A Very Brotherly Reunion of ‘Newhart’s Larry, Darryl and Darryl

For a show that took a little while to find its footing, Newhart knew exactly what it had in the characters of Larry, Darryl and Darryl right from the start. In fact, the three brothers arrived fully formed in just the second episode of Newhart. In it, they were hired to dig up a body in the basement of Bob Newhart’s inn. The Darryls never spoke, but Larry, the leader of the group, was equal parts eloquent and unsettling. As such, they were delighted to dig up the body, and at the end of the episode, they were even more delighted to learn that they could have a dead possum that had been sitting outside of the inn (which no doubt served as a meal).

It was meant to just be a one-time appearance, but the brothers were an instant hit, so they were brought back a few episodes later and became recurring characters in Seasons Two through Eight. Every time they arrived, Larry would introduce them in the same way: “Hi, I’m Larry. This is my brother Darryl, and this is my other brother Darryl” From there, the trio of siblings would always deliver laughs in the most bizarre of circumstances.

The men who played them were William Sanderson (Larry), Tony Papenfuss (Darryl #1, aka the black-haired one) and John Voldstad (Darryl #2, aka the blond one) — all three of whom recently joined me via Zoom to reminisce about the show, their co-stars and the brotherly bond that grew between them.

To get started, I’d love to hear how all of you got your respective parts.

William Sanderson: Like many other jobs, I went in and auditioned. I wore some clothes that I’d worn back from playing the town crazy for various things in New York, and I put a quarter in my ear just for the hell of it. Luckily, they called me back. 

Turns out, the role was written for a friend of mine, Tracey Walter, a wonderful character actor. He still had to audition though, and the irony is, they hired me because he was too crazy during his audition. Getting this part was a gift from God. These two brothers here, John and Tony, they both put up with me. They both knew more than me as actors, they were both discovered at the Mark Taper Forum, which I wanted to work in but never got to. I learned from both of them. 

Tony Papenfuss: MTM (Productions) had a guy who worked in casting at the Mark Taper Forum, and I’d been there pretty steadily for about seven years. He knew of me so he put me up for the part. They had people come in and read the Larry part because, of course, you couldn’t read for Darryl. I guess we just looked like somebody who would crawl out of the woods and dig up old bodies. 

John Voldstad: It was the same thing for me — I’d done a couple of plays at the Mark Taper Forum. I didn’t read any lines; I just acted homeless and crazy. 

Papenfuss: It all came together pretty quickly. Once they decided on Bill, they picked the guys who might look good with him, and that they knew could take direction. There weren’t even callbacks. They figured it was a one-off thing. 

Sanderson: Luckily, Bob always insisted on having a live studio audience, and it was because of the audience’s reaction to us that we were written in more. 

What are your memories from that first episode?

Voldstad:  For me, just meeting Tony and Bill the first time, I felt an immediate kinship. 

Papenfuss: I have a memory from the second one. Just before we were going out, the three of us were worried about how we would be accepted. Bob said to us, “Don’t worry about it. You guys are going to be great. Believe me. You guys are going to be just fine.” So, we came out and we just about got a standing ovation. The audience went nuts at first sight. We were overcome. I just about shit my pants. 

Then, when the scene was over, Bob was jumping up and down backstage like a little kid saying, “I told you guys! I told you! They loved ya! They loved ya!” He had a ball watching the audience go nuts for these guys. That just hit me straight through the heart.

The laughs for the show were the most important thing to him, and if you could get a reaction like that, that was what made him happy, no matter where it came from. 

With the character he always played, it’s hard to picture him jumping up and down like that. What was Bob like off-camera, and how similar was he to his onscreen persona?

Sanderson: Tom Poston, who played George and who knew him better than we did, said Bob was funnier off-camera because he could be more risqué. The character Bob played was similar to him in real life, though — unassuming and funny as hell. He made a lot of people happy with his comedy.

I grew to love him even more after I left because some of the people I worked for weren’t as nice. You get too much laughter or too much dialogue, and things can change, but Bob wanted you to do well.

I think the breakout episode for you guys was your third appearance, where Stephanie finds your cabin in the woods. That was the episode that seemed to make clear that you were here to stay.

