Dick Clark

Dick Clark was born and raised in Mount Vernon, New York on November 30, 1929 to Julia Fuller and Richard Augustus Clark. He had one older brother, Bradley, who was killed in World War II. At the age of 16, Clark got his first job in the mailroom of WRUN, a radio station in Utica, New York, which was owned by his uncle and managed by his father. He worked his way up the ranks and was promoted to weatherman before becoming a radio announcer.

Before he was a successful television host and producer, he began his career in 1945, in the mailroom of WRUN in Utica, New York, working his way up to weatherman and then newsman. WRUN was owned by Dick's uncle and run by Dick's father.

Met Ed McMahon, when the two were both living in Philadelphia, and McMahon praised him for first bringing him together with future television partner Johnny Carson when all three worked at ABC in the late 1950s. More than a quarter of a century later, Clark would be re-teaming up with McMahon hosting Super Bloopers and Practical Jokes (1984).

Graduated from Syracuse University in 1951 with a degree in business administration.

After graduating from Syracuse University with a degree in business administration, Clark began working at several radio and television stations before landing at WFIL radio in 1952. While working at the station, Clark became a substitute host for Bob Horn's Bandstand, an afternoon program where teenagers danced to popular music, broadcast by WFIL's affiliated television station.

In 1956, Horn was arrested for drunk driving, giving Clark the perfect opportunity to step in as the full-time host.

After acquiring nationwide distribution the newly reformatted program, now titled "American Bandstand", premiered on ABC on August 5, 1957. In addition to the name change, Clark added interviews with artists (starting with Elvis Presley), lip-sync performances, and "Rate-a-Record," allowing teens to judge the songs on the show - and giving birth to the popular phrase, "It's got a good beat and you can dance to it. " Clark also established a formal dress code, mandating dresses and skirts for the women and a coat and tie for the men. But perhaps the most impactful change that Clark made to the show was ending "American Bandstand's" all-white policy, allowing African American artists to perform on the show. Under Clark's influence, "Bandstand" became one of the most successful and longest-running musical programs, featuring artists including Chuck Berry, the Doors, the Beach Boys, Pink Floyd, and Smokey Robinson. Sonny and Cher, The Jackson 5, Prince, and Aerosmith were among the influential artists and bands that made their television debuts on "Bandstand", which is also credited with helping to make America more accepting of rock 'n' roll. With the success of "American Bandstand", Clark became more invested in the music publishing and recording businesses, and began managing artists, hosting live sock hops, and arranging concert tours.

In 1959, the United States Senate began investigating the practice of "payola", in which record companies bribed radio personalities to play new records. Clark admitted he accepted a fur stole and jewelry and held financial interests in artists and songs that were frequently on American Bandstand (1952). Even though he was cleared of any wrongdoing, he was ordered to either leave ABC or sell his interests; he sold.

But in 1960, when the United States Senate began investigating "payola", the practice in which music producing companies paid broadcasting companies to favor their products, Clark became caught up in the scandal. The investigation found he had partial copyrights to over 150 songs, many of which were featured on his show. Clark denied he was involved in any way, but admitted to accepting a fur and jewelry from a record company president. In the end, the Senate could not find any illegal actions by Clark, but ABC asked Clark to either sell his shares in these companies or leave the network so there was no conflict of interest. He chose to sell and continue on as host of "American Bandstand", which was unaffected by the scandal.

In 1964, Clark moved Bandstand from Philadelphia to Los Angeles and became more involved in television production. Under his company Dick Clark Productions, he produced such shows as "Where the Action Is", "TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes", and more recently, "So You Think You Can Dance", as well as made-for-television movies including "Elvis", "The Birth of the Beatles", "Wild Streets", and "The Savage Seven". Clark also hosted television's "$10,000 Pyramid", "TV Bloopers and Practical Jokes" (with co-host Ed McMahon), "Scattergories", and "The Other Half". Clark also had several radio programs, including "The Dick Clark National Music Survey", "Countdown America", and "Rock, Roll & Remember".

In one of his few dramatic roles, he played against his nice guy image to portray the murderer in the final episode (air date 2 May 1966) of Perry Mason (1957). The episode was appropriately titled, Perry Mason: The Case of the Final Fade-Out (1966). He also played against type as a nerdy guy who turns out to be a psycho killer in the film, Killers Three (1968).

In 1972, he produced and hosted the very first edition of "Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve", a musical program where Clark counted down until the New Year ball dropped in Times Square, featuring taped performances from musical artists.

In his 16-year tenure as the host of The $10,000 Pyramid (1973), among the guests were Vicki Lawrence, Jamie Farr, Constance McCashin, Henry Polic II, Ed Begley Jr.., Martha Smith, Shelley Smith, Teresa Ganzel, Barry Jenner and David Graf.

He was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1976, The Radio Hall of Fame in 1990, Broadcasting Magazine Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. Clark had been in St.

At the beginning of Clark's 31st year (1986-87) of hosting American Bandstand (1952), ABC had reduced the series from a full hour to 30 minutes, and the guest list was dropped from 2 artists to 1 artist, for each show, and Clark was very disappointed in the show the direction was going, therefore, his show moved from ABC to syndication to The USA Cable Network, with David Hirsch replacing Dick Clark as host, in the final season of 1988.

He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1990.

Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

Clark has received several notable awards including four Emmy Awards, the Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994, and the Peabody Award in 1999.

"New Year's Rockin' Eve" soon became a cultural tradition, airing on ABC every year with Clark as host (except in 1999 when ABC aired "ABC 2000: Today", a news milestone program hosted by Peter Jennings).

Filed suit in federal court in Los Angeles, alleging that Michael Greene, president and chief executive of the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences, maintains a "blacklist" policy that prevents stars - including Britney Spears, Michael Jackson, Sean 'Diddy' Combs and Toni Braxton - from performing on both Greene's Grammy Awards and Clark's American Music Awards. The suit seeks $10 million in damages. (19 December 2001)

In December 2004, Clark suffered a minor stroke and was unable to host, so Regis Philbin stepped in as a substitute. The following year, Clark returned as co-host alongside primary host Ryan Seacrest. Many were worried about Clark due to his slurred and breathless speech, and he admitted on-air he was still recovering but that he wouldn't have missed the broadcast for the world. The following year, Seacrest became "New Year's Rockin' Eve's" primary host, but Clark always returned for the countdown.

In 2005, for the first time in 32 years, he was not around to see the New Year in with his "Rockin' New Year's Eve" celebration on television. It was hoped that after he had suffered his mild stroke in early December 2004 that he would recover enough to host the festivities. With Clark still in his hospital bed on New Year's Eve, Regis Philbin filled in for him.

John's hospital in Los Angeles after undergoing an outpatient procedure the night of April 17, 2012. Clark suffered a massive heart attack following the procedure.