Biography and photo from the Internet Movie Database and canada.com

Born in Montréal, Québec, Canada. As a teenager, Larkin studied at the Art School of the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts under the tutelage of Arthur Lismer, and clearly showed sharp talent for character and figure drawing. In the early 1960s, he was hired by the National Film Board of Canada, and was immediately recognized by NFB's Norman McLaren as one of the brightest new artists in that organization. McLaren personally took Larkin on as a protégé and gave him the resources to create two animated short films: CITÉRAMA (1966) (Cityscape) in 1963 and SYRINX (1965) in 1964. The latter film won worldwide recognition and propelled him to even more ambitious projects. Larkin's next film, EN MARCHANT (1969) (Walking), gave him not only recognition but celebrity. He was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film. He was given write-ups in Time Magazine and called the "Frank Zappa or George Harrison of Animation" by the Montréal Gazette. His next film, STREET MUSIQUE (1972), further cemented his star status at the NFB. At this point Larkin began his downward career spiral. He was to make no more films at the NFB, and resigned in 1978. By this time he was a cocaine addict and heavy drinker, and was unable to hold down any work in animation or any other profession. However, he did work as an animator on the NFB production of RUNNING TIME (1974) and George Kaczender's AGENCY (1980). During a period of over a decade, which he described as a "haze," Larkin lost all his artwork, all his sculptures, all his animation materials, all his money. For a year he lived homeless on the streets of Montréal, eventually finding a home in the old part of the city and begging for spare change from passersby in front of Schwartz's Restaurant on Montréal's Boulevard St. Laurent. Although he gave up cocaine, he was still an alcoholic. His health declined, and he became addled by depression and confusion. And yet he was still lucid, still artistically brilliant and acutely self-aware. He discovered humility and redemption far beyond what most of us have ever conceived. He was the subject of the Oscar®-winning short film, RYAN (2004). In 2006, Larkin returned to the drawing board and began crafting station ID's for MTV Canada. He also began working on a new short film project, SPARE CHANGE, a 10-minute animated film documenting what Larkin called the comical things that happened during his panhandling experience.  Nominated for Short Subjects (Cartoons) 1969: WALKING - Producer 1 nomination