Richard Wagstaff Clark was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting American Bandstand from 1956 to 1989.
Dick Clark also hosted five incarnations of the Pyramid game show from 1973 to 1988 and Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, which transmitted Times Square’s New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Dick Clark introduced rock & roll to many Americans when he was hosting American Bandstand. American Bandstand gave many new music artists their first exposure to national audiences, including Ike & Tina Turner, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, Simon & Garfunkel, Iggy Pop, Prince, Talking Heads, and Madonna. Episodes hosted by Dick Clark were among the first in which black people and white people performed on the same stage, and they were among the first in which the live studio audience sat down together without racial segregation.
Dick Clark served as chief executive officer of Dick Clark Productions company (though he sold off his financial interest in his later years). Dick Clark also founded the American Bandstand Diner, a restaurant chain modeled after the Hard Rock Cafe.
In 1973, Dick Clark created and produced the annual American Music Awards show, similar to the Grammy Awards.
Dick Clark First Wife: Who is Dick Clark’s ex-wife Barbara Mallery?
Dick Clark married Barbara Mallery in 1952, and the couple had one son, Richard.
However, Dick Clark and Barbara Mallery divorced in 1961.