Born in El Paso, Texas, which his parents moved out at the age of two, he attended several grammar schools, and graduated from John C. Fremont High School with a major in commercial art, but never went to college.

He was an animator in Chuck Jones' unit, starting in 1939 with the short Dog Gone Modern.

[2][3] Some of the productions he worked on include Song of the South, Mr. Magoo, The Unicorn in the Garden, Gerald McBoing Boing, The Alvin Show, The Lone Ranger, the 1965–1967 Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies cartoons for Format Films, and Fangface.

Larriva was buried in Eternal Hills Cemetery in Oceanside, California in March of that year.

[3] Note: The Wile E. Coyote/Road Runner cartoons in the above list are sometimes called the "Larriva Eleven."