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Dick Clark (entertainer)
Encyclopedia
Richard Wagstaff "Dick" Clark (born November 30, 1929) is an American businessman
; game-show
host
; and radio
and television personality. He served as chairman and chief executive officer
of Dick Clark Productions
, which he has sold part of in recent years. Clark is best known for hosting long-running television shows such as American Bandstand
, five versions of the game show Pyramid
, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.
Clark has long been known for his departing catchphrase
, "For now, Dick Clark...so long," delivered with a military salute
, and for his youthful appearance, earning the moniker "America's Oldest Teenager".
Clark suffered a mild stroke
in late 2004. With some minor speech ability still impaired, Clark returned to his New Year's Rockin' Eve show on December 31, 2005/January 1, 2006. Subsequently, he appeared at the Emmy Award
s on August 27, 2006, and every New Year's Rockin' Eve show since then.
, the son of Julia Fuller (née
Barnard) Clark and Richard Augustus Clark. His only sibling, older brother Bradley, was killed in World War II
. His career in show business
began in 1945 when he started working in the mailroom of WRUN
, a radio station owned by his uncle and managed by his father in Utica, New York
. Clark was soon promoted to weatherman and news announcer.
Clark attended A.B. Davis High School (now A.B. Davis Middle School) in Mount Vernon and Syracuse University
in Syracuse, New York
, and was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon
fraternity (Phi Gamma); he graduated in 1951 with a degree in business.
Dick Clark received a degree from Syracuse University where he worked at WOLF, a country music station. He returned to WRUN for a short time where he used the name Dick Clay.
He went back to his given name and went to work for WFIL, a radio and affiliated television station in Philadelphia. The station decided to follow the trend of announcers playing records over the air waves. The television station aired a show called Bandstand, an afternoon teen dance show. Clark was given the job as host and replaced Bob Horn.
Clark began his television career at station WKTV
in Utica and was also subsequently a disc jockey
on radio station WOLF
in Syracuse. His first television-hosting job was on Cactus Dick and the Santa Fe Riders, a country-music
program. He would later replace Robert Earle
(who would later host the GE College Bowl
) as a newscaster.
Clark was principal in pro broadcasters operator of 1440 KPRO in Riverside, California from 1962 to 1982. In the 1960s, he was owner of KGUD AM/FM (later KTYD AM/FM) in Santa Barbara, California.
, more specifically to Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania
, and resided within the Drexelbrook Community where he was neighbors with Ed McMahon
. There he took a job as a disc jockey at radio station WFIL
. WFIL had an affiliated television station (now WPVI
) 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 the ABC
television network
, renamed American Bandstand
, and was first aired nationally on August 5, 1957. On that day, Clark interviewed Elvis Presley
.
Clark also 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 was a shareholder in the Jamie-Guyden Distributing Corporation, which nationally distributed Jamie and other non-owned labels. Clark sold his shares back to the corporation when ABC suggested that his participation might be considered as creating a conflict of interest. In 1960, when charges were levied against Clark by the Congressional Payola Investigations
, he quietly divested himself of interests and signed an affidavit
denying involvement. Clark was not charged with any illegal activities.
Unaffected by the investigation, American Bandstand was a major success, running daily Monday through Friday until 1963, then weekly on Saturdays until 1987. In 1964, the show moved from Philadelphia to Hollywood
, California
. Charlie O'Donnell
, a close friend of Clark's and an up-and-coming fellow Philadelphia disc jockey, was chosen to be the announcer, a position he held for ten years. O'Donnell also announced on many 1980s versions of Clark's Pyramid game show; he continued to work with Clark on various specials and award shows until his death in November 2010.
Clark produced American Bandstand for syndicated television and later the USA Network
, a cable
-and-satellite-television
channel, until 1989. Clark also hosted the program in 1987 and 1988; David Hirsch hosted in 1989, its final year. American Bandstand and Dick Clark himself were honored at the 2010 Daytime Emmy Awards.
A spin-off
of Bandstand, Where the Action Is
, aired from June 27, 1965 to March 31, 1967, also on ABC.
. The program has typically consisted of live remotes
of Clark in Times Square
in New York City
, counting down until the New Year ball comes down. After the ball drops, the focus of the program switches to musical segments taped prior to the show in Hollywood, California
. The special is live in the Eastern Time Zone
, and it is delayed for the other time zones so that they can ring in the New Year with Clark when midnight strikes in their area.
ABC
has broadcast the event on every New Year's Eve
since 1972 except in 1999 when it was pre-empted for ABC 2000 Today
, news coverage of the milestone year hosted by Peter Jennings
. In the more than three decades it has been on the air, the show has become a mainstay in U.S. New Year's Eve celebrations. Before then, Guy Lombardo
(a.k.a. "Mr. New Year's Eve"), along with his big band
orchestra, the Royal Canadians, had long been the main draw for New Year's Eve broadcasts for radio and, later, for television (on CBS
). Watching the ball in Times Square drop on Clark's show is considered an annual cultural tradition for the New Year's holiday.
Twice, Clark was not able to host his show. The first time happened at the end of 1999, going into 2000, due to ABC 2000 Today. However, during that broadcast, Clark, along with ABC News correspondent Jack Ford, announced his signature countdown to the new year. He was a correspondent, according to the transcript of the broadcast released by ABC News. Ford had been assigned to Times Square during the broadcast, and thus, Clark's role was limited. Nevertheless, he won a Peabody Award
for his coverage. The second time happened at the end of 2004, as he was recovering from his stroke; Regis Philbin
substituted as host. The following year, Clark returned to the show, although Ryan Seacrest
served as primary host. From December 31, 2005, onward, Clark has co-hosted New Year's Rockin Eve with Seacrest.
and then Missing Links. In a near twist of irony, on Missing Links, he replaced his former Philadelphia neighbor and subsequent TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes co-host, Ed McMahon
, when the game show switched networks from NBC
to ABC; NBC replaced Missing Links with Jeopardy!
.
Clark later became host of The $10,000 Pyramid
, which premiered on CBS March 26, 1973 (the same day as The Young and the Restless
). The show — a word association game created and produced by daytime television producer 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 New $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. His daytime versions of Pyramid won nine Emmy Awards for best game show, a mark that is eclipsed only by the eleven won by the syndicated
version of Jeopardy!. It also won Clark three Emmy Awards for best game show host.
Clark would return to Pyramid as a guest in later incarnations. He was a guest during the Bill Cullen
version of The $25,000 Pyramid (not to be confused with the incarnation Clark himself hosted). During the premiere of the John Davidson
version in 1991, Clark sent a pre-recorded message wishing Davidson well in hosting the show. In 2002, Clark played as a celebrity guest for three days on the Donny Osmond
version.
countdown show host. He began in 1963, hosting a radio program called The Dick Clark Radio Show. It was produced by Mars Broadcasting of Stamford
, Connecticut
. Despite his enormous popularity on American Bandstand, the show was only picked up by a few dozen stations and lasted less than a year. The show proved to be ahead of its time, becoming one of the earliest attempts at radio syndication.
On March 25, 1972, Clark hosted American Top 40
, filling in for Casey Kasem
. Several years later, Clark would become one of AT40's most enduring rivals. In 1981, he created The Dick Clark National Music Survey for the Mutual Broadcasting System
. The program counted down the Top 30 contemporary hits of the week in direct competition with American Top 40. Clark left Mutual in 1986, and Charlie Tuna took over the National Music Survey. Clark then launched his own radio syndication group; the United Stations Radio Network, or Unistar, and took over the countdown program, "Countdown America". It ran until 1994, when Clark sold Unistar to Westwood One Radio. The following year, Clark started over, building a new version of the USRN and a new countdown show: "The U.S. Music Survey". He served as its host until his 2004 stroke.
Dick Clark's longest running radio show began on February 14, 1982. "Rock, Roll & Remember" was a four hour oldies show named after Clark's 1976 autobiography. The first year, it was hosted by veteran Los Angeles disc jockey Gene Weed. Then in 1983 voice over talent Mark Elliot co-hosted with Clark. By 1985, Clark hosted the entire show. Pam Miller served as producer. Each week, Clark would profile a different artist from the Rock and Roll era. He would also count down the top four songs that week from a certain year in the 1950s 60's or early 70's. The show ended production when Clark suffered his 2004 stroke. However, re-runs continue to air in syndication and on Clark's website "dickclarkonline.com".
