People named Fred Clark

Fred Clark Born March 19, 1914 in Lincoln, California, USA Died December 5, 1968 in Santa Monica, California, USA (liver ailment) Birth Name Frederic Leonard Clark Height 6' 1" (1.85 m) This popular, baggy-eyed, bald-domed, big lug of a character actor had few peers when called upon to display that special "slow burn" style of comedy few others perfected. But perfect he did -- on stage, film and TV. In fact, he pretty much cornered the market during the 50s and 60s as the dour, ill-tempered guy you loved to hate. Born Frederick Leonard Clark on March 19 1914, the son of Frederick Clark, a county agriculture commissioner, and Stella (née Bruce) Clark, in Lincoln, California, Fred's initial interest was in medicine and he pursued his pre-med studies at Stanford University. A chance role in the college play "Yellow Jack" change the coarse of his destiny. Earning a scholarship to the American Academy of Dramatic Arts, he paid his dues performing in local community theater and summer stock. By May of 1938, at age 24, he was making his Broadway debut with the short-lived comedy play "Schoolhouse on the Lot". He then returned to Broadway a few months later to appear in the melodrama "Ringside Seat", which also closed early. Fred's nascent career was interrupted when America entered World War II. He served as a Navy pilot in 1942 but later joined the Army and spent nearly two years with the Third Army in Europe. Clark returned to acting and in during the post-war years broke into films via Hungarian film director Michael Curtiz who cast him in the noir classic The Unsuspected (1947). Able to provide cold-hearted villainy in crime drama as well as dyspeptic humor to slapstick comedy, film work came to Fred in no short order. Ride the Pink Horse (1947), Cry of the City (1948), Flamingo Road (1949), White Heat (1949), Alias Nick Beal (1949), Sunset Boulevard (1950), The Jackpot (1950), The Lemon Drop Kid (1951) and Meet Me After the Show (1951) all made the most of Fred's sour skills. Around this time (1952) he married actress Benay Venuta, whom he met while both were performing on stage in "Light Up the Sky" (1950). The popular couple continued to work together from time to time, which included a 1956 stage production of "Bus Stop" at the La Jolla Playhouse. Well-established on film by this point, Fred set his sights on TV and earned raves providing weekly bombastic support to George Burns and Gracie Allen on their popular sitcom The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (1950). Joining the cast into its second season (his role had already been played by two other actors), Fred made the role of neighbor/realtor Harry Morton his own, becoming the first definitive Harry on the show. Investing his character with an amusing, child-like grumpiness, he was ideally paired with comedienne Bea Benaderet (as wife Blanche). Together they provided perfect foursome chemistry with Burns and Allen, much in the same way Vivian Vance and William Frawley did for Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz on I Love Lucy (1951). Clark, however, would leave the show in the fall of 1953 following a salary dispute, and was replaced by a fourth Harry Morton, Larry Keating, who managed to keep the role until the end in 1958. Fred would find steady but lesser success on TV after this. With his trademark cigar, scowl, shiny baldness and pencil-thin mustache, Fred continued to be high in demand in film, usually playing some high-ranking military officer, gang boss, shifty politician or executive skinflint. The Martin & Lewis comedy The Caddy (1953), Marilyn Monroe's How to Marry a Millionaire (1953), The Solid Gold Cadillac (1956), Don't Go Near the Water (1957), The Mating Game (1959), Auntie Mame (1958), Bells Are Ringing (1960), Visit to a Small Planet (1960), Boys' Night Out (1962) and Move Over, Darling (1963), all displayed Clark at his blustery best. And on TV he contributed to such comedy shows as The Beverly Hillbillies (1962), I Dream of Jeannie (1965) and The Dick Van Dyke Show (1961). He also received some attention pushing potato chips in commercials. Fred made a successful stage debut in London with 1963's "Never Too Late" co-starring Joan Bennett and Samantha Eggar, as a cranky middle-aged father-to-be. He would also return infrequently to Broadway with prime roles in "Romanoff and Juliet" (1957), Viva Madison Avenue! (1960) and "Absence of a Cello" (1964). On a sad note, many of Fred's final years were spent in inferior film. Movies such as Dr. Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965), I Sailed to Tahiti with an All Girl Crew (1968) and the notorious bomb Skidoo (1968), which was directed by Otto Preminger and starred Jackie Gleason and Carol Channing, were undeserving of his talents. Divorced from Ms. Venuta in August of 1962, Fred subsequently married a model, Gloria Glaser, in 1966. Fred's sudden death of liver disease two years later on December 5, 1968, at the untimely age of 54, had Hollywood mourning one of its finest comic heavies -- gone way before his time. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Gary Brumburgh / [contact link] Spouse (2) Gloria Glaser (18 November 1966 - 5 December 1968) ( his death) Benay Venuta (15 February 1952 - 15 August 1962) ( divorced) Character actor seen in many movies and TV shows. Notable as the stuffy executor of Auntie Mame's brother's will in Auntie Mame (1958). Infrequently appeared on Broadway from 1938 to 1964. Graduate of Stanford University with a B.A. in psychology. Was in three Oscar Best Picture nominees : Sunset Boulevard (1950), A Place in the Sun (1951) and Auntie Mame (1958).

Fred Clark of Byrdstown, Pickett County, TN was born on December 4, 1881, and died at age 87 years old on January 15, 1969.

Fred P Clark of Ridgewood, Bergen County, NJ was born on March 16, 1899, and died at age 72 years old in June 1971.

Fred R Clark of Woodford, Caroline County, VA was born on April 26, 1916, and died at age 71 years old on March 12, 1988.

Fred L Clark of Doyle, White County, TN was born on October 3, 1921, and died at age 79 years old on January 21, 2001.

Fred H Clark of Youngtown, Maricopa County, AZ was born on July 24, 1922, and died at age 73 years old on February 21, 1996. Fred Clark was buried at National Memorial Cemetery Of Arizona Section MA Site 204 23029 North Cave Creek Road, in Phoenix.

Fred B Clark of Seattle, King County, Washington was born on February 28, 1909, and died at age 65 years old in July 1974.

Fred H Clark of Golden, Jefferson County, CO was born on December 5, 1918, and died at age 77 years old on February 10, 1996.

Fred W Clark of Casper, Natrona County, Wyoming was born on August 9, 1911, and died at age 67 years old in December 1978.

Fred B Clark of Butte, Silver Bow County, Montana was born on February 25, 1915, and died at age 64 years old in February 1979.

Fred R Clark of Wichita, Sedgwick County, KS was born on July 29, 1912, and died at age 90 years old on May 19, 2003.

Fred W Clark of Fairburn, Fulton County, GA was born on February 27, 1917, and died at age 72 years old on June 6, 1989.

Fred E Clark of Knoxville, Marion County, IA was born on October 16, 1925, and died at age 80 years old on September 26, 2006.

Fred A Clark of Estherville, Emmet County, Iowa was born on May 25, 1919, and died at age 60 years old in September 1979.

Fred A Clark of Montgomery, Kendall County, IL was born on August 4, 1922, and died at age 75 years old on January 23, 1998.

Fred Clark of Tulia, Swisher County, TX was born on August 31, 1929, and died at age 68 years old on June 2, 1998.

Fred H Clark of Rosebud, Falls County, Texas was born on May 9, 1922, and died at age 49 years old in June 1971.

Fred A Clark of Iowa Park, Wichita County, Texas was born on February 12, 1907, and died at age 75 years old in April 1982.

Fred Winefred Clark of Pasadena, Harris County, Texas was born on April 8, 1948, and died at age 59 years old on November 29, 2007.

Fred A Clark of Ada, Pontotoc County, OK was born on November 30, 1914, and died at age 81 years old on December 2, 1995.

Fred H Clark Jr of Iowa Park, Wichita County, Texas was born on May 9, 1934, and died at age 35 years old in June 1969.

Fred W Clark of Dallas, Dallas County, Texas was born on September 18, 1906, and died at age 69 years old in November 1975.

Fred O Clark of Brownfield, Terry County, TX was born on September 29, 1940, and died at age 56 years old on May 15, 1997.

Fred B Clark of Mission, Hidalgo County, Texas was born on May 15, 1926, and died at age 48 years old in December 1974.

Fred D Clark of Porterville, Tulare County, CA was born on November 15, 1910, and died at age 93 years old on January 15, 2004.

Fred V Clark Jr of Corpus Christi, Nueces County, TX was born on August 27, 1937, and died at age 68 years old on December 12, 2005. Fred Clark was buried at Houston National Cemetery Section S2 Site 251 10410 Veterans Memorial Drive, in Houston.

Fred H Clark of Okemah, Okfuskee County, OK was born on October 24, 1927, and died at age 74 years old on March 30, 2002.

Fred A Clark of Eros, Ouachita County, Louisiana was born on March 17, 1919, and died at age 63 years old in August 1982.

Fred R Clark of Greenwood, Leflore County, MS was born on July 29, 1922, and died at age 87 years old on August 28, 2009.