting program at the University of California, Los Angeles, in January 1968, offering "a special course for the advanced writers."^[4] He continued to teach there, enhancing his courses with "many professional actors, producers and writers who were brought into his class as guest lecturers" until he died in 1976.^[4]

While still in Canada, Thor married the former Leona Finnie of Winnipeg^[1] when he was 21. They had four children.^[3] In 1956, Thor married Jean Howell, an actress and writer.^[4] She divorced him after four months.^[12]

Thor had roles in 29 feature films, as shown in the table below.^[13]

• Perry Mason (1957-1963) (2 episodes)
  • (Season 1 Episode 5: "The Case of the Sulky Girl") (1957) as Police Surgeon
  • (Season 6 Episode 28: "The Case of the Witless Witness") (1963) as Commentator
• Sea Hunt (1958) (Season 1 Episode 6: "Female of the Species") as Pete Zawicki
• Wagon Train (1958) (Season 1 Episode 28: "The Sally Potter Story") as Sergeant Hood
• Rawhide (1959) (Season 1 Episode 20: "Incident of the Judas Trap") as Brown
• The Rifleman (1962) (Season 4 Episode 24: "Tinhorn") as Jesse Phillips
• The Andy Griffith Show (1964) (Season 5 Episode 2: "Barney's Physical") as Mr. Bronson
• The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1965) (Season 3 Episode 12: "Crimson Witness") as Detective Haskel
• The Munsters (1965) (Season 1 Episode 18: "If a Martian Answers, Hang Up") as Second Man
• The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1966) (Season 3 Episode 7: "The Thor Affair") as Announcer
• The Mod Squad (1968) (Season 1 Episode 1: "The Teeth of the Barracuda") as Doctor