Since 2009, Clark has merged elements of "Rock, Roll and Remember" with the syndicated oldies show, "Rewind with Gary Bryan". The new show is called "Dick Clark Presents Rewind with Gary Bryan". Bryan, a Los Angeles radio personality, serves as the main host. Clark contributes profile segments.
(aka The Dick Clark Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show). It aired from February 15, 1958, until September 10, 1960, on the ABC television network. It was broadcast live from the "Little Theater" in New York City and was sponsored by Beech-Nut Gum. It featured the rock stars of the day lip synching their hits, just as on American Bandstand. However, unlike the afternoon Bandstand program which focused on the dance floor with the teenage audience demonstrating the latest dance steps, the audience of The Dick Clark Show (consisting mostly of squealing girls) sat in a traditional theater setting. While some of the musical numbers were presented simply, others were major production numbers.
The high point of the show was the unveiling with great fanfare at the end of each program, by Clark, of the top ten records of the coming week. This ritual became so embedded in popular culture that to this day it is satirized nightly by David Letterman
. In the 1986 comedy-drama Peggy Sue Got Married
, Kathleen Turner
's character after being transported back to the spring of 1960 is supposedly watching American Bandstand on television. The clip used in the movie, however, is actually of the Dick Clark Saturday night show, because the teen age audience is not dancing but sitting in a theater. In addition, members of the audience were wearing the "IFIC" buttons based upon the Beech-Nut Gum advertising slogan of the late 1950s ("It's FlavorIFIC"). Beech-Nut sponsored the Clark Saturday night show and sponsored the top 10 countdown board on American Bandstand.
From September 27 to December 20, 1959, Clark hosted a thirty-minute weekly talent/variety series entitled Dick Clark's World of Talent
at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday nights on ABC. A variation of producer Irving Mansfield's earlier CBS
series, This Is Show Business (1949–1956), it featured three celebrity panelists, including comedian Jack E. Leonard
, judging and offering advice to amateur and semi-professional performers. While this show was not a success, during its nearly three month duration, Clark was one of the few personalities in television history on the air nationwide seven days a week. 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 1973, he created the American Music Awards
show, which he produces annually. Intended as competition for the Grammy Awards, in some years it gained a bigger audience than the Grammys due to being more in touch with popular trends.
Clark attempted to branch into the realm of soul music
with the series Soul Unlimited in 1973. The series, hosted by Buster Jones
, was a more risqué and controversial imitator of the then-popular series Soul Train
and alternated in the Bandstand time slot. The series lasted for only a few episodes. Despite a feud between Clark and Soul Train creator and host Don Cornelius
, the two would later collaborate on several specials featuring black artists.
He hosted the short-lived Dick Clark's LIVE Wednesday
in 1978. In 1984, Clark produced and co-hosted with Ed McMahon
the NBC series TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes
. The series ran through 1988 and continued in specials hosted by Clark (sometimes joined by another TV personality) into the 21st century, first on NBC, later on ABC, and currently on TBS (the last version re-edited into 15-minute/filler segments airing at about 5 A.M.). Clark and McMahon were longtime Philadelphia acquaintances, and McMahon praised Clark for first bringing him together with future TV partner Johnny Carson
when all three worked at ABC in the late 1950s. The "Bloopers" franchise stems from the Clark-hosted (and produced) NBC "Bloopers" specials of the early 1980s, inspired by the books, record albums and appearances of Kermit Schafer, a radio and TV producer who first popularized outtakes of broadcasts.
For a period of several years in the 1980s, Clark simultaneously hosted regular programs on the 3 major American television networks: ABC (Bandstand), CBS (Pyramid) and NBC (Bloopers) and in 1993, he hosted Scattergories
. In 1990 and 1991, he hosted the syndicated television game show The Challengers
, which only lasted for one season. In 1999, along with Bob Boden, he was one of the executive producers of Fox
's TV game show Greed
, which ran from November 5, 1999, to July 14, 2000, and was hosted by Chuck Woolery
. At the same time, Clark also hosted the Stone-Stanley-created Winning Lines, which ran for six weeks on CBS from January 8, 2000 – February 12, 2000.
Clark did a brief stint as announcer on The Jon Stewart Show
, in 1995http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swLeUwcQbBU.
From 2001 to 2003, Clark was a co-host of The Other Half
with Mario Lopez
, Danny Bonaduce
, and Dorian Gregory
, a syndicated daytime talk show intended to be the male equivalent of The View. Clark also produced the television series American Dreams
about a Philadelphia family in the early 1960s whose daughter is a regular on American Bandstand. The series ran from 2002 to 2005.
. He was criticized for hiring poor, unwed mothers to work long hours in his chain of restaurants for little pay. The mother in particular works over 80 hours per week and is unable to make rent and gets evicted which results in her having her son stay at his uncle's house. At his uncle's house the boy finds a gun and brings it to school where he shoots another first grader. In the documentary footage featuring Clark, Michael Moore tries to approach him to inform him of the welfare policies that allow for these conditions, and questions him about the people he employs and the tax breaks he takes advantage of, in employing welfare recipients; Clark refuses to answer any of Moore's questions, shutting the car door and driving away.
Clark also appeared in interview segments of another 2002 film, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
, which was based on the "unauthorized autobiography" of Chuck Barris
. (Barris had worked at ABC as a standards-and-practices executive during "American Bandstand's" run on that network.)
In the 2002 Dharma and Greg episode "Mission: Implausible," Greg is the victim of a college prank, and devises an elaborate plan to retaliate, part of which involves his use of a disguise kit; the first disguise chosen is that of Dick Clark. During a fantasy sequence that portrays the unfolding of the plan, the real Clark plays Greg wearing his disguise.
He also made brief cameos in two episodes of the The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
. In one episode he plays himself at a Philadelphia diner, and in the other he helps Will Smith
's character host blooper
s from past episodes of that sitcom.
in April 2004, Clark revealed that he had Type 2 diabetes.
On December 8 of that year, the then 75-year-old was hospitalized in Los Angeles
after suffering what was initially termed a minor stroke. Clark's spokeswoman, Amy Streibel, said that he was hospitalized but was expected to be fine.
However, on December 13, 2004, it was announced that Clark would be unable to host his annual New Year's Rockin' Eve broadcast that had aired for all but one year since 1972 (in 1999, New Year's Rockin' Eve was preempted with the Peter Jennings
-hosted ABC 2000 Today
though Clark did perform his traditional countdown). For the 2004 show, Regis Philbin
was the substitute host, and during the show on December 31, 2004, he gave his best wishes to Clark.
and Ryan Seacrest
as co-hosts, in addition to the latter being co-executive producer. Also in the press release, it was announced that Seacrest would eventually take over as the sole host should Clark decide to retire, or be unable to continue.
On December 31, 2005, Clark made his return to television, returning to the Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve broadcast.
During the program, Clark remained behind a desk and was shown only in limited segments. Though Clark had noticeable difficulty speaking, he was able to perform his famous countdown to the new year.
On air, he stated, "Last year I had a stroke. It left me in bad shape. I had to teach myself how to walk and talk again. It's been a long, hard fight. My speech is not perfect but I'm getting there." Before counting down to 2006, he mentioned he "wouldn't have missed this for the world."
Reaction to Clark's appearance was mixed, reported CNN.com. While some TV critics (including Tom Shales of The Washington Post
, in an interview with the CBS Radio Network
) felt he was not in good enough shape to do the broadcast, stroke survivors and many of Clark's fans praised him for being a role model for people dealing with post-stroke recovery.
after the show paid tribute to his successful career that has spanned decades. He was shown seated behind a lectern, and although his speech was still slurred, he was able to address the audience and introduce Barry Manilow
's performance.
For the 2006-07 and 2007-08 ABC New Year's Eves, Clark still exhibited noticeably slurred and somewhat breathless speech, but improved from previous years, in addition to using his arms again. For the 2008–09 broadcast, he increased his hosting duties to the point where he split duties roughly evenly with Seacrest during the half-hour leading up to the ball drop. For the 2009-10 countdown show, he spoke with improved verbal expression, as well as improved head and arm dexterity, but incorrectly counted down, counting "...14, 12, 10, 11, 10, 9...". In previous years following the stroke, Clark had only hosted the countdown and one brief segment. Clark returned for the 2010-11 New Year's Rockin' Eve and executed a perfect countdown from 24 seconds down to 1.
