Larry Riley, born on June 21, 1952, in Memphis, Tennessee, was a multifaceted American talent. He excelled as an actor and musician, captivating audiences on stage, film, and television. Riley's journey, however, was marked by both professional success and personal battles, including a courageous fight against AIDS that led to a noticeable weight loss before his untimely death on June 6, 1992. He was only a few weeks away from his 40th birthday.
Early Life and Career Beginnings
Memphis, Tennessee, a city brimming with culture, community, and music, served as the bedrock for Larry Riley's artistic development. He honed his acting skills in high school and at Memphis State University. Larry Riley graduated from Memphis State University and trained for the stage at the Goodman Theatre School in Chicago. His professional stage debut came in 1971, marking the beginning of a career that would span various platforms.
Stage Success and Recognition
Riley's talent quickly propelled him into the world of theater. He made his first major Broadway appearance in the all-black cast that took over the musical I Love My Wife (1979). He showcased his vocal abilities in several off-Broadway productions, including Styne After Styne, Maybe I'm Doing It Wrong, and Shakespeare's Cabaret. He had great success in A Soldier's Play (New York, 1981-82; Los Angeles, 1982). The play won the Pulitzer Prize. Riley won Obie and Clarence Derwent Awards for his performance, and he starred in the film version, A Soldier's Story (1984). From 1984 to 1985, Riley portrayed the role of Curtis Taylor, Jr. in the national touring company of Dreamgirls.
Transition to Television and Film
Larry Riley's career expanded beyond the stage, encompassing television and film roles. On television Riley appeared in such highly rated shows as One Life to Live and Hill Street Blues. In 1988 he went into Knots Landing. He also had guest roles on Hill Street Blues and Miami Vice, and appeared in Louis Malle's 1984 film Crackers. In 1985, Riley starred in the short-lived sitcom Stir Crazy, based on the 1980 film of the same name. He reached his widest audience in the role of Frank Williams on the television series Knots Landing.
Knots Landing: A Defining Role
In 1988, Riley joined the cast of Knots Landing, a long-running nighttime soap opera. He won the role of Frank Williams on the long-running nighttime soap Knots Landing, becoming the series' first regular African American cast member. His portrayal of Frank Williams, a cop turned attorney, earned him widespread recognition and a Soap Opera Digest Award for Outstanding Actor in a Primetime Supporting Role in 1991. Riley's presence on the show broke barriers and paved the way for greater diversity in television.
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His credits as Frank Williams on Knots Landing include:
- Little Girl Lost (1992)
- Do You Love Me? (1992)
- Sea of Love (1992)
- Trials and Tribulations (1992)
- Dedicated to the One I Love (1992)
- Denials (1992)
- Baths and Showers (1992)
- Letting Go (1992)
- Fair Warning (1992)
- The Torrents of Winter (1992)
- And the Walls Came Tumbling Down (1992)
- Holiday on Ice (1991)
- Lost at Sea (1991)
- Victoria's Secret (1991)
- House of Cards (1991)
- 1001 Nights of Anne Matheson (1991)
- Business with Pleasure (1991)
- Home Again, Home Again (1991)
- I, Claudia (1991)
- Eye of the Beholder (1991)
- The Question Game (1991)
- The Gun Also Rises (1991)
- Play, Pause, Search: Part 2 (1991)
- Play, Pause, Search: Part 1 (1991)
- A Horse Is a Horse (1991)
- The Last One Out (1991)
- Where There's a Will, There's a Way (1991)
- An American Hero (1991)
- Upwardly Mobile (1991)
- Gone Microfiching (1991)
- Bad Dog (1991)
- Call Me Dimitri (1991)
- In the Dog House (1991)
- Always on Your Side (1991)
- A Sense of Urgency (1991)
- Simmer (1991)
- The Unknown (1991)
- A Merry Little Christmas (1990)
- Asked to Rise (1990)
- The Lady or the Tiger? (1990)
- Side by Side (1990)
- The Best Laid Plans (1990)
- Do Not Attempt to Remove (1990)
- You Can Call Me Nick (1990)
- What If? (1990)
- Dead But Not Buried (1990)
- God Will (1990)
- Blind Side (1990)
- Return Engagement (1990)
- Let's Get Married (1990)
- The Fan Club (1990)
- If I Die Before I Wake (1990)
- My Love Always (1990)
- The One to Blame (1990)
- Only Just Begun (1990)
- Home Sweet Home (1990)
- Devil on My Shoulder (1990)
- Wrong for Each Other (1990)
- The Ripple Effect (1990)
- Out of Control (1990)
- My First Born (1990)
- Road Trip (1990)
- Oh, Brother (1990)
- Perfect Couples (1989)
- The Good Guys (1989)
- Mixed Messages (1989)
- When Push Comes to Shove (1989)
- Best Interests (1989)
- Close Call (1989)
- Prince Charming (1989)
- Down Came the Rain and Washed the Spider Out: Part 2 (1989)
- Down Came the Rain and Washed the Spider Out: Part 1 (1989)
- The Perfect Opportunity (1989)
- Dial M for Modem (1989)
- Giganticus II: The Revenge (1989)
- Birds Do It, Bees Do It (1989)
- Guilty Until Proven Innocent (1989)
- A Grave Misunderstanding (1989)
- Double Jeopardy (1989)
- Poor Jill (1989)
- The Spin Doctor (1989)
- Without a Clue (1989)
- Colonel Mustard in the Conservatory with the Wrench (1989)
- Mrs. Peacock in the Library with the Lead Pipe (1989)
- A Weekend Getaway (1988)
- Sex & Violence (1988)
- The Pick-Up Game (1988)
- Deserted (1988)
- Borderline (1988)
- Suicidal (1988)
- The Perfect Crime (1988)
- Just Desserts (1988)
- With a Heavy Heart (1988)
- Her Letter (1988)
- Full Disclosure (1988)
- Lawfully Wedded (1988)
- The Blushing Bride (1988)
- In Too Deep (1988)
- If Not Now, When? (1988)
Personal Struggles and Weight Loss
Despite his professional achievements, Riley faced significant personal challenges. Larry struggled with alcohol and drug addiction, and, in 1989, he got enough courage to check himself into rehab. In May 1989, Riley entered rehab for drug and alcohol abuse. The following year, he discovered he was HIV positive.
