Career
His abilities earned him the nickname "Whiz Kid" in Hollywood. McLarty performed stunts in over 150 films between 1966 and 2004, among them The Wild Bunch, Little Big Manitoba, The Longest Yard, Blade Runner, The Terminator, Jurassic Park, Heat, and Collateral. He also performed in numerous John Wayne films, including The War Wagon, The Undefeated, Chisum, McQ, and Rooster Cogburn.
In addition, he was the stunt coordinator on such films as Animal House, The Blues Brothers, Beverly Hills Cop, Beverly Hills Cop II and Days of Thunder.
On Animal House, it was McLarty who, doubling as the character of "Doctorate-Day," rode the motorcycle up the fraternity house stairs. He also doubled as Henry Winkler"s Fonzie for that character"s motorcycle scenes on the sitcom Happy Days.
In 1982, McLarty was hired to serve as stunt coordinator on Twilight Zone: The Movie, on which he also doubled for actor Vic Morrow. In the subsequent trial, McLarty testified that, prior to the accident, he had warned director John Landis that the stunt was too dangerous.
McLarty semi-retired from stunt work in 2004.
The following year, he testified at the murder trial of actor Robert Blake, testifying that Blake offered him $10,000 to murder Blake"s wife, Bonnie Lee Bakley. McLarty declined. Bakley was fatally shot in Blake"s car outside a restaurant in May 2001. McLarty was 73.