Papenfuss: Once you got to see our house in the woods and you got to see how we lived, I knew we were going to hang around for a while. That episode was the first time I felt like, “We’ll be back.”

To me, the most wonderful thing about the characters was that there was nothing that they couldn’t do. We could do anything; we could be in any situation. We could have the intellect of a garden slug in one episode, and then in the next episode, we’re in Congress. The writers adored us because any idea could apply to us. 

Yeah, I remember one episode where you guys hosted The Tonight Show.

Papenfuss: Was that the one where Johnny Carson was a guest star?

Voldstad: Yeah, Johnny came on and paid our utility bills. 

Papenfuss: That’s the one!

Pop quiz for you guys: Why didn’t the Darryls speak?

Voldstad: We sat on a porcupine. 

Yes! So much weird stuff happened with you, can I get a favorite weird moment from each of you?

Voldstad: One of them for me was when I was hiding in the walls of the haunted house. They opened the wall, and there I was.

Papenfuss: I loved “The Prodigal Darryl,” where we won money and I took my share and ran away to the fleshpot of Stowe, Vermont and Bob and my two brothers had to track me down.

Voldstad: Tony, I loved it when you were playing chess with Bob.

Sanderson: I liked the one where I was running for mayor, and one of the Darryls supported me and the other didn’t. 

John and Tony, were you ever frustrated that you never got any lines?

Papenfuss: Absolutely not. It was wonderful. The challenge of it was staying alive, but also creating a character without words. I loved the idea that we were communicating without words.

Voldstad: We reacted all the time, and we had internal monologues running, too. 

I’d read that, while you were on the show, you weren’t allowed to give interviews where you spoke. Is that true?

Papenfuss: Oh yeah. That was true. We couldn’t do commercials either unless we didn’t talk.

Voldstad: We had fun though. I remember one interview with Regis where Tony went up and cut his tie in half.

Papenfuss: Well, that was all set up, but I’ll tell you something that wasn’t. It was at the beginning of that interview, and Regis said to us, “You guys aren’t going to talk during this interview? You’re not going to say a word?” And we shook our heads, and he goes, “So you wouldn’t say anything if I did this?” and he grabbed my nose and just about tore it off my face. It hurt. I was this close to popping him one straight between the eyes. I was pissed off!

You did get a line in the finale. How did it feel to finally get a chance to say something?

Voldstad: It was great. We were reacting to our wives who we’d gotten married to, these chatterboxes from Long Island. Tony and I had to say something.

Papenfuss: The line was “quiet!” but I so wish it had been “Shut up!” That would have been more appropriate. The writers were brilliant, though. I can’t think of a way to better end the story of Larry, Darryl and Darryl than by having them speak. It was the perfect choice.

Sanderson: That finale was voted one of the greatest sitcom finales ever.

It’s still regarded as one of the very best.

Voldstad: That reveal of Suzanne Pleshette, the audience just screamed for her.

Papenfuss: That poor woman sat in her trailer all day long for that. It was like a state secret. Nobody on set knew she was in there. We didn’t know, even some of the crew didn’t know what they were going to shoot. When she was brought in, they had a blanket over her and she was ushered in by the stage crew. It was a complete surprise.

Sanderson: Julia Duffy has sworn that the writers told her about this idea they had for Suzanne Pleshette. But Bob Newhart swore that his wife came up with it. To this day, I don’t know which is correct. They can’t both be telling the truth. I didn’t know what was happening. That was for sure.

Do you guys remember how you felt about the show ending?

Voldstad: It was the end of an era. Our family was splitting up. It was a joyous ending though. We were all happy. We had a wonderful time. 

Papenfuss: There was a happy feeling, but also a feeling of complete emptiness. I felt empty. It was an emptiness I haven’t felt many times in my life, but I felt it then.

Sanderson: I didn’t know what to feel, but I didn’t think I’d get another job right away. Any job is a blessing when you’re an actor, but this was special.

Papenfuss: It goes to show you because many actors wouldn’t have auditioned for this role in the first place because it was a one-off part with no lines. You don’t turn down any opportunity because you never know what could happen. We ended up on a top-ten series for eight years!