The Onset of AIDS and Physical Changes
In 1990, Riley received the life-altering diagnosis of HIV. This was a time when the stigma surrounding AIDS was immense, and many feared the professional and social consequences of revealing their status.
As the disease progressed, Riley experienced a dramatic weight loss. When Knots Landing returned to the air after a five-month break, viewers were disturbed by a wholly unexpected development: They could barely recognize Larry Riley, who had been with the show for five seasons as cop turned attorney Frank Williams. The 6 ft. actor had dropped 5.5 stones. from his once-powerful 16 Stone frame, and suddenly looked much older than his 39 years. This physical transformation became a source of concern and speculation among viewers and colleagues.
Concealing the Truth
Fearful that news of his diagnosis would ruin his career, Riley did not disclose his illness to anyone except his wife Nina and continued working on Knots Landing until his death. Riley didn’t want people to look at him differently, so he never told his job, or friends-he never told anyone but his wife. To explain his dramatic weight loss, Riley claimed that he was suffering from kidney failure due to high blood pressure. Riley attributed the drastic change to ''a complete shutdown of my kidneys'' brought on by high blood pressure; he would, he explained, be on dialysis the rest of his life.
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His second wife Nina was one of the few who knew of his illness, for he denied it to interviewers, attributing his dramatic weight loss to kidney trouble. When Riley started to lose weight, he told people he was suffering from kidney failure.
Nina praises Knots executive producer and head writer David Jacobs for making life easier for her ailing husband -- though neither Jacobs nor anyone else on the show knew Riley had AIDS. Jacobs rearranged shooting schedules and rewrote scenes so that the actor, no longer able to stand because of exhaustion and pain in his arms and legs, could be filmed sitting. After Jacobs informed Riley that he would be re-signed for another season, despite his failing health, ''Larry cried all the way home,'' Nina says. During the final shoot, she recalls, ''his wife was holding a blanket around him between takes.''
Contracted AIDS
As to how Riley, who was once briefly married to a businesswoman and has a 21-year-old son, Larry Jr., from another relationship, contracted AIDS, Nina says, ''He was not gay. He was not bisexual. He did not use needles at all. He speculated it was from a woman. Because he was quite the womanizer.'' His lifestyle, though, could scarcely have bolstered his immune system. ''He had a very severe problem with drug and alcohol abuse,'' she says, ''and he had gotten clean and sober in May '89,'' detoxing at Las Encinas Hospital in Pasadena. His doctors, she says, believe he could have been HIV positive for a decade (he was treated by Dr. Michael Gottlieb, who has also treated Rock Hudson and Elizabeth Glaser).
Death and Legacy
On June 6, 1992, Riley died of AIDS-related kidney failure in Burbank, California, only fourteen days short of his 40th birthday. His death brought an end to a promising career and highlighted the devastating impact of AIDS.
Reactions and Revelations
When he died only four months later -- on June 6, at the St. Joseph Medical Center in Burbank -- his widow and his doctor revealed that the kidney ailment was the result of AIDS. ''I didn't tell my family,'' says his second wife, Nina, 37, whom he married in December after a six-year relationship. ''He didn't tell his family. We didn't tell a soul. Larry was very concerned that the word would have gotten out and ruined his career.'' When Riley learned he had the disease, says Nina, he asked his doctor not, ''How long can I live?'' but ''All right -- how long can I work?'' ''To Larry Riley,'' Nina explains, ''life equaled work and work equaled life.''
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Costar Joan Van Ark harbors similar regrets. ''This cast is such a family,'' says Van Ark, ''and we are wondering now: Did the family fail?'' She and other cast members say they assumed his story of kidney failure was the truth. Landing's Kevin Dobson, aware only that his friend's health was deteriorating, says he tried to call Riley the day he died, planning to offer to donate blood. And Michele Lee, who directed Riley in the season cliff-hanger, says, ''I knew he was not well, but I expected him to live, to get better.''
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