Actors - Dick Clark

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	Actors - Dick Clark

Dick Clark, (born Richard Wagstaff Clark November 30 1929) is an American television personality and businessman, best known for hosting long-running shows such as American Bandstand, The $10,000 Pyramid, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.

Clark has long been known for his continued youthful appearance, earning the moniker "America's Oldest Teenager", and also for his good health -- until he suffered a stroke in 2004. With his looks OK but some speech ability still impaired, Clark made a dramatic return to his New Year's show on December 31, 2005.

Career

Dick Clark was born in The Bronx section of New York City and raised in Mount Vernon, New York.

Clark's career in show business began in 1945 when he started working in the mailroom of radio station WRUN in Utica, New York (which was owned by his uncle and managed by his father). Clark was soon promoted to weatherman and news announcer. Clark graduated from Syracuse University in 1951 and began his television career at station WKTV in Utica. Clark's first television hosting job was on the "Cactus Dick and the Santa Fe Riders", a country music program.

In 1952, Dick Clark moved to Philadelphia and took a job as a disc jockey at radio station WFIL. WFIL had an affiliated television station with the same call sign which began broadcasting a show called Bob Horn's Bandstand in 1952. Clark was a regular substitute host on the show and when Horn left, Clark became the full time host on July 9, 1956. The show was picked up by ABC and was first aired nationally on August 5, 1957 and renamed American Bandstand. The show was a major success, running daily until 1963, then weekly until 1987; a spin-off of the show, Where the Action Is, aired from 1965 to 1967, also on ABC. Charlie O'Donnell, a close friend of Clark's and an up-and-coming fellow Philadelphia disc jockey, was chosen to be the announcer, which he served for ten years. O'Donnell to this day continues to work with Clark on various specials and award shows and was one of the announcers on the 1980s versions of Clark's Pyramid game show.

Clark produced Bandstand for syndication and later the USA cable network until 1989, giving up the hosting reins to David Hirsch in its final year.

Clark began investing in the music publishing and recording business in the 1950s. In 1959, the United States Senate opened investigations into "payola", the practice of music producing companies paying broadcasting companies to favor their product. Clark, as a major figure in both fields, was investigated and testified before Congress in 1960. Clark was not charged with any illegal activities but he was required by ABC to divest his publishing and recording interests.

On November 22 1963 Clark was in Dallas, Texas. As President John F. Kennedy was driven by Clark's hotel room, Clark waved at the president. (Clark was not in Dealey Plaza during the assassination of President Kennedy)

Clark has been involved in a number of other television series and specials as producer and performer. One of his most well-known guest appearances was in the final episode of the original Perry Mason TV series (The Case of The Final Fadeout) in which he was revealed to be the killer in a dramatic courtroom scene.

In 1972, he produced and hosted Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, the first of an ongoing series of specials still broadcast on New Year's Eve.

After two brief runs as a quiz-show host, presiding over "The Object Is" and then "Missing Links" (which in a near twist of irony, he replaced his former Philadelphia neighbor and subsequent "TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes" co-host, Ed McMahon ), Clark hit the jackpot with The $10,000 Pyramid, which premiered on CBS March 26 1973. The show—a word association game created and produced by daytime TV legend Bob Stewart—moved to ABC from 1974 to 1980, during which time the top prize was upgraded to $20,000. After a brief 1981 syndicated run as The $50,000 Pyramid, the show returned to CBS in 1982 as The $25,000 Pyramid, and continued through 1988, save for a three month break. From 1985 to 1988, Clark hosted both the CBS $25,000 version and a daily $100,000 Pyramid in syndication.

Clark's daytime versions of Pyramid won nine Emmy Awards for best game show, a mark eclipsed only by the 10 won by the syndicated version of Jeopardy!. It also won Clark three Emmys for best game show host.

The 1973-81 Pyramids meant a cross-country commute for Clark. Except for a brief stretch in fall 1973, the show was based in New York and Clark was based in southern California. But by this time Clark established himself as a producer/host comfortable with hard work, a trait that is as much his trademark as his signature signoff For now, Dick Clark... so long. accompanied by a salute. On the week-ending episodes of the ABC Pyramid, Clark would close with the line We'll see you tomorrow on Bandstand before using his signature signoff.

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