Clark was honored at The 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on CBS TV. It was a tribute to his 40 years hosting American Bandstand.
Clark has a stake in a chain of music-themed restaurants licensed under the names "Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill," "Dick Clark's AB Grill," "Dick Clark's Bandstand — Food, Spirits & Fun" and "Dick Clark's AB Diner." There are currently three airport locations in Newark, New Jersey
; Phoenix, Arizona
; and Salt Lake City, Utah
, one location in the Molly Pitcher
travel plaza on the New Jersey Turnpike
in Cranbury, New Jersey, and one location at "Dick Clark's American Bandstand Theater" in Branson, Missouri
. On 13th November 2002 he was appointed as a director of Krispy Kreme U.K. Ltd.
's Dollywood
theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
. In October 2007, since nearby residents complained about the outside concerts performed at the new complex, it has been emptied of its contents and the box office closed temporarily. After eighteen months of extensive new renovations it was reopened for indoor concert performances.
and Cindy, and divorced in 1971. Since 1977, Clark has been married to Kari Wigton.
, most notably his nickname of "America's Oldest Living Teenager."
One of Gary Larson
's The Far Side
cartoons has the caption, "Suddenly, on a national talk show in front of millions of viewers, Dick Clark ages 200 years in 30 seconds."
In Episode 320 of Mystery Science Theater 3000
, John Carradine
- playing a mad scientist in the movie The Unearthly
- is trying to get another character to consider eternal life when he says, "Suppose you could wake up every morning and see your face untouched by time.” Crow replies, "Like Dick Clark?"
In the Police Squad!
episode "Testimony of Evil (Dead Men Don't Laugh)
," Dick Clark, appearing as himself, purchases Secret Formula Youth Cream from street snitch Johnny the Shoeshine Boy.
In the film Peggy Sue Got Married
(1986), Kathleen Turner, who has time-traveled back to circa 1960, is watching Dick Clark on American Bandstand with her sister and says "That man never ages." Her sister doesn't seem to understand what she means.
In The Simpsons
1999 Y2K episode, at midnight a computer glitch causes Dick Clark to melt and he is revealed to be a robot.
In an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
, Clark appears as himself. Carlton jokingly says "How come I got older and you stayed the same age."
In a stand up comedy routine Bill Hicks
references Clark as the Anti-Christ pointing to his youthful non-ageing as evidence
He is also an inductee at several Hall of Fame
locations:
Businessperson
A businessperson is someone involved in a particular undertaking of activities for the purpose of generating revenue from a combination of human, financial, or physical capital. An entrepreneur is an example of a business person...
; game-show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
host
Presenter
A presenter, or host , is a person or organization responsible for running an event. A museum or university, for example, may be the presenter or host of an exhibit. Likewise, a master of ceremonies is a person that hosts or presents a show...
; and radio
Radio personality
A radio personality is a person with an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality can be someone who introduces and discusses various genres of music, hosts a talk radio show that may take calls from listeners, or someone whose primary responsibility is to give news, weather,...
and television personality. He served as chairman and chief executive officer
Chief executive officer
A chief executive officer , managing director , Executive Director for non-profit organizations, or chief executive is the highest-ranking corporate officer or administrator in charge of total management of an organization...
of Dick Clark Productions
Dick Clark Productions
Dick Clark Productions is an entertainment production company founded by entertainer Dick Clark...
, which he has sold part of in recent years. Clark is best known for hosting long-running television shows such as American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
, five versions of the game show Pyramid
Pyramid (game show)
Pyramid is an American television game show which has aired several versions. The original series, The $10,000 Pyramid, debuted March 26, 1973 and spawned seven subsequent Pyramid series...
, and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.
Clark has long been known for his departing catchphrase
Catch phrase
A catchphrase is a phrase or expression recognized by its repeated utterance. Such phrases often originate in popular culture and in the arts, and typically spread through a variety of mass media , as well as word of mouth...
, "For now, Dick Clark...so long," delivered with a military salute
Salute
A salute is a gesture or other action used to display respect. Salutes are primarily associated with armed forces, but other organizations and civil people also use salutes.-Military salutes:...
, and for his youthful appearance, earning the moniker "America's Oldest Teenager".
Clark suffered a mild stroke
Stroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in late 2004. With some minor speech ability still impaired, Clark returned to his New Year's Rockin' Eve show on December 31, 2005/January 1, 2006. Subsequently, he appeared at the Emmy Award
Emmy Award
An Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s on August 27, 2006, and every New Year's Rockin' Eve show since then.
Early life, education and early career
Clark was born and raised in Mount Vernon, New YorkMount Vernon, New York
Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It lies on the border of the New York City borough of The Bronx.-Overview:...
, the son of Julia Fuller (née
Married and maiden names
A married name is the family name adopted by a person upon marriage. When a person assumes the family name of her spouse, the new name replaces the maiden name....
Barnard) Clark and Richard Augustus Clark. His only sibling, older brother Bradley, was killed in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. His career in show business
Show business
Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz, is a vernacular term for all aspects of entertainment. The word applies to all aspects of the entertainment industry from the business side to the creative element ....
began in 1945 when he started working in the mailroom of WRUN
WUTI
WUTI is a radio station broadcasting a talk format. Licensed to Utica, New York, USA, the station serves the Utica area. The station is currently owned by Leatherstocking Meida Group, Inc., and simulcasts with WFBL in Syracuse.-History:...
, a radio station owned by his uncle and managed by his father in Utica, New York
Utica, New York
Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....
. Clark was soon promoted to weatherman and news announcer.
Clark attended A.B. Davis High School (now A.B. Davis Middle School) in Mount Vernon and Syracuse University
Syracuse University
Syracuse University is a private research university located in Syracuse, New York, United States. Its roots can be traced back to Genesee Wesleyan Seminary, founded by the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1832, which also later founded Genesee College...
in Syracuse, New York
Syracuse, New York
Syracuse is a city in and the county seat of Onondaga County, New York, United States, the largest U.S. city with the name "Syracuse", and the fifth most populous city in the state. At the 2010 census, the city population was 145,170, and its metropolitan area had a population of 742,603...
, and was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon
Delta Kappa Epsilon is a fraternity founded at Yale College in 1844 by 15 men of the sophomore class who had not been invited to join the two existing societies...
fraternity (Phi Gamma); he graduated in 1951 with a degree in business.
Radio and television
After graduating high school in 1947, Dick Clark started as an office worker at WRUN-AM in Rome, NY. Almost immediately he was asked to fill in for the vacationing weatherman, and within a few months he was announcing station breaks. His quick rise may have been helped by the fact that his uncle owned the station and his father managed it.Dick Clark received a degree from Syracuse University where he worked at WOLF, a country music station. He returned to WRUN for a short time where he used the name Dick Clay.
He went back to his given name and went to work for WFIL, a radio and affiliated television station in Philadelphia. The station decided to follow the trend of announcers playing records over the air waves. The television station aired a show called Bandstand, an afternoon teen dance show. Clark was given the job as host and replaced Bob Horn.
Clark began his television career at station WKTV
WKTV
WKTV is the NBC-affiliated television station for Central Upstate New York's Mohawk Valley licensed to Utica. It broadcasts a high definition digital signal on UHF channel 29 from a transmitter in the Eatonville section of Fairfield and Herkimer. The station can also be seen on Time Warner Cable...
in Utica and was also subsequently a disc jockey
Disc jockey
A disc jockey, also known as DJ, is a person who selects and plays recorded music for an audience. Originally, "disc" referred to phonograph records, not the later Compact Discs. Today, the term includes all forms of music playback, no matter the medium.There are several types of disc jockeys...
on radio station WOLF
WOLF (AM)
WOLF and WWLF are the Radio Disney simulcasts for Syracuse, New York and the nearby Finger Lakes area. The outlet broadcasts at 1 kilowatt on 1490 kHz and 1340 kHz . The stations are 51% owned by Craig Fox, who also owns several other radio and low-power TV stations in New York...
in Syracuse. His first television-hosting job was on Cactus Dick and the Santa Fe Riders, a country-music
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
program. He would later replace Robert Earle
Robert Earle
Robert Earle was a host of G.E. College Bowl, an American game show that was broadcast first by CBS, later by NBC...
(who would later host the GE College Bowl
College Bowl
College Bowl was a format of college-level quizbowl run and operated by College Bowl Company, Incorporated. It had a format similar to the current NAQT format. College Bowl first aired on US radio stations in 1953, and aired on US television from 1959 to 1970...
