Larry Hart

Larry Hart, 81, sound engineer, actor, designer, photographer, and visual artist; of Chicago’s Lincoln Park neighborhood, passed away unexpectedly after a fall, en route to a drawing group. He had suffered a couple of mini strokes in the past year. Frank Lawrence Hart was the fifth of seven children born into a Latter Day Saints family in Lovell, Wyoming. Larry grew up in Powell, Wyoming, where he earned his Associate’s degree in Theatre from Northwest College before moving to Chicago’s Goodman School of Drama. Larry trained in the Stanislavsky Method with Bella Itkin, John Reich, and Charles McGaw and earned his B.F.A. in Acting. It was at the Goodman that he met Pat Hart, a costume design student who would become the love of his life and creative collaborator. The couple married in 1967 and were fixtures in the off-Loop theater scene; Pat for her costumes, Larry for acting, poster design, and sound design. Larry was instrumental in developing the Off-Loop theater movement. As a sound designer, Larry collaborated with Steppenwolf, Next, Body Politic, Pegasus, Lifeline, Bailiwick, Loyola University, Touchstone, and Organic Theater. He founded the Take it to Hart graphic design firm in 1980. As an actor, director, and producer, Larry worked with Tennessee Williams, James Earl Jones, Howard DaSilva, Morris Carnovsky, Len Cariou, and Eugenie Leontovich. He was Producing Artistic Director at Pary Production Company and a founding member of Kingston Mines Theater. Larry acted with Aidan Quinn, was cast by Edward Albee in a production of “Tiny Alice”, and was nominated for a Joseph Jefferson Award in the role of Phil Hogan in “Moon for the Misbegotten” by Eugene O’Neill at Touchstone Theater. By day, Larry worked as a sound engineer at McCann Erickson and then for several decades at Leo Burnett Worldwide. He was also a somewhat underappreciated visual artist and photographer. Preceded in death by wife Patricia L. Hart, devoted father of Michael Lawrence Hart of Alexandria, VA, brother of the late Pearl Ann, Barbara, the late Ila, the late Heber, Bill and Rhonda. Son of the late Howard Hart and Ethel Tippets Hart. Larry donated lower-extremity skin and bone through the Anatomical Gift Association. The family has chosen a private cremation. A celebration of Larry’s life is being planned for the coming months. Please check back to this website for information. In lieu of flowers, donations may be made in his name to www.strokecomebackcenter.com Arrangements by Inclusive Funeral Care, 773-318-1305 or www.InclusiveFuneralCare.com.

Larry Hart

May 19, 1944 - January 4, 2026