Fred Clark

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Frederick Leonard Clark (born March 19, 1914 in Lincoln , California - † December 5, 1968 in Santa Monica , California) was an American actor.

life and career

Fred Clark was born to Frederick Clark and his wife Stella Bruce. His father worked as a senior civil servant for agriculture and so the son grew up in relative prosperity. He initially wanted to medicine at the Stanford University study, but then got a role in the College -Stück Yellow Jack . During his subsequent studies at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts , Clark also appeared in local theaters and in summer stick groups. At the age of 24 he received his first major theater role in the short-lived Broadway -Stück School House on the Lot . From 1942 the actor flew as a Navy pilot in World War II and later as a soldier. Clark spent a total of two years in Europe. Soon after his return to the United States, Clark met the director Michael Curtiz , who cast him in his film noir Der Unverdächtige (1947) alongside Claude Rains and Audrey Totter .

From then on, the almost bald, corpulent actor mostly played grumpy and bad-tempered characters, who in many cases looked older than himself. Clark's characters were often businessmen, gang bosses, superiors or generals. In addition to his thin mustache, the cigar was one of his trademarks, which made the actor unmistakable. His better-known roles include the shady fence The Trader in Leap to Death (1949) alongside James Cagney ; the film producer Mr. Sheldrake in Billy Wilder's classic film Boulevard of the Twilight (1950), the lawyer Bellows in A Place in the Sun (1951) and an adulterous millionaire in How Do You Fish A Millionaire? (1953). From the 1950s on, Clark was mainly seen on television, where he played a regular supporting role as an angry neighbor on their television show alongside George Burns and Gracie Allen . In the horror flick The Revenge of the Pharaoh (1964) Clark had a bigger role as an American showman who - unreasonably - wants to exhibit a mummy.

In 1952 Clark married the actress Benay Venuta (1910-1995), ten years later they divorced. In 1966 he married Gloria Glaser, with whom he remained married until his death. In 1968 the actor died of liver disease at the age of only 54. For his television work he has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame .

Filmography (selection)

  • 1947: The Unsuspected (The unsuspected)
  • 1947: Ride on the Pink Horse (Ride the Pink Horse)
  • 1948: Revenge Without Mercy (Fury at Furnance Creek)
  • 1948: Cry of the City (Cry of the City)
  • 1949: aka Nick Beal
  • 1949: The Road of the Successful (Flamingo Road)
  • 1949: Leap to Death (White Heat)
  • 1950: The Eagle and the Hawk
  • 1950: Sunset Boulevard (Sunset Boulevard)
  • 1950: Unlucky Adventures (The Jackpot)
  • 1951: A Place in the Sun (A Place in the Sun)
  • 1951–1953: The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (TV series, 75 episodes)
  • 1952: Casanova against his will (Dreamboat)
  • 1953: The Caddy
  • 1953: How do you get a millionaire? (How to Marry a Millionaire)
  • 1954: The likable impostor (Living It Up)
  • 1955: Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops (Abbott and Costello Meet the Keystone Kops)
  • 1955: Daddy Longlegs (Daddy Long Legs)
  • 1955: Damned Silence (The Court-Martial of Billy Mitchell)
  • 1956: Back from Eternity
  • 1957: The woman in golden Cadillac (The Solid Gold Cadillac)
  • 1957: Dream in Pink (The Fuzzy Pink Nightgown)
  • 1958: The great aunt (Auntie Mame)
  • 1959: Angels among sinners (The Mating Game)
  • 1960: Visit to a Small Planet
  • 1960: Just give us a call - come to the house (Bells Are Ringing)
  • 1962: Hemingway 's Adventures of a Young Man
  • 1963: One Too Many in Bed (Move Over, Darling)
  • 1964: The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb)
  • 1965: John Goldfarb, Please Come Home!
  • 1966: A general and two more idiots (Due marines e un generale)
  • 1968: Diana - Daughter of the Wild (The Face of Eve)
  • 1968: Skidoo
  • 1971: Eddie (TV movie)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Fred Clark's obituary on Google News: Archive
personal data
SURNAME Clark, Fred
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Clark, Frederick Leonard (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION US-American actor
DATE OF BIRTH March 19, 1914
PLACE OF BIRTH Lincoln , California
DATE OF DEATH 5th December 1968
Place of death Santa Monica , California