Actor in ’60s sitcom ‘F Troop’ visits character’s hometown

PASSAIC, N.J. – An actor in the 1960s sitcom “F Troop” has paid a visit to the New Jersey city made famous by his character — 49 years after the show went off the air.

Larry Storch was welcomed Tuesday to Passaic, where he received proclamations honouring his portrayal of Cpl. Randolph Agarn. It was the first time the 93-year-old had been to the city that Agarn called home.

“I think because of you, Passaic is mentioned all over the world,” Mayor Alex Blanco said before proclaiming Storch as an honorary Passaic resident.

He chose Passaic for his character’s hometown in the show, which aired from 1965 to 1967, because “it sounded tough,” The Record newspaper reported (http://bit.ly/2caYkTi). Storch grew up in New York and said he modeled Agarn’s character after a tough-talking kid from Brooklyn. But he thought Passaic sounded tougher, and he ad-libbed the name when someone on the set asked him where he was from.

“I only saw the city from the inside of a car, but it seems like a nice place,” Storch said.

The sitcom featured the antics of a U.S. Cavalry troop stationed at Fort Courage. Agarn was the sidekick of Sgt. Morgan O’Rourke, and both were endlessly scheming to make money.

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Information from: The Record (Woodland Park, N.J.), http://www.northjersey.com