RIP Larry Delaney

Larry Davis Delaney, 77

Daily Inter Lake

October 16, 2015

Larry Davis Delaney passed away peacefully on Sunday, Oct. 11, 2015, at his home in Whitefish, surrounded by family.

He was born Sept. 24, 1938, in Little Rock, Arkansas, to Evelyn P. Morgan and Charles Mims.

For those who knew him, Larry was “The Most Interesting Man Alive.” Raised by a Marine during World War II, he spent his youth traveling from Midway Island to the Carolinas before settling in Orange County, California.

After high school, he enlisted in the Navy where he drove submarines and was a UTD Frogman, a precursor to the Navy SEALS.

During his 20s, Larry was a deputy for the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, trained guard dogs, and married and had his first child, Deborah. He worked for the Olympic Committee during the Mexico Olympics before moving to Los Angeles in the mid-‘60s to pursue a writing career at an entertainment trade journal.

He eventually became the magazine’s editor but was courted by Capitol Records where he became the head of press relations, working intimately with The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Glen Campbell among others.  Earning the camaraderie of The Beatles, he became integral in helping them launch their independent label Apple Records. 

At the dawn of the ‘70s, Larry’s savvy PR skills were noticed by the White House and he successfully helped spearhead Richard Nixon’s re-election campaign.

He returned to the entertainment industry but this time as an actor, starring in such television shows and films as “Brian’s Song,” “West World,” “Gunsmoke,” “The Six Million Dollar Man,” and “Mayberry” where Larry met and married TV star Arlene Golonka. He also appeared in “The Streets of San Francisco,” acting alongside Arnold Schwarzenegger. But his most prominent acting role was as Jay Livingston on the iconic soap opera “Days of our Lives.”

In between acting gigs, Larry penned New York Times best-selling novels “Blood Red Wine,” “Triton Ultimatum,” “Sea Ranch,” “Blood Harvest,” as well as “No Sympathy for the Devil” under the pseudonym Fredrick Snow.

It was at this time he rekindled an old romance with and married Mary (Hart) Delaney, whom he had briefly dated during his Capitol Records days. When she became unexpectedly pregnant and gave birth to a baby boy, they decided to give up the city life and moved to an old log cabin in Whitefish.

Larry put his vast skills to good use, working for Big Mountain Ski Resort’s marketing department where he teamed up with Doug Betters of the Miami Dolphins to form the Doug Betters Winter Classic.

Over the years, Larry worked for such local innovative companies as Applied Information Services, CyberPort, one of the first Internet providers in Montana, and Silicon Valley-based semiconductor company Integrated Materials.

Upon retirement, Larry spent his twilight years beekeeping, writing and mentoring his son Morgan in the art of storytelling.

Larry is survived by daughters, Elizabeth Phillips, Deb Puckett, Kim DeGeer and Jennifer Clemente; son, Morgan Delaney; brother, Bill Mims; and granddaughters, Meghan Walker, Kristen Walker and Jenna Lee Walker.

A celebration of life will be held for Larry from 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 18, at the Bohemian Hall, 125 Blanchard Lake Road, behind Montana Coffee Traders in Whitefish.

DELANEY, Larry (Larry Davis Delaney)

Born: 9/24/1938, Little Rock, Arkansas, U.S.A.

Died: 10/11/2015, Whitefish, Montana, U.S.A.

Larry Delaney’s westerns – actor:

Gunsmoke (TV) – 1972 (Ray Hutson)

Westworld – 1973 (technician)