“Sleazeball neighbor.” “Womanizing playboy.” “Casanova wannabe.”
Those are among the descriptions you’ll find online if you research “Larry Dallas,” the character played by actor Richard Kline on 131 of the 174 episodes that comprise the full run of “Three’s Company,” the leering yet guileless sitcom originally broadcast from 1975 to 1984 on ABC.
Kline also guest-starred as Larry Dallas on episodes of “The Ropers” (a two-season spinoff) and “Three’s a Crowd” (the unsuccessful 1985 successor to the original series). This makes him the only actor to complete the “Three’s Company” trifecta, which, as thespian accomplishments go, may not equal achieving an EGOT (winning an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony), but merits at least a footnote in the annals of “jiggle TV,” the derogatory term applied to a lineup of hit 1970s ABC programs — “Three’s Company,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Battle of the Network Stars” — that took advantage of a relaxation of traditional television standards for sexual innuendo and revealing clothing.
This month, Kline, 74, makes his first visit to Memphis, playing a very different character from the brash, energetic Larry Dallas. As a cast member in a touring version of the musical “Waitress,” which begins a six-day run at the Orpheum on Jan. 15, Kline is — in his words — “a crusty curmudgeon with a heart of gold.” The curmudgeon’s name is Joe, and he is the owner of the diner that employs the title character, a small-town Southern service worker balancing not only plates of homemade pies but the pressures of a bad marriage and a new romance.
“As you know, we all age,” said Kline, 74, in a phone interview from San Antonio, Texas, where “Waitress” currently is based. “I’ve got the silver hair and silver goatee, and right now I’m unrecognizable from Larry.”
A 2016 Broadway production that was nominated for four Tonys (including Best Musical and Best Original Score), “Waitress” was adapted from an independent film written and directed by Adrienne Shelley. (It would prove to be the 40-year-old actress-filmmaker’s legacy: Shelley was murdered in her New York apartment, two months before her movie’s debut at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival.)
In the original film, the diner’s owner was played by Andy Griffith, so it’s perhaps appropriate that another situation-comedy performer has the role of Joe in this touring production — and a performer who worked closely with Andy’s old sidekick, Don Knotts, at that. (Beloved as deputy Barney Fife on “The Andy Griffith Show,” Knotts was the landlord, Mr. Furley, on the final five seasons of “Three’s Company.”)
Like Barney Fife, Larry Dallas was a comic foil to the series star: He was the self-promoting would-be lothario and best friend and neighbor to the “Three’s Company” central character of Jack Tripper (John Ritter), whose status as non-romantic roommate to two young women (Joyce DeWitt and Suzanne Somers, primarily) was the fuel for eight years of misadventures.
“The bottom line with Larry or really any character, whether you’re playing a sleazeball or a good guy, is that it’s a comedy, you gotta find the laughs,” Kline said. “Larry’s whole life force was either borrowing money or trying to get in with the ladies, but when you play a guy who’s, quote, a ‘sleazeball,’ or you play a guy who’s insane — a crazy guy doesn’t think he’s crazy, and Larry doesn’t make moral judgments on himself.”
In “Waitress,” Kline’s character, Joe, is something of a mentor to the title character, Jenna (played in this production by Christine Dwyer, perhaps best-known for the role of Elphaba, the lead witch, in the Broadway musical “Wicked”). The musical’s score, by Sara Bareilles, gives Joe a solo number, “Take It from an Old Man,” which provides Kline with a chance to show off his pipes while dispensing lyrical words of wisdom to Jenna and, by extension, the audience.
“There’s some tough issues that are dealt with — domestic violence, extramarital affairs,” Kline said of “Waitress.” “But I don’t want it to sound grim — it’s a very empowering musical, there are a lot of laughs and a lot of comedy.”
Born Richard Klein, Kline grew up in Queens and earned a Master of Fine Arts degree in theater from Northwestern University. He worked extensively on stage before finding TV fame, and he’s stayed busy in the years since “Three’s Company.” He is particularly proud of some of his dramatic television work, including a three-episode arc on the acclaimed FX series “The Americans” and “a major part as a crack addict” on “NYPD Blue.”
Said Kline: “I’m a university-trained actor, I’ve done Shakespeare, a lot of theater, but I don’t begrudge the fact that people know me as Larry. That’s how my obituary will read in The New York Times, ‘Larry from ‘Three’s Company’ dies.’ Here’s the bottom line: As a working actor, you go where the work is.”
Hence, this tour of “Waitress,” which began in December and continues through August.
“The thing about touring, besides the money, which is substantial, you get to see America, you get a taste of each city, and I love it,” Kline said. “After I hang up with you, I’m gonna walk over and see the Alamo. And when we get to Memphis, my wife is going to be joining me. She’s all excited, she wants to go to Sun Records and Graceland, the whole bit.”
