Larry Pennell
Born	Lawrence Kenneth Pennell (1928-02-21)February 21, 1928 Uniontown, Pennsylvania, US
Died	August 28, 2013(2013-08-28) (aged 85) Santa Monica, California, U.S.[1]
Other names	Bud Pennell
Occupation(s)	Film and television actor Professional baseball player[2]
Years active	1955–2011
Spouse	Patricia Throop[citation needed]
Children	Melanie

Lawrence Kenneth Pennell (February 21, 1928 – August 28, 2013) was an American television and film actor, often remembered for his role as Dash Riprock in the television seriesThe Beverly Hillbillies.^{[3][circular reference]} His career spanned half a century, including starring in the first-run syndicated adventure seriesRipcord in the leading role ofskydiver Theodore "Ted" McKeever, and as Keith Holden inLassie.^[4] He was also a baseball player, playing on scholarship for the University of Southern California (USC) and later professionally for theBoston Braves organization.^[2][5]

Pennell was born in Uniontown, Pennsylvania to entrepreneur Harold Pennell and homemaker Ruth Pennell.^{[3][circular reference]} His parents moved to Niagara Falls, New York during theGreat Depression in search of better opportunities. After a short time in New York, the family moved to California. They lived in a studio apartment overlookingAngels Flight in Downtown Los Angeles.^[6] His family moved again when he was still young, purchasing a home nearParamount Studios in Hollywood. He became a newsboy on the studio lot, but athletics distracted him from any early interest in film.^[6]

Pennell played baseball throughout his youth. He attendedHollywood High School,^[7] at which he played first base and was later inducted into the school's athletic hall of fame. He was recruited byRod Dedeaux to play baseball at USC, where he began playing in 1947.^[2] Pennell attended the university on a full baseball scholarship and became one of the school's all-time letter winners.^[8] He left school early to play professionally for theBoston Braves organization, from 1948 to 1953.^[9]

Just shy of graduating from USC, Pennell left the university to play professionally for the Boston Braves organization. During his time with the organization, his teammates often referred to him as "Bud", a nickname that stuck with him throughout his life. He was with the organization for a total of seven seasons between 1948 and 1954, playing first base and outfield for theEvansville Braves, Boston's minor league affiliate.^[10]

In his first year in professional ball, he broke the Appalachian League record forruns batted in with 147 and hit .338 for the season while hitting 18 home runs.^[2] He was portrayed inHall of Famer,Eddie Mathews' autobiography, as a "fun-loving teammate."^[11] He did not play during the 1950–1953 seasons due to his service during theKorean War.^[12] He served incounterintelligence in theU.S. Army and received an honorable discharge upon completion of his service. Upon his return home, his baseball contract was purchased by theBrooklyn Dodgers. Pennell never reported to spring training for the Dodgers and instead decided to pursue acting, a career he had dabbled in during the off seasons.^[12] Regarding his retirement from baseball, sportswriterFurman Bisher was quoted as saying "his future seemed unlimited...I shall always be frustrated by a desire to know how great a star he might have become."^[13][14]

In the baseball off-seasons, Pennell returned home to Hollywood.^[12] Shortly after his contract was purchased by the Brooklyn organization, he decided not to report to spring training and instead began his career in films. After being seen by a talent scout, Pennell got a screen test at Paramount Pictures where he went under contract.^[15] Then he traveled to New York City to learn from drama teachers such asSanford Meisner andStella Adler.^[12]

It was in 1955 when Pennell's acting career was launched. He appeared in his first role as Oliver Brown in the movieSeven Angry Men, a film about abolitionistJohn Brown, starringRaymond Massey.^{[3][circular reference]} That role led him to a lead inHell's Horizon, which was followed byThe Far Horizons, starredCharlton Heston andDonna Reed. His next film role was as George Crandall oppositeJames Stewart inThe FBI Story.^[16]

Other roles followed, including the leading role as Johnny Jargin in the car racing adventure movieThe Devil's Hairpin. Early in his acting career, Pennell went to Europe to appear in films, includingOld Surehand, a German production based upon aKarl May's novel.^[17] In European films he was occasionally credited as Alessandro Pennelli.^[17] He returned to the United States and made guest appearances in several western television series such asDick Powell's Zane Grey Theater,Death Valley Days,Have Gun – Will Travel,Wagon Train,Bat Masterson,The Big Valley,The Virginian,Gunsmoke,Bonanza,Rango,Custer,Branded,The Rough Riders,Cimarron City andTombstone Territory.^[18]

In 1961, he landed the leading role on the television seriesRipcord as the handsome skydiver Theodore (Ted) McKeever.^[19] His co-star wasKen Curtis, later as Festus Hagen onGunsmoke, as his inseparable, level-headed older mentor and best buddy James (Jim) Buckley. Ripcord ran for a total of 76 half-hour episodes from 1961 to 1963 and inspired a range of tie-in merchandise such as toy parachutes, action figures, jigsaw puzzles, board games, clean slates, reading books, comic books and coloring books, to name a few.^[19] More television guest appearances followed onThe Outer Limits,Thriller,The Millionaire,The West Point Story,Wire Service,The Case of the Dangerous Robin,Steve Canyon,Sea Hunt,The Aquanauts,The Everglades,Adventures in Paradise,Dragnet, andSuspense Theater.