) as a newscaster.
Clark was principal in pro broadcasters operator of 1440 KPRO in Riverside, California from 1962 to 1982. In the 1960s, he was owner of KGUD AM/FM (later KTYD AM/FM) in Santa Barbara, California.
American Bandstand
In 1952 Clark moved to Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Philadelphia is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the county seat of Philadelphia County, with which it is coterminous. The city is located in the Northeastern United States along the Delaware and Schuylkill rivers. It is the fifth-most-populous city in the United States,...
, more specifically to Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania
Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania
Drexel Hill is a census-designated place in Upper Darby Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. Drexel Hill is located southwest of Center City, Philadelphia and is part of the Philadelphia metropolitan area...
, and resided within the Drexelbrook Community where he was neighbors with Ed McMahon
Ed McMahon
Edward Peter "Ed" McMahon, Jr. was an American comedian, game show host and announcer. He is most famous for his work on television as Johnny Carson's sidekick and announcer on The Tonight Show from 1962 to 1992. He also hosted the original version of the talent show Star Search from 1983 to 1995...
. There he took a job as a disc jockey at radio station WFIL
WFIL
WFIL is a radio station and a former television station serving the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Its transmitter is located in Lafayette Hill, Pennsylvania....
. WFIL had an affiliated television station (now WPVI
WPVI-TV
WPVI-TV, channel 6, is an owned-and-operated television station of the Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company, located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. WPVI has its studios located on the border between Philadelphia and Bala Cynwyd, and its transmitter is located in the...
) with the same call sign
Call sign
In broadcasting and radio communications, a call sign is a unique designation for a transmitting station. In North America they are used as names for broadcasting stations...
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 the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
television network
Television network
A television network is a telecommunications network for distribution of television program content, whereby a central operation provides programming to many television stations or pay TV providers. Until the mid-1980s, television programming in most countries of the world was dominated by a small...
, renamed American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
, and was first aired nationally on August 5, 1957. On that day, Clark interviewed Elvis Presley
Elvis Presley
Elvis Aaron Presley was one of the most popular American singers of the 20th century. A cultural icon, he is widely known by the single name Elvis. He is often referred to as the "King of Rock and Roll" or simply "the King"....
.
Clark also began investing in the music publishing and recording business in the 1950s. In 1959, the United States Senate
United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral legislature of the United States, and together with the United States House of Representatives comprises the United States Congress. The composition and powers of the Senate are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution. Each...
opened investigations into payola
Payola
Payola, in the American music industry, is the illegal practice of payment or other inducement by record companies for the broadcast of recordings on music radio, in which the song is presented as being part of the normal day's broadcast. Under U.S...
, the practice of music-producing companies paying broadcasting companies to favor their product. Clark was a shareholder in the Jamie-Guyden Distributing Corporation, which nationally distributed Jamie and other non-owned labels. Clark sold his shares back to the corporation when ABC suggested that his participation might be considered as creating a conflict of interest. In 1960, when charges were levied against Clark by the Congressional Payola Investigations
Congressional Payola Investigations
The Congressional Payola Investigations occurred in 1959, after the United States Senate began investigating the Payola Scandal. Among those thought to have been involved were DJ Alan Freed and television personality and host Dick Clark....
, he quietly divested himself of interests and signed an affidavit
Affidavit
An affidavit is a written sworn statement of fact voluntarily made by an affiant or deponent under an oath or affirmation administered by a person authorized to do so by law. Such statement is witnessed as to the authenticity of the affiant's signature by a taker of oaths, such as a notary public...
denying involvement. Clark was not charged with any illegal activities.
Unaffected by the investigation, American Bandstand was a major success, running daily Monday through Friday until 1963, then weekly on Saturdays until 1987. In 1964, the show moved from Philadelphia to Hollywood
Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Hollywood is a famous district in Los Angeles, California, United States situated west-northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Due to its fame and cultural identity as the historical center of movie studios and movie stars, the word Hollywood is often used as a metonym of American cinema...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Charlie O'Donnell
Charlie O'Donnell
Charles John "Charlie" O'Donnell was an American radio and television announcer, primarily known for his work on game shows...
, a close friend of Clark's and an up-and-coming fellow Philadelphia disc jockey, was chosen to be the announcer, a position he held for ten years. O'Donnell also announced on many 1980s versions of Clark's Pyramid game show; he continued to work with Clark on various specials and award shows until his death in November 2010.
Clark produced American Bandstand for syndicated television and later the USA Network
USA Network
USA Network is an American cable television channel launched in 1971. Once a minor player in basic cable, the network has steadily gained popularity because of breakout hits like Monk, Psych, Burn Notice, Royal Pains, Covert Affairs, White Collar, Monday Night RAW, Suits, and reruns of the various...
, a cable
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
-and-satellite-television
Satellite television
Satellite television is television programming delivered by the means of communications satellite and received by an outdoor antenna, usually a parabolic mirror generally referred to as a satellite dish, and as far as household usage is concerned, a satellite receiver either in the form of an...
channel, until 1989. Clark also hosted the program in 1987 and 1988; David Hirsch hosted in 1989, its final year. American Bandstand and Dick Clark himself were honored at the 2010 Daytime Emmy Awards.
A spin-off
Spin-off (media)
In media, a spin-off is a radio program, television program, video game, or any narrative work, derived from one or more already existing works, that focuses, in particular, in more detail on one aspect of that original work...
of Bandstand, Where the Action Is
Where the Action Is
Where the Action Is or ' was a music-based television variety show in the United States from 1965–67. It was carried by the ABC network and aired each weekday afternoon...
, aired from June 27, 1965 to March 31, 1967, also on ABC.
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve
In 1972, Clark 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 EveNew Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
. The program has typically consisted of live remotes
Remote broadcast
In broadcast engineering, a remote broadcast is broadcasting done from a location away from a formal television studio and is considered an electronic field production . A remote pickup unit is usually used to transmit the audio and/or video back to the television station, where it joins the...
of Clark in Times Square
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, at the junction of Broadway and Seventh Avenue and stretching from West 42nd to West 47th Streets...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, counting down until the New Year ball comes down. After the ball drops, the focus of the program switches to musical segments taped prior to the show in Hollywood, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. The special is live in the Eastern Time Zone
Eastern Time Zone
The Eastern Time Zone of the United States and Canada is a time zone that falls mostly along the east coast of North America. Its UTC time offset is −5 hrs during standard time and −4 hrs during daylight saving time...
, and it is delayed for the other time zones so that they can ring in the New Year with Clark when midnight strikes in their area.
ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
has broadcast the event on every New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve
New Year's Eve is observed annually on December 31, the final day of any given year in the Gregorian calendar. In modern societies, New Year's Eve is often celebrated at social gatherings, during which participants dance, eat, consume alcoholic beverages, and watch or light fireworks to mark the...
since 1972 except in 1999 when it was pre-empted for ABC 2000 Today
ABC 2000 Today
ABC 2000 Today was ABC News's coverage of the turn of the millennium from December 31, 1999 into January 1, 2000. Part of the 2000 Today programming in the United States, Peter Jennings anchored the 23 hours and 10 minutes of broadcast in Times Square Studios in Manhattan, New York...
, news coverage of the milestone year hosted by Peter Jennings
Peter Jennings
Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings, CM was a Canadian American journalist and news anchor. He was the sole anchor of ABC's World News Tonight from 1983 until his death in 2005 of complications from lung cancer...
. In the more than three decades it has been on the air, the show has become a mainstay in U.S. New Year's Eve celebrations. Before then, Guy Lombardo
Guy Lombardo
Gaetano Alberto "Guy" Lombardo was a Canadian-American bandleader and violinist.Forming "The Royal Canadians" in 1924 with his brothers Carmen, Lebert, and Victor and other musicians from his hometown, Lombardo led the group to international success, billing themselves as creating "The Sweetest...
(a.k.a. "Mr. New Year's Eve"), along with his big band
Big band
A big band is a type of musical ensemble associated with jazz and the Swing Era typically consisting of rhythm, brass, and woodwind instruments totaling approximately twelve to twenty-five musicians...
orchestra, the Royal Canadians, had long been the main draw for New Year's Eve broadcasts for radio and, later, for television (on CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
). Watching the ball in Times Square drop on Clark's show is considered an annual cultural tradition for the New Year's holiday.
