Bryggman was born in Concord, California of Swedish descent; his father worked for a neon sign company and his mother was a piano Teacher. Bryggman attended the City College of San Francisco as well as the American Theatre Wing in New York City. He made his off-Broadway debut in 1962, with A Summer Ghost.
Bryggman is known for his role as Dr. John Dixon in the soap opera As the World Turns, a role he played from July 18, 1969 to December 14, 2004. Originally the role was a minor background part, which only required Bryggman to work two episodes, but he was later hired to a contract in 1970. For his role as Dr. Dixon, Bryggman received two Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Actor in a Drama, in 1984 and 1987.
Bryggman has twice been nominated for the Tony Award for Best Featured Actor in a Play; in 1994 for Picnic, and in 2001 for Proof. He also appeared in the original 1976 Broadway cast of Checking Out.
From 1982-1987, he was married to As the World Turns co-star Jacqueline Schultz. His present wife, Tracey Hanley, was an assistant Director on Guiding Light. Son Ryan Hanley was born in 2000, and daughter Riley Claire was born on June 11, 2003 in Manhattan.
In December 2004, Bryggman's picture suddenly stopped appearing in the opening credits of As the World Turns. Although many actors were rarely seen on the show, As the World Turns had a history of keeping its veteran actors under contract. After a few weeks of not appearing in the opening credits, it was revealed that Larry Bryggman decided to quit after being offered a large pay cut. Though no onscreen attempt was made to explain the character's absence—his character simply stopped appearing—vintage clips of Bryggman were featured in ATWT's fiftieth anniversary show in April 2006. For the show's final episodes, it was explained that Dr. John Dixon had been working at Johns Hopkins for an undisclosed period of time, but had been asked by Dr. Reid Oliver to return to Oakdale Memorial to consult on the ailing Christopher Hughes.
In 2005, Bryggman starred as the Judge in the Atlantic Theater Company's off-Broadway and Los Angeles productions of the David Mamet farce Romance, for which he received universal rave reviews and a nomination for the 2005 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Featured Actor in a Play. James C. Taylor for the Los Angeles Times called Bryggman's performance "one of the finest comedic performances seen on an American stage this decade".
Beginning on August 27, 2010, Bryggman returned to ATWT for 12 episodes, before the show finished its run on September 17, 2010.
