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Fred Clark

 
Actor: Fred Clark
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Actors
  • Born: Mar 09, 1914 in Lincoln, California
  • Died: Dec 05, 1968 in Santa Monica, Los Angeles, California
  • Occupation: Actor
  • Active: '40s-'60s
  • Major Genres: Comedy
  • Career Highlights: Sunset Boulevard, It Started with a Kiss, Auntie Mame
  • First Major Screen Credit: Ride the Pink Horse (1947)

Biography

American actor Fred Clark embarked upon his lifelong career immediately upon graduation from Stanford University. With his lantern jaw, bald pate and ulcerated disposition, Clark knew he'd never be a leading man and wisely opted for character work. After several years on stage, during which time he was briefly married to musical comedy actress Benay Venuta, Clark made his movie debut in Ride the Pink Horse (1947), playing one of his few out-and-out villains. The actor's knowing portrayal of a callous movie producer in Sunset Boulevard (1949) led to his being typecast as blunt, sometimes shady executives. Clark's widest public recognition occurred in 1951 when he was cast as next-door neighbor Harry Morton on TV's Burns and Allen Show; when Clark insisted upon a larger salary, producer-star George Burns literally replaced him on the air with actor Larry Keating. Dividing his time between films and television for the rest of his career, Clark earned latter-day fame in the 1960s as star of a series of regionally distributed potato chip commercials. Though most of his fans prefer to remember the disappointing Otto Preminger farce Skiddoo (1968) as Fred Clark's screen farewell, the truth is that Clark's last performance was in I Sailed to Tahiti with an All-Girl Crew (1969). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Fred Clark
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia
This article is about the actor. For the baseball player, see Fred Clarke.
For other persons named Fred Clark, see Fred Clark (disambiguation).

Frederick Leonard Clark (March 19, 1914 – December 5, 1968) was an American film character actor.

Contents

Career

Born in Lincoln, California, Clark made his film debut in 1947 in The Unsuspected. His 20-year film career included almost 70 films, and numerous television appearances. As a supporting player, with his gruff voice, intimidating build, bald pate, and small moustache beneath an often scowling visage, he was cast as a testy film producer, crime boss, landlord, employer, doctor, or general.

Among his films are Ride the Pink Horse (1948), Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948), Flamingo Road (1949), White Heat (1949), Sunset Boulevard (1950), A Place in the Sun (1951), How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell (1955), How to Be Very, Very Popular (1955), Daddy Long Legs (1955), Auntie Mame (1958) and Visit to a Small Planet (1960). Although he continued making films during the 1960s (most notably a large role in Hammer Film Productions The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb in 1964 and John Goldfarb, Please Come Home in 1965) he was more often seen on television,as a regular on Burns and Allen" as their neighbor Harry Morton,and guest roles on, The Twilight Zone, The Beverly Hillbillies and I Dream of Jeannie among his many performances.

Personal life

Clark was married to actress Benay Venuta from 1952-62, then model Gloria Glaser from 1966 until his death from liver disease in Santa Monica, California.

Clark has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame for his work in television, at 1713 Vine Street.

Partial filmography

External links


This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)

 
 

 

Copyrights:

Actor. Copyright © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC. All rights reserved.  Read more
Wikipedia. This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Fred Clark".  Read more