Twice, Clark was not able to host his show. The first time happened at the end of 1999, going into 2000, due to ABC 2000 Today. However, during that broadcast, Clark, along with ABC News correspondent Jack Ford, announced his signature countdown to the new year. He was a correspondent, according to the transcript of the broadcast released by ABC News. Ford had been assigned to Times Square during the broadcast, and thus, Clark's role was limited. Nevertheless, he won a Peabody Award
Peabody Award
The George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
for his coverage. The second time happened at the end of 2004, as he was recovering from his stroke; Regis Philbin
Regis Philbin
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin is an American media personality, actor and singer, known for hosting talk and game shows since the 1960s. Philbin is often called "the hardest working man in show business" and holds the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera...
substituted as host. The following year, Clark returned to the show, although Ryan Seacrest
Ryan Seacrest
Ryan John Seacrest is an American radio personality, television host, network producer and voice actor. He is the host of On Air with Ryan Seacrest, a nationally syndicated Top 40 radio show that airs on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles and throughout the United States and Canada on Premiere Radio Networks,...
served as primary host. From December 31, 2005, onward, Clark has co-hosted New Year's Rockin Eve with Seacrest.
Pyramid game shows
Before Pyramid, Clark had two brief runs as a quiz-show host, presiding over The Object IsThe Object Is
The Object Is was a game show which aired on ABC from December 30, 1963 to March 27, 1964. The series was the first game for host Dick Clark...
and then Missing Links. In a near twist of irony, on Missing Links, he replaced his former Philadelphia neighbor and subsequent TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes co-host, Ed McMahon
Ed McMahon
Edward Peter "Ed" McMahon, Jr. was an American comedian, game show host and announcer. He is most famous for his work on television as Johnny Carson's sidekick and announcer on The Tonight Show from 1962 to 1992. He also hosted the original version of the talent show Star Search from 1983 to 1995...
, when the game show switched networks from NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
to ABC; NBC replaced Missing Links with Jeopardy!
Jeopardy!
Griffin's first conception of the game used a board comprising ten categories with ten clues each, but after finding that this board could not be shown on camera easily, he reduced it to two rounds of thirty clues each, with five clues in each of six categories...
.
Clark later became host of The $10,000 Pyramid
Pyramid (game show)
Pyramid is an American television game show which has aired several versions. The original series, The $10,000 Pyramid, debuted March 26, 1973 and spawned seven subsequent Pyramid series...
, which premiered on CBS March 26, 1973 (the same day as The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless
The Young and the Restless is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in a fictional Wisconsin town called Genoa City, which is unlike and unrelated to the real life village of the same name, Genoa City, Wisconsin...
). The show — a word association game created and produced by daytime television producer Bob Stewart
Bob Stewart (television)
Bob Stewart is a former American television game show producer. He was active in the TV industry from 1956 until his retirement in 1992....
— 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 New $25,000 Pyramid, and continued through 1988, save for a three month break
Blackout (game show)
Blackout is an American game show that aired on CBS from January 4 to April 1, 1988. The pilot was hosted by former Entertainment Tonight anchor Robb Weller, but he was replaced for the series by Bob Goen...
. From 1985 to 1988, Clark hosted both the CBS $25,000 version and a daily $100,000 Pyramid in syndication. His daytime versions of Pyramid won nine Emmy Awards for best game show, a mark that is eclipsed only by the eleven won by the syndicated
Television syndication
In broadcasting, syndication is the sale of the right to broadcast radio shows and television shows by multiple radio stations and television stations, without going through a broadcast network, though the process of syndication may conjure up structures like those of a network itself, by its very...
version of Jeopardy!. It also won Clark three Emmy Awards for best game show host.
Clark would return to Pyramid as a guest in later incarnations. He was a guest during the Bill Cullen
Bill Cullen
William Lawrence Francis "Bill" Cullen was an American radio and television personality whose career spanned five decades...
version of The $25,000 Pyramid (not to be confused with the incarnation Clark himself hosted). During the premiere of the John Davidson
John Davidson (entertainer)
John Hamilton Davidson, Sr. is an American singer, actor and game show host known for hosting That's Incredible!, Time Machine, and Hollywood Squares in the 1980s, and a revival of The $100,000 Pyramid in 1991....
version in 1991, Clark sent a pre-recorded message wishing Davidson well in hosting the show. In 2002, Clark played as a celebrity guest for three days on the Donny Osmond
Donny Osmond
Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond is an American singer, musician, actor, dancer, radio personality, and former teen idol. Osmond has also been a talk and game show host, record producer and author. In the mid 1960s, he and four of his elder brothers gained fame as the Osmond Brothers on the long...
version.
Radio programs
Clark also had a long stint as a top-40 radioRadio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
countdown show host. He began in 1963, hosting a radio program called The Dick Clark Radio Show. It was produced by Mars Broadcasting of Stamford
Stamford, Connecticut
Stamford is a city in Fairfield County, Connecticut, United States. According to the 2010 census, the population of the city is 122,643, making it the fourth largest city in the state and the eighth largest city in New England...
, Connecticut
Connecticut
Connecticut is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, and the state of New York to the west and the south .Connecticut is named for the Connecticut River, the major U.S. river that approximately...
. Despite his enormous popularity on American Bandstand, the show was only picked up by a few dozen stations and lasted less than a year. The show proved to be ahead of its time, becoming one of the earliest attempts at radio syndication.
On March 25, 1972, Clark hosted American Top 40
American Top 40
American Top 40 is an internationally syndicated, independent radio program created by Casey Kasem, Don Bustany, Tom Rounds and Ron Jacobs. Originally a production of Watermark Inc...
, filling in for Casey Kasem
Casey Kasem
Kemal Amin "Casey" Kasem is an American radio personality and voice actor who is best known for being the host of the nationally syndicated Top 40 countdown show American Top 40, and for voicing Shaggy in the popular Saturday morning cartoon franchise Scooby-Doo.Kasem, along with Don Bustany and...
. Several years later, Clark would become one of AT40's most enduring rivals. In 1981, he created The Dick Clark National Music Survey for the Mutual Broadcasting System
Mutual Broadcasting System
The Mutual Broadcasting System was an American radio network, in operation from 1934 to 1999. In the golden age of U.S. radio drama, MBS was best known as the original network home of The Lone Ranger and The Adventures of Superman and as the long-time radio residence of The Shadow...
. The program counted down the Top 30 contemporary hits of the week in direct competition with American Top 40. Clark left Mutual in 1986, and Charlie Tuna took over the National Music Survey. Clark then launched his own radio syndication group; the United Stations Radio Network, or Unistar, and took over the countdown program, "Countdown America". It ran until 1994, when Clark sold Unistar to Westwood One Radio. The following year, Clark started over, building a new version of the USRN and a new countdown show: "The U.S. Music Survey". He served as its host until his 2004 stroke.
Dick Clark's longest running radio show began on February 14, 1982. "Rock, Roll & Remember" was a four hour oldies show named after Clark's 1976 autobiography. The first year, it was hosted by veteran Los Angeles disc jockey Gene Weed. Then in 1983 voice over talent Mark Elliot co-hosted with Clark. By 1985, Clark hosted the entire show. Pam Miller served as producer. Each week, Clark would profile a different artist from the Rock and Roll era. He would also count down the top four songs that week from a certain year in the 1950s 60's or early 70's. The show ended production when Clark suffered his 2004 stroke. However, re-runs continue to air in syndication and on Clark's website "dickclarkonline.com".
Since 2009, Clark has merged elements of "Rock, Roll and Remember" with the syndicated oldies show, "Rewind with Gary Bryan". The new show is called "Dick Clark Presents Rewind with Gary Bryan". Bryan, a Los Angeles radio personality, serves as the main host. Clark contributes profile segments.
Other television programs
At the peak of his American Bandstand fame, Clark also hosted a 30-minute Saturday night program called The Dick Clark ShowThe Dick Clark Show
The Dick Clark Show is an American musical variety show broadcast weekly in the United States on the ABC television network 7:30-8 PM on Saturdays from February 15, 1958 through September 10, 1960, sponsored by Beechnut Gum.- Summary :Given that the show ran...
(aka The Dick Clark Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show). It aired from February 15, 1958, until September 10, 1960, on the ABC television network. It was broadcast live from the "Little Theater" in New York City and was sponsored by Beech-Nut Gum. It featured the rock stars of the day lip synching their hits, just as on American Bandstand. However, unlike the afternoon Bandstand program which focused on the dance floor with the teenage audience demonstrating the latest dance steps, the audience of The Dick Clark Show (consisting mostly of squealing girls) sat in a traditional theater setting. While some of the musical numbers were presented simply, others were major production numbers.
