Larry Blyden
Blyden in 1962
Born	Ivan Lawrence Blieden (1925-06-23)June 23, 1925 Houston,Texas, U.S.
Died	June 6, 1975(1975-06-06) (aged 49) Agadir, Morocco
Resting place	Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery
Alma mater	Southwestern Louisiana Institute University of Houston Stella Adler Studio of Acting
Occupation(s)	Actor, stage producer and director, game show host
Years active	1948–1975
Spouse	Carol Haney ​ ​ (m. 1955; div. 1962)​
Children	2

Ivan Lawrence Blieden (June 23, 1925 – June 6, 1975), known professionally asLarry Blyden, was an American actor, stage producer and director, and game show host. He made his Broadway stage debut in 1948 and went on to appear in numerous productions on and off Broadway. In 1972, he won theTony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his performance in the revival ofA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum which he also produced. That same year, he became the host of thesyndicated revival version ofWhat's My Line?

At the time of his death, Blyden was slated to host a new game show,Showoffs. He died of injuries sustained in a single-car accident while vacationing inMorocco on June 6, 1975.

Blyden was born to Adolph and Marian (née Davidson) Blieden inHouston, Texas,^[1][2] and raised in the Jewish faith.^[3] As a child, he attendedWharton Elementary School andSidney Lanier Junior High School.^[2]

His neighbor Elmore Torn also became an actor,Rip Torn. The Blieden and Torn families were friends; the Blieden family name was pronounced "bleedin'", giving rise to a family joke. As Blyden recalled, when Rip and Larry's fathers introduced themselves, Torn would announce, "I'm Torn and he's Blieden."^{[citation needed]}

Blyden became interested in acting at a young age and made his stage debut in a production headed byMargo Jones when he was 14 years old.^[4] After graduating fromLamar High School, Blyden attendedSouthwestern Louisiana Institute for a year before enlisting in theU.S. Marine Corps duringWorld War II,^[2] rising to the rank ofsecond lieutenant.^[5] After leaving the service in 1946, he enrolled at theUniversity of Houston. While in college, Blyden worked as an announcer forKPRC radio and performed at theAlley Theatre and Houston Little Theater.^[2][6] After graduating with aBachelor of Arts in 1948, Blyden moved to New York City to pursue an acting career.^[4]

While in New York, Blyden again worked in radio and studied acting at theStella Adler Studio of Acting for eighteen months.^[7] While starring in a showcase ofThe Importance of Being Earnest, he was spotted by directorJoshua Logan who cast him in a small role in theBroadway production ofMister Roberts.^[8] He was then cast in the larger role of "Ensign Pulver", and remained with the production until 1951.^[7] His second Broadway role was that of "Schmutz" in the original production ofWish You Wish Here. In 1958, Blyden replacedLarry Storch as "Sammy Fong" in the out-of-town tryouts for the musicalFlower Drum Song. He remained in the role during the show's original Broadway run for which he was nominated for aTony Award for Best Actor in a Musical.^[9] The show was choreographed by his then-wife,Carol Haney.^[10] That same year, he appeared inYou Can't Take It with You, atExpo 58 (also known as Brussels World's Fair).^[8]

In November 1962, Blyden tried his hand at stage directing in the Broadway production ofHarold, starringAnthony Perkins andDon Adams. The production closed after twenty performances.^[11] In February 1967, Blyden replacedMartin Balsam in the Broadway production ofYou Know I Can't Hear You When the Water's Running.^[12] Blyden's second stage directing effort was the playThe Mother Lover, in which he also starred. The production also featuredEileen Heckart andValerie French and premiered at theBooth Theatre on February 1, 1969.^[13] In March 1972, he portrayed the role of "Hysterium" in the revival ofA Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, starringPhil Silvers, which Blyden also produced.^[14] He won the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Musical for his work in the play.^[1]

In 1974, Blyden appeared as "Dionysos" with the Yale Repertory Theatre in the musical comedyThe Frogs, inNew Haven, Connecticut. The play was written byBurt Shevelove, and based on a play written byAristophanes in 405 B.C. The play's music and lyrics were composed byStephen Sondheim.^[15] Blyden's final stage role was that of "Sidney" inAlan Ayckbourn's comedyAbsurd Person Singular, for which he was nominated for aDrama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play and aTony Award for Best Actor in a Play.^[16] He remained with the production for 250 performances.^[17]

Over the course of his career, Blyden appeared in three feature films. He made his film debut in a supporting role in the 1957 dramaThe Bachelor Party, starringDon Murray. He also had supporting roles inKiss Them for Me (1957) andOn a Clear Day You Can See Forever (1970).^[8]

In addition to stage and occasional film work, Blyden also appeared in guest spots for television shows. In the 1950s, he made guest performances on several dramatic anthology shows includingPlayhouse 90,Omnibus,The Loretta Young Show andThe United States Steel Hour. In May 1955,CBS announced that Blyden was set to star oppositeNita Talbot in the sitcomJoe and Mabel. The series, which was based on the radio series of the same name that had aired on theNBC Red Network from February 1941 to September 1942, was scheduled to premiere on September 20, 1955. Production began that summer but was hampered by theScreen Actors Guild strike that began on August 5, 1955. Although the strike lasted just ten days, production on the series ceased. Production eventually resumed but the series was plagued with various issues and, upon being previewed for critics, was poorly received. CBS eventually decided toburn off the series' thirteen completed episodes during the summer of 1956 after which it was canceled.^{[citation needed]}

After the cancellation ofJoe and Mabel, Blyden returned to stage work (replacingRay Walston in the Philadelphia and Broadway runs ofWho Was That Lady I Saw You With? andFlower Drum Song).^[10] He returned to television in 1959 as "Sammy Glick" in the television adaptation ofBudd Schulberg's 1941 novelWhat Makes Sammy Run? The two-part special aired on theNBC Sunday Showcase on September 27 and October 4, 1959, and also starredJohn Forsythe,Dina Merrill andBarbara Rush.^[18]

In the early 1960s, Blyden returned to television with guest starring roles in two episodes ofThe Twilight Zone: "A Nice Place to Visit" in April 1960 and "Showdown with Rance McGrew" in February 1962 in which he starred as the title character.^[19] In 1963, Blyden was cast to star in a second sitcom,NBC'sHarry's Girls. Produced byMGM Television, the series was an adaptation of theRobert E. Sherwood playIdiot's Delight, with Blyden starring as Harry, avaudeville style performer constantly getting into trouble and falling in love.^[20] The series received a great deal of publicity before it aired because it was being filmed on location in Europe (interiors were filmed at theVictorine Studios inFrance while exteriors were shot on location inRome,Paris and other European locations).^[6][21] Upon its debut,Harry's Girls was also not well received and was canceled after one season.^[21] For the remainder of the decade, Blyden continued with guest roles on television including spots onAlfred Hitchcock Presents,The Defenders,The Fugitive, andThe Man from U.N.C.L.E.

In the late 1960s, Blyden began working as agame show host andmaster of ceremonies starting withPersonality in June 1967.^[22] In 1969, he hostedYou're Putting Me On andThe Movie Game. He also appeared as a guest panelist on theGoodson-Todman daytime CBS game showMatch Game '74.^[23]

In 1972, Blyden took over hosting duties for thesyndicated revival of the game showWhat's My Line? Blyden remained the show's host until Goodson-Todman discontinued production on December 12, 1974.^[24]

In the weeks before his death, Blyden was involved in several major projects. He co-hosted the29th Tony Awards telecast that aired onABC on April 20, 1975.^[25] On May 2, Blyden reprised his role as Ensign Pulver oppositeHenry Fonda at a gala tribute to directorJoshua Logan at Broadway'sImperial Theatre (which was recorded and eventually released on a privately distributedLP album). He also narrated a segment of CBS'sBicentennial Minute which aired during primetime the evening of May 30.^[26]

Blyden married actress and dancerCarol Haney on April 17, 1955, inLas Vegas.^[27] The couple had two children: Joshua and Ellen Rachel. Blyden and Haney were divorced in 1962.^[6]

During their marriage, Blyden and Haney purchased the historicAchenbach House inSaddle River, New Jersey, which they believed to be haunted by the spirit of its builder. After Haney's death in 1964, Blyden inherited the home and became convinced that her own spirit was haunting the house. Blyden later told a friend that in the months after Haney's death, the house was filled with the smell ofbrownies baking which had been Haney's favorite. Blyden told his friend that after he yelled at Haney to leave him alone, the smell instantly vanished.^[28] The house was later sold to tour operatorMario Perillo and was destroyed by fire in 2004.^[29]

Blyden'sWhat's My Line? producer offered an insight on Blyden's later life: "Like most performers, the only thing that Larry said he really wanted in his career he never seemed able to get. He was not particularly happy hosting game shows. He was good at it. I think he enjoyed it, but it was not the challenge he wanted. And he was bored with the repetition of eight performances a week on the stage. Although he was brilliantly funny in the murderously demanding part of Sidney inAbsurd Person Singular, he really hated the cliquey bickering of the all-star cast. Larry wanted to do films, but nobody asked him... The trouble was that there were very few great parts for medium-tall, medium good-looking, 50-year-old Larry Blyden. He had lots more to give."^[30]

On May 6, 1975, Blyden left the production ofAbsurd Person Singular after he was hired to host a new game show entitledShowoffs,^[31] a video version of the parlor-game charades. The project began unhappily, owing to "Larry's phobia about not wasting time andMark Goodson's total disregard of time when he is in the throes of the creative process."^[32] On May 24, 1975, the day thepilot episode was taped, Blyden was furious that studio delays forced him to miss his daughter's graduation play, but he remained professional and hosted the pilot.^[33]

Before production was set to begin onShowoffs, Blyden was granted a two-week vacation and decided to fly toMarrakesh,Morocco.^[8] While he was driving nearAgadir on May 31, Blyden's rental car reportedly went off the road and overturned. According to Blyden's manager, Blyden suffered injuries to the chest, head and abdomen. He underwent surgery, but died of his injuries on June 6, 1975 at the age of 49, just 17 days before his 50th birthday.^[34] Blyden's body was flown back to the United States on June 13. A memorial was held on June 20, after which he was buried at Forest Park Lawndale Cemetery in Houston.^[35][36]

• Fates, Gil (1978).What's My Line: The Inside History of TV's Most Famous Panel Show. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.ISBN 0-13-955146-8.

• Larry Blyden at theInternet Broadway Database
• Larry Blyden atIMDb
• Discography at SonyBMG Masterworks
• Larry Blyden atFind a Grave

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