As Dash Riprock onThe Beverly Hillbillies, he appeared in ten episodes as a film star courting Elly May Clampett (Donna Douglas).^[20] AfterThe Beverly Hillbillies, Pennell guest-starred in other television series likeBlue Light,My Friend Tony,Mayberry, R.F.D.,Family Affair,Land of the Giants,Bracken's World,BJ and the Bear andSalvage 1.^[21]

Pennell travelled to Europe in 1965 where he starredOur Man in Jamaica andOld Surehand.

Throughout his career, Pennell appeared in a variety of genres in television series and movies. He was cast in a lead role as Keith Holden in 1972 in the CBS seriesLassie. He made guest-starring appearances in various shows, includingMannix,Longstreet,Hunter,Banacek,Mission: Impossible,The Streets of San Francisco,McMillan and Wife,Magnum, P.I.,The Rookies,Little House on the Prairie,Owen Marshall: Counselor at Law,O'Hara, U.S. Treasury,Run, Joe, Run,Apple's Way,Silk Stalkings,Diagnosis Murder,Quantum Leap andFirefly and soap operas such asGeneral Hospital andThe Young and the Restless.^{[3][circular reference]}

Pennell's film credits include roles in films such asThe Great White Hope (1970), starring James Earl Jones and Jane Alexander in which Pennell played former heavyweight champion Frank Brady. Pennell also appeared in the big budget World War II filmMidway (1976), as Captain Cyril Simard, alongside Charlton Heston and Henry Fonda.^{[3][circular reference]} He had roles in other major films such asThe Revengers,Journey Through Rosebud andMatilda. Pennell bore a striking resemblance to Clark Gable and played the actor in three roles. One of his notable roles as Gable was in the television filmMarilyn: The Untold Story (1980). It was said of his work in that role "Pennell's performance is a little gem."^{[3][circular reference]} In 1992, Pennell andTom Selleck rejoined for a third time to appear inMr. Baseball.^[22] Other films includeThe Fear (1999),Bubba Ho-Tep (2002) starringOssie Davis,Five Minutes (2002),Last Confession (2005),Seasons of Life (2006) andThe Passing (2011).^{[3][circular reference]}

Pennell experimented with his acting with drama teachers such as Milton Katselis and Daniel Mann. Pennell's stage work encompassed over 50 plays, includingThe Poker Game,Desperate Hours,Pieces of Time andDead Autumn's Soul. He wrote and starred inThe Signing andClose-Up and won best actor at The Method Fest 2002 for his work in the short filmFive Minutes. Throughout his career, Pennell accumulated over 400 credits in roles across stage, film and television as well as commercials and print advertisements.

• Dream a Little Dream – Lead – Company of Angels, Los Angeles
• Sing the Song Lady – Lead – Network Studio, North Hollywood
• Monroe – Lead – Crystal Sands, Hilton Head, South Carolina
• The Signing (written by Larry Pennell) – Lead – Stella Adler Theater, Beverly Hills Playhouse

• Close-Up (written by Larry Pennell) – Lead – Stella Adler Theater, Beverly Hills Playhouse
• Pieces of time – Lead – Pan Andreas Theater, Hollywood
• Desperate Hours – Lead – New Dramatist's, Inc., New York City
• Dead Autumn's Soul – Lead – New York City
• The Poker Game – Lead – (Pre-Broadway) New York City
• Mary, Mary – Lead – Tiffany's Attic Theater, Kansas City

Pennell met his wife Patricia Throop, a fashion model, actress, former Miss Oregon and finalist in the 1954Miss America Pageant. He was shooting a film when they met.^[14] Throughout his life he enjoyed sports of all kinds such as baseball, football, tennis, boxing, running and horseback riding. Also he was an avid historian and a patriot with ancestral links in the American Revolution and the Mayflower Compact.^[14] Pennell died in Santa Monica, California on August 28, 2013, at age 85.^{[3][circular reference]}

• Larry Pennell atIMDb

• 1928 births
• 2013 deaths
• American male film actors
• Male Western (genre) film actors
• American male television actors
• Baseball players from Pittsburgh
• Male actors from Pittsburgh
• 20th-century American male actors
• 21st-century American male actors
• People from Uniontown, Pennsylvania
• Evansville Braves players
• USC Trojans baseball players
• Baseball players from Fayette County, Pennsylvania
• 20th-century American sportsmen

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