The high point of the show was the unveiling with great fanfare at the end of each program, by Clark, of the top ten records of the coming week. This ritual became so embedded in popular culture that to this day it is satirized nightly by David Letterman
David Letterman
David Michael Letterman is an American television host and comedian. He hosts the late night television talk show, Late Show with David Letterman, broadcast on CBS. Letterman has been a fixture on late night television since the 1982 debut of Late Night with David Letterman on NBC...
. In the 1986 comedy-drama Peggy Sue Got Married
Peggy Sue Got Married
Peggy Sue Got Married is a 1986 American comedy-drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Kathleen Turner as a woman on the verge of a divorce, who finds herself transported back to the days of her senior year in high school...
, Kathleen Turner
Kathleen Turner
Mary Kathleen Turner is an American actress. She came to fame during the 1980s, after roles in the Hollywood films Body Heat, Peggy Sue Got Married, Romancing the Stone, The War of the Roses, Who Framed Roger Rabbit and Prizzi's Honor...
's character after being transported back to the spring of 1960 is supposedly watching American Bandstand on television. The clip used in the movie, however, is actually of the Dick Clark Saturday night show, because the teen age audience is not dancing but sitting in a theater. In addition, members of the audience were wearing the "IFIC" buttons based upon the Beech-Nut Gum advertising slogan of the late 1950s ("It's FlavorIFIC"). Beech-Nut sponsored the Clark Saturday night show and sponsored the top 10 countdown board on American Bandstand.
From September 27 to December 20, 1959, Clark hosted a thirty-minute weekly talent/variety series entitled Dick Clark's World of Talent
Dick Clark's World of Talent
Dick Clark's World of Talent is a talent/variety television show produced by Irving Mansfield and broadcast weekly in theUnited States on the ABC television network 10:30-11 pm on Sundays in the 1959–60 season.-History:...
at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday nights on ABC. A variation of producer Irving Mansfield's earlier CBS
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
series, This Is Show Business (1949–1956), it featured three celebrity panelists, including comedian Jack E. Leonard
Jack E. Leonard
Jack E. Leonard was an American comedian who made frequent appearances on television variety and game shows.-Biography:...
, judging and offering advice to amateur and semi-professional performers. While this show was not a success, during its nearly three month duration, Clark was one of the few personalities in television history on the air nationwide seven days a week. 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
Perry Mason (TV series)
Perry Mason is an American legal drama produced by Paisano Productions that ran from September 1957 to May 1966 on CBS. The title character, portrayed by Raymond Burr, is a fictional Los Angeles defense attorney who originally appeared in detective fiction by Erle Stanley Gardner...
TV series ("The Case of the Final Fadeout") in which he was revealed to be the killer in a dramatic courtroom scene. In 1973, he created the American Music Awards
American Music Awards
-Conception:The AMAs were created by Dick Clark in 1973 to compete with the Grammys after the move of that year's show to Nashville, Tennessee led to CBS picking up the Grammy telecasts after its first two in 1971 and 1972 were broadcast on ABC...
show, which he produces annually. Intended as competition for the Grammy Awards, in some years it gained a bigger audience than the Grammys due to being more in touch with popular trends.
Clark attempted to branch into the realm of soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
with the series Soul Unlimited in 1973. The series, hosted by Buster Jones
Buster Jones
Edward L. "Buster" Jones is an American voice actor.He is probably best known from his roles as Black Vulcan in Super Friends, Blaster in The Transformers, Doc in G.I...
, was a more risqué and controversial imitator of the then-popular series Soul Train
Soul Train
Soul Train is an American musical variety show that aired in syndication from October 1971 to March 2006. In its 35-year history, the show primarily featured performances by R&B, soul, and hip hop artists, although funk, jazz, disco, and gospel artists have also appeared.As a nod to Soul Trains...
and alternated in the Bandstand time slot. The series lasted for only a few episodes. Despite a feud between Clark and Soul Train creator and host Don Cornelius
Don Cornelius
Donald Cortez "Don" Cornelius is an American television show host and producer who is best known as the creator of the nationally syndicated dance/music franchise Soul Train, which he hosted from 1971-1993...
, the two would later collaborate on several specials featuring black artists.
He hosted the short-lived Dick Clark's LIVE Wednesday
Dick Clark's LIVE Wednesday
Dick Clark's LIVE Wednesday was a 1978 NBC variety television series, sometimes called simply Live Wednesday. Hosted by Dick Clark, it was a musical show much like Clark's American Bandstand. Guests included musical artists and actors such as Frankie Avalon, Bo Diddley, Connie Francis, Annette...
in 1978. In 1984, Clark produced and co-hosted with Ed McMahon
Ed McMahon
Edward Peter "Ed" McMahon, Jr. was an American comedian, game show host and announcer. He is most famous for his work on television as Johnny Carson's sidekick and announcer on The Tonight Show from 1962 to 1992. He also hosted the original version of the talent show Star Search from 1983 to 1995...
the NBC series TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes
TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes
TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes is a television series and a group of television specials that aired in the United States by NBC and, later, ABC from the 1980s to the mid-2000s...
. The series ran through 1988 and continued in specials hosted by Clark (sometimes joined by another TV personality) into the 21st century, first on NBC, later on ABC, and currently on TBS (the last version re-edited into 15-minute/filler segments airing at about 5 A.M.). Clark and McMahon were longtime Philadelphia acquaintances, and McMahon praised Clark for first bringing him together with future TV partner Johnny Carson
Johnny Carson
John William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
when all three worked at ABC in the late 1950s. The "Bloopers" franchise stems from the Clark-hosted (and produced) NBC "Bloopers" specials of the early 1980s, inspired by the books, record albums and appearances of Kermit Schafer, a radio and TV producer who first popularized outtakes of broadcasts.
For a period of several years in the 1980s, Clark simultaneously hosted regular programs on the 3 major American television networks: ABC (Bandstand), CBS (Pyramid) and NBC (Bloopers) and in 1993, he hosted Scattergories
Scattergories (game show)
Scattergories is an American game show on NBC daytime hosted by Dick Clark, with Charlie Tuna as announcer, that aired from January 18 to June 11, 1993...
. In 1990 and 1991, he hosted the syndicated television game show The Challengers
The Challengers (game show)
The Challengers was an American syndicated game show from Ron Greenberg Productions, Dick Clark Productions, and Buena Vista Television. The show was hosted by Dick Clark. The show premiered on September 3, 1990 and ended on August 30, 1991...
, which only lasted for one season. In 1999, along with Bob Boden, he was one of the executive producers of Fox
Fox Broadcasting Company
Fox Broadcasting Company, commonly referred to as Fox Network or simply Fox , is an American commercial broadcasting television network owned by Fox Entertainment Group, part of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Launched on October 9, 1986, Fox was the highest-rated broadcast network in the...
's TV game show Greed
Greed (game show)
Greed is an American television game show that aired on Fox from November 4, 1999 until July 14, 2000. The game consisted of a team of contestants who answered a series of multiple-choice questions for a potential prize of up to $2 million...
, which ran from November 5, 1999, to July 14, 2000, and was hosted by Chuck Woolery
Chuck Woolery
Charles Herbert "Chuck" Woolery is an American game show host. He has had long-running tenures hosting several different game shows. He was the original host of Wheel of Fortune from 1975–81, the original incarnation of Love Connection from 1983–94, and Scrabble from 1984–90...
. At the same time, Clark also hosted the Stone-Stanley-created Winning Lines, which ran for six weeks on CBS from January 8, 2000 – February 12, 2000.
Clark did a brief stint as announcer on The Jon Stewart Show
The Jon Stewart Show
The Jon Stewart Show was a short-lived talk show hosted by comedian Jon Stewart on MTV. It premiered in 1993 and became the second highest-rated program on the network behind Beavis and Butt-Head....
, in 1995http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swLeUwcQbBU.
