Larry Hovis was born on February 20, 1936. Just before becoming Sgt. Andrew Carter on Hogan's Heroes, he was a regular on another military sitcom, portraying Larry in the first season of CBS' Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.

Hovis has worked extensively as a comedy writer. Most of his writing has been for television, though he wrote the beach-blanket/espionage/rock 'n roll feature film Out of Sight (1966). For TV, he created material for the earliest Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In broadcasts and 1960s specials by Mitzi Gaynor and Dick Cavett. He was a regular on Laugh-In in 1968 and again in 1971-72. From 1976 to 1978, he was a regular panelist on the syndicated game show The Liar's Club (a show he also produced).

Larry's stage work included appearances in The Billy Barnes Revue on Broadway, and in the military comedy Mister Roberts. In the late 1970s, he toured in the Broadway musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. He has also appeared in a number of made-for-TV movies and the 1993 film Shadow Force.

Larry Hovis passed away September 9, 2003 at 8:45 AM after a battle with esophagus cancer. He was 67.