By LYNN ELBER
AP Television Writer
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Dick
Clark, the ever-youthful television host and tireless entrepreneur who
helped bring rock 'n' roll into the mainstream on "American Bandstand,"
and later produced and hosted a vast range of programming from game
shows to the New Year's Eve countdown from Times Square, has died. He
was 82.
Spokesman Paul Shefrin said
Clark had a heart attack Wednesday morning at Saint John's hospital in
Santa Monica, where he had gone the day before for an outpatient
procedure.
Clark had continued performing even after he suffered a stroke in 2004 that affected his ability to speak and walk.
Ryan Seacrest, who took
over main hosting duties on the countdown show from Clark, said in a
statement Wednesday that he was "deeply saddened."
"I idolized him from the
start, and I was graced early on in my career with his generous advice
and counsel," Seacrest said. "He was a remarkable host and businessman
and left a rich legacy to television audiences around the world. We will
all miss him."
Long dubbed "the world's
oldest teenager" because of his boyish appearance, Clark bridged the
rebellious new music scene and traditional show business, and equally
comfortable whether chatting about music with Sam Cooke or bantering
with Ed McMahon about TV bloopers. He thrived as the founder of Dick
Clark Productions, supplying movies, game and music shows, beauty
contests and more to TV. Among his credits: "The $25,000 Pyramid,"
''TV's Bloopers and Practical Jokes" and the American Music Awards.
For a time in the 1980s, he
had shows on all three networks and was listed among the Forbes 400 of
wealthiest Americans. Clark also was part of radio as partner in the
United Stations Radio Network, which provided programs - including
Clark's - to thousands of stations.
"There's hardly any segment
of the population that doesn't see what I do," Clark told The
Associated Press in a 1985 interview. "It can be embarrassing. People
come up to me and say, 'I love your show,' and I have no idea which one
they're talking about."
The original "American
Bandstand" was one of network TV's longest-running series as part of
ABC's daytime lineup from 1957 to 1987. It later aired for a year in
syndication and briefly on the USA Network. Over the years, it
introduced stars ranging from Buddy Holly to Madonna. The show's status
as an American cultural institution was solidified when Clark donated
Bandstand's original podium and backdrop to the Smithsonian Institution.
Clark joined "Bandstand" in
1956 after Bob Horn, who'd been the host since its 1952 debut, was
fired. Under Clark's guidance, it went from a local Philadelphia show to
a national phenomenon.
"I played records, the kids
danced, and America watched," was how Clark once described the series'
simplicity. In his 1958 hit "Sweet Little Sixteen," Chuck Berry sang
that "they'll be rocking on Bandstand, Philadelphia, P-A."
As a host, he had the
smooth delivery of a seasoned radio announcer. As a producer, he had an
ear for a hit record. He also knew how to make wary adults welcome this
odd new breed of music in their homes.
Clark endured accusations
that he was in with the squares, with critic Lester Bangs defining
Bandstand as "a leggily acceptable euphemism of the teenage experience."
In a 1985 interview, Clark acknowledged the complaints. "But I knew at
the time that if we didn't make the presentation to the older generation
palatable, it could kill it."
"So along with Little
Richard and Chuck Berry and the Platters and the Crows and the Jayhawks
... the boys wore coats and ties and the girls combed their hair and
they all looked like sweet little kids into a high school dance," he
said.
But Clark defended pop
artists and artistic freedom, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame said in an
online biography of the 1993 inductee. He helped give black artists
their due by playing original R&B recordings instead of cover
versions by white performers, and he condemned censorship.
His stroke in December 2004
forced him to miss his annual appearance on "Dick Clark's New Year's
Rockin' Eve." He returned the following year and, although his speech at
times was difficult to understand, many praised his bravery, including
other stroke victims.
Still speaking with difficulty, he continued taking part in his New Year's shows, though in a diminished role.
"I'm just thankful I'm
still able to enjoy this once-a-year treat," he told The Associated
Press by e-mail in December 2008 as another New Year's Eve approached.
He was honored at the Emmy
Awards in 2006, telling the crowd: "I have accomplished my childhood
dream, to be in show business. Everybody should be so lucky to have
their dreams come true. I've been truly blessed."
He was born Richard
Wagstaff Clark in Mount Vernon, N.Y., in 1929. His father, Richard
Augustus Clark, was a sales manager who worked in radio.
Clark idolized his athletic
older brother, Bradley, who was killed in World War II. In his 1976
autobiography, "Rock, Roll & Remember," Clark recalled how radio
helped ease his loneliness and turned him into a fan of Steve Allen,
Arthur Godfrey and other popular hosts.
From Godfrey, he said, he
learned that "a radio announcer does not talk to 'those of you out there
in radio land'; a radio announcer talks to me as an individual."
Clark began his career in
the mailroom of a Utica, N.Y., radio station in 1945. By age 26, he was a
broadcasting veteran, with nine years' experience on radio and TV
stations in Syracuse and Utica, N.Y., and Philadelphia. He held a
bachelor's degree from Syracuse University. While in Philadelphia, Clark
befriended McMahon, who later credited Clark for introducing him to his
future "Tonight Show" boss, Johnny Carson.
In the 1960s, "American
Bandstand" moved from black-and-white to color, from weekday broadcasts
to once-a-week Saturday shows and from Philadelphia to Los Angeles.
Although its influence started to ebb, it still featured some of the
biggest stars of each decade, whether Janis Joplin, the Jackson 5,
Talking Heads or Prince. But Clark never did book two of rock's iconic
groups, the Beatles and the Rolling Stones. Elvis Presley also never
performed, although Clark managed an on-air telephone interview while
Presley was in the Army.
When Michael Jackson died
in June 2009, Clark recalled working with him since he was a child,
adding, "of all the thousands of entertainers I have worked with,
Michael was THE most outstanding. Many have tried and will try to copy
him, but his talent will never be matched."
Clark kept more than
records spinning with his Dick Clark Productions. Its credits included
the Academy of Country Music and Golden Globe awards; TV movies
including the Emmy-winning "The Woman Who Willed a Miracle" (1984), the
"$25,000 Pyramid" game show and the 1985 film "Remo Williams: The
Adventure Begins." Clark himself made a cameo on "The Fresh Prince of
Bel-Air" and a dramatic appearance as a witness on the original "Perry
Mason." He was an involuntary part of Michael Moore's Academy
Award-winning "Bowling for Columbine," in which Clark is seen brushing
off Moore as the filmmaker confronts him about working conditions at a
restaurant owned by Clark.
In 1974, at ABC's request,
Clark created the American Music Awards after the network lost the
broadcast rights to the Grammy Awards.
He was also an author, with
"Dick Clark's American Bandstand