From 2001 to 2003, Clark was a co-host of The Other Half
The Other Half (TV series)
The Other Half was an American daytime talk show which aired on NBC between 2001 and 2003. The show was hosted by music and game show host Dick Clark, former child actors Mario Lopez and Danny Bonaduce, and cosmetic surgeon Dr. Jan Adams . It was intended as a male counterpart to the popular ABC...
with Mario Lopez
Mario López
Mario Michael Lopez, Jr. is an American actor who has appeared on several television series, in films, and on Broadway. He is best known for his portrayal of the character A.C. Slater on Saved By The Bell, which he also portrayed as a regular on Saved by the Bell: The College Years...
, Danny Bonaduce
Danny Bonaduce
Dante Daniel "Danny" Bonaduce is an American radio/television personality, comedian, professional wrestler, and former child actor...
, and Dorian Gregory
Dorian Gregory
Dorian Gregory is an American actor most notable for playing Darryl Morris on the television show Charmed, and as the fourth and final permanent host of Soul Train, replacing Shemar Moore.-Background:...
, a syndicated daytime talk show intended to be the male equivalent of The View. Clark also produced the television series American Dreams
American Dreams
American Dreams is an American television comedy-drama program broadcast on the NBC television network, produced by Once A Frog and Dick Clark Productions in association with Universal Network Television and NBC Studios...
about a Philadelphia family in the early 1960s whose daughter is a regular on American Bandstand. The series ran from 2002 to 2005.
Other media appearances
Clark was featured in the 2002 documentary film Bowling for ColumbineBowling for Columbine
Bowling for Columbine is a 2002 documentary film written, directed, produced, and narrated by Michael Moore. The film explores what Michael Moore suggests are the causes for the Columbine High School massacre and other acts of violence with guns...
. He was criticized for hiring poor, unwed mothers to work long hours in his chain of restaurants for little pay. The mother in particular works over 80 hours per week and is unable to make rent and gets evicted which results in her having her son stay at his uncle's house. At his uncle's house the boy finds a gun and brings it to school where he shoots another first grader. In the documentary footage featuring Clark, Michael Moore tries to approach him to inform him of the welfare policies that allow for these conditions, and questions him about the people he employs and the tax breaks he takes advantage of, in employing welfare recipients; Clark refuses to answer any of Moore's questions, shutting the car door and driving away.
Clark also appeared in interview segments of another 2002 film, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind is a 2002 biographical spy film depicting the life of popular game show host and producer Chuck Barris, who claimed to have also been an assassin for the Central Intelligence Agency...
, which was based on the "unauthorized autobiography" of Chuck Barris
Chuck Barris
Charles Hirsch "Chuck" Barris is an American game show producer, film director and presenter best known for hosting The Gong Show and creating The Dating Game. Barris, a survivor of lung cancer, is also an author and claims to have worked for the CIA.-Early career:Barris was born in Oakland, New...
. (Barris had worked at ABC as a standards-and-practices executive during "American Bandstand's" run on that network.)
In the 2002 Dharma and Greg episode "Mission: Implausible," Greg is the victim of a college prank, and devises an elaborate plan to retaliate, part of which involves his use of a disguise kit; the first disguise chosen is that of Dick Clark. During a fantasy sequence that portrays the unfolding of the plan, the real Clark plays Greg wearing his disguise.
He also made brief cameos in two episodes of the The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his aunt and uncle in their...
. In one episode he plays himself at a Philadelphia diner, and in the other he helps Will Smith
Will Smith
Willard Christopher "Will" Smith, Jr. , also known by his stage name The Fresh Prince, is an American actor, producer, and rapper. He has enjoyed success in television, film and music. In April 2007, Newsweek called him the most powerful actor in Hollywood...
's character host blooper
Blooper
A blooper, also known as an outtake or boner is a short sequence of a film or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast or news report, usually in terms of misspoken words...
s from past episodes of that sitcom.
Initial news
During an interview on Larry King LiveLarry King Live
Larry King Live is an American talk show hosted by Larry King on CNN from 1985 to 2010. It was CNN's most watched and longest-running program, with over one million viewers nightly....
in April 2004, Clark revealed that he had Type 2 diabetes.
On December 8 of that year, the then 75-year-old was hospitalized in Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
after suffering what was initially termed a minor stroke. Clark's spokeswoman, Amy Streibel, said that he was hospitalized but was expected to be fine.
However, on December 13, 2004, it was announced that Clark would be unable to host his annual New Year's Rockin' Eve broadcast that had aired for all but one year since 1972 (in 1999, New Year's Rockin' Eve was preempted with the Peter Jennings
Peter Jennings
Peter Charles Archibald Ewart Jennings, CM was a Canadian American journalist and news anchor. He was the sole anchor of ABC's World News Tonight from 1983 until his death in 2005 of complications from lung cancer...
-hosted ABC 2000 Today
ABC 2000 Today
ABC 2000 Today was ABC News's coverage of the turn of the millennium from December 31, 1999 into January 1, 2000. Part of the 2000 Today programming in the United States, Peter Jennings anchored the 23 hours and 10 minutes of broadcast in Times Square Studios in Manhattan, New York...
though Clark did perform his traditional countdown). For the 2004 show, Regis Philbin
Regis Philbin
Regis Francis Xavier Philbin is an American media personality, actor and singer, known for hosting talk and game shows since the 1960s. Philbin is often called "the hardest working man in show business" and holds the Guinness World Record for the most time spent in front of a television camera...
was the substitute host, and during the show on December 31, 2004, he gave his best wishes to Clark.
Return to television
Having not been seen in public anywhere since his stroke, on August 15, 2005, Clark announced in a statement that he would be back in Times Square for the annual tradition, bringing on Hilary DuffHilary Duff
Hilary Erhard Duff is an American actress, singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, and author. After working in local theater plays and television commercials in her childhood, she achieved fame playing the title role in the Disney Channel television series Lizzie McGuire. She also reprised her role in...
and Ryan Seacrest
Ryan Seacrest
Ryan John Seacrest is an American radio personality, television host, network producer and voice actor. He is the host of On Air with Ryan Seacrest, a nationally syndicated Top 40 radio show that airs on KIIS-FM in Los Angeles and throughout the United States and Canada on Premiere Radio Networks,...
as co-hosts, in addition to the latter being co-executive producer. Also in the press release, it was announced that Seacrest would eventually take over as the sole host should Clark decide to retire, or be unable to continue.
On December 31, 2005, Clark made his return to television, returning to the Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve broadcast.
During the program, Clark remained behind a desk and was shown only in limited segments. Though Clark had noticeable difficulty speaking, he was able to perform his famous countdown to the new year.
On air, he stated, "Last year I had a stroke. It left me in bad shape. I had to teach myself how to walk and talk again. It's been a long, hard fight. My speech is not perfect but I'm getting there." Before counting down to 2006, he mentioned he "wouldn't have missed this for the world."
Reaction to Clark's appearance was mixed, reported CNN.com. While some TV critics (including Tom Shales of The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, in an interview with the CBS Radio Network
CBS Radio Network
The CBS Radio Network provides news, sports and other programming to more than 1,000 radio stations throughout the United States. The network is owned by CBS Corporation, and operated by CBS Radio ....
) felt he was not in good enough shape to do the broadcast, stroke survivors and many of Clark's fans praised him for being a role model for people dealing with post-stroke recovery.
Subsequent appearances
On August 27, 2006, Clark appeared on NBC's telecast of the 2006 Emmy Awards. He was introduced by Simon CowellSimon Cowell
Simon Phillip Cowell is an English A&R executive, television producer, entrepreneur, and television personality. He is known in the United Kingdom and United States for his role as a talent judge on TV shows such as Pop Idol, The X Factor, Britain's Got Talent and American Idol...
after the show paid tribute to his successful career that has spanned decades. He was shown seated behind a lectern, and although his speech was still slurred, he was able to address the audience and introduce Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow
Barry Manilow is an American singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, producer, conductor, and performer, best known for such recordings as "Could It Be Magic", "Mandy", "Can't Smile Without You", and "Copacabana ."...
's performance.
For the 2006-07 and 2007-08 ABC New Year's Eves, Clark still exhibited noticeably slurred and somewhat breathless speech, but improved from previous years, in addition to using his arms again. For the 2008–09 broadcast, he increased his hosting duties to the point where he split duties roughly evenly with Seacrest during the half-hour leading up to the ball drop. For the 2009-10 countdown show, he spoke with improved verbal expression, as well as improved head and arm dexterity, but incorrectly counted down, counting "...14, 12, 10, 11, 10, 9...". In previous years following the stroke, Clark had only hosted the countdown and one brief segment. Clark returned for the 2010-11 New Year's Rockin' Eve and executed a perfect countdown from 24 seconds down to 1.
Clark was honored at The 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards on CBS TV. It was a tribute to his 40 years hosting American Bandstand.
Restaurants
Newark, New Jersey
Newark is the largest city in the American state of New Jersey, and the seat of Essex County. As of the 2010 United States Census, Newark had a population of 277,140, maintaining its status as the largest municipality in New Jersey. It is the 68th largest city in the U.S...
; Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix, Arizona
Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populated city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data...
; and Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
, one location in the Molly Pitcher
Molly Pitcher
Molly Pitcher was a nickname given to a woman said to have fought in the American Revolutionary War, who is generally believed to have been Mary Ludwig Hays...
travel plaza on the New Jersey Turnpike
New Jersey Turnpike
The New Jersey Turnpike is a toll road in New Jersey, maintained by the New Jersey Turnpike Authority. According to the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, the Turnpike is the nation's sixth-busiest toll road and is among one of the most heavily traveled highways in the United...
in Cranbury, New Jersey, and one location at "Dick Clark's American Bandstand Theater" in Branson, Missouri
Branson, Missouri
Branson is a city in Taney County in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was named after Reuben Branson, postmaster and operator of a general store in the area in the 1880s....
. On 13th November 2002 he was appointed as a director of Krispy Kreme U.K. Ltd.
Theaters
"Dick Clark's American Bandstand Theater" opened in Branson in April 2006, and nine months later, a new theater and restaurant entitled "Dick Clark's American Bandstand Music Complex" opened near Dolly PartonDolly Parton
Dolly Rebecca Parton is an American singer-songwriter, author, multi-instrumentalist, actress and philanthropist, best known for her work in country music. Dolly Parton has appeared in movies like 9 to 5, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Steel Magnolias and Straight Talk...
's Dollywood
Dollywood
Dollywood is a theme park owned by entertainer Dolly Parton and the Herschend Family Entertainment Corporation. It is located in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Dollywood has 3,000 people on its payroll, making it the largest employer in that community....
theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee
Pigeon Forge is a mountain resort city in Sevier County, Tennessee, located in the southeastern United States. As of the 2010 census, the city had a total population of 5,875....
. In October 2007, since nearby residents complained about the outside concerts performed at the new complex, it has been emptied of its contents and the box office closed temporarily. After eighteen months of extensive new renovations it was reopened for indoor concert performances.
Personal life
Clark has been married three times. His first marriage was to Barbara Mallery in 1952; the couple had one son, Richard, and divorced in 1961. He married Loretta Martin in 1962; the couple had two children, DuaneDuane Clark
Duane Clark is an American television director, producer and screenwriter. He has directed episodes for number of notable television series namely Highlander: The Series, Dark Angel, The Practice, Boston Public, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY and XIII.He is the son of...
and Cindy, and divorced in 1971. Since 1977, Clark has been married to Kari Wigton.
Youthful appearance references
Before his stroke, Clark's perennial youthful appearance, despite his advancing years, was a subject of jokes and commentary in the popular culturePopular culture
Popular culture is the totality of ideas, perspectives, attitudes, memes, images and other phenomena that are deemed preferred per an informal consensus within the mainstream of a given culture, especially Western culture of the early to mid 20th century and the emerging global mainstream of the...
, most notably his nickname of "America's Oldest Living Teenager."
One of Gary Larson
Gary Larson
Gary Larson is the creator of The Far Side, a single-panel cartoon series that was syndicated internationally to newspapers for 15 years. The series ended with Larson's retirement on January 1, 1995. His 23 books of collected cartoons have combined sales of more than 45 million...
's The Far Side
The Far Side
The Far Side is a popular single-panel comic created by Gary Larson and syndicated by Universal Press Syndicate, which ran from January 1, 1980, to January 1, 1995. Its surrealistic humor is often based on uncomfortable social situations, improbable events, an anthropomorphic view of the world,...
cartoons has the caption, "Suddenly, on a national talk show in front of millions of viewers, Dick Clark ages 200 years in 30 seconds."
In Episode 320 of Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
, John Carradine
John Carradine
John Carradine was an American actor, best known for his roles in horror films and Westerns as well as Shakespearean theater. A member of Cecil B DeMille's stock company and later John Ford's company, he was one of the most prolific character actors in Hollywood history...
- playing a mad scientist in the movie The Unearthly
The Unearthly
The Unearthly is a science fiction/horror film written by Jane Mann and John D.F. Black, with characters originally created by Edward D. Wood, Jr....
- is trying to get another character to consider eternal life when he says, "Suppose you could wake up every morning and see your face untouched by time.” Crow replies, "Like Dick Clark?"
In the Police Squad!
Police Squad!
Police Squad! is a television comedy series first broadcast in 1982, created by Zucker, Abrahams and Zucker and starring Leslie Nielsen. A spoof of police procedurals, the series was packed with ZAZ's usual sight gags, wordplay and non sequiturs...
episode "Testimony of Evil (Dead Men Don't Laugh)
Testimony of Evil (Dead Men Don't Laugh)
Testimony of Evil is the sixth and final episode of the short-lived TV series Police Squad!. The episode was directed by Joe Dante and written by Tino Isana and Robert Wuhl. As usual, the episode was produced by Robert K. Weiss....
," Dick Clark, appearing as himself, purchases Secret Formula Youth Cream from street snitch Johnny the Shoeshine Boy.
In the film Peggy Sue Got Married
Peggy Sue Got Married
Peggy Sue Got Married is a 1986 American comedy-drama film directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Kathleen Turner as a woman on the verge of a divorce, who finds herself transported back to the days of her senior year in high school...
(1986), Kathleen Turner, who has time-traveled back to circa 1960, is watching Dick Clark on American Bandstand with her sister and says "That man never ages." Her sister doesn't seem to understand what she means.
In The Simpsons
Treehouse of Horror X
"Treehouse of Horror X" is the fourth episode of The Simpsons eleventh season, and the tenth annual Treehouse of Horror episode, consisting of three self-contained segments. It first aired on the Fox network in the United States on Halloween 1999. In "I Know What You Diddily-Iddily-Did", the...
1999 Y2K episode, at midnight a computer glitch causes Dick Clark to melt and he is revealed to be a robot.
In an episode of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air is an American television sitcom that originally aired on NBC from September 10, 1990 to May 20, 1996. The show stars Will Smith as a fictionalized version of himself, a street-smart teenager from West Philadelphia who is sent to move in with his aunt and uncle in their...
, Clark appears as himself. Carlton jokingly says "How come I got older and you stayed the same age."
In a stand up comedy routine Bill Hicks
Bill Hicks
William Melvin "Bill" Hicks was an American stand-up comedian, social critic, satirist, and musician. His material largely consisted of general discussions about society, religion, politics, philosophy, and personal issues. Hicks' material was often controversial and steeped in dark comedy...
references Clark as the Anti-Christ pointing to his youthful non-ageing as evidence
Notable awards
Clark has received the following awards:- Emmy AwardEmmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
s (1979, 1983, 1985, and 1986) - Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award (1994)
- Peabody AwardPeabody AwardThe George Foster Peabody Awards recognize distinguished and meritorious public service by radio and television stations, networks, producing organizations and individuals. In 1939, the National Association of Broadcasters formed a committee to recognize outstanding achievement in radio broadcasting...
(1999)
He is also an inductee at several Hall of Fame
Hall of Fame
A hall of fame, wall of fame, walk of fame, walk of stars or avenue of stars is a type of attraction established for any field of endeavor to honor individuals of noteworthy achievement in that field...
locations:
- Hollywood Walk of FameHollywood Walk of FameThe Hollywood Walk of Fame consists of more than 2,400 five-pointed terrazzo and brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along fifteen blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in Hollywood, California...
(1976) - National Radio Hall of Fame (1990)
- Broadcasting Magazine Hall of Fame (1992)
- Rock and Roll Hall of FameRock and Roll Hall of FameThe Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
(1993) - Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame (1993)
External links
- Dick Clark Productions
- Dick Clark's Rock, Roll and Remember newspaper comic strip series
- Dick Clark interviewed on the Pop ChroniclesPop ChroniclesThe Pop Chronicles are two radio documentary series which together "may constitute the most complete audio history of 1940s-60s popular music." Both were produced by John Gilliland.-The Pop Chronicles of the 50s and 60s:...
(recorded 3.11.1968).