Larry Howard Shue (July 23, 1946 – September 23, 1985) was an American playwright and actor, best known for writing two oft-performed farces, The Nerd and The Foreigner.

[5] Film appearances include the shorts A Common Confusion; Another Town; and The Land of the Blind: or The Hungry Leaves; and the feature-length Sweet Liberty.

[citation needed] As a member of Milwaukee Repertory Theater, Shue played the sailor Joe in the 1980 premiere of Lakeboat by David Mamet.

At the age of 39, he died in the crash of a Beech 99 commuter plane en route to Shenandoah Valley Regional Airport near Weyers Cave, Virginia; all fourteen people on the flight were killed, twelve passengers and two crew.

[12] Among many other eulogies, author Thomas M. Disch said that Shue's death was "fate's cruelest trick on the theater since the murder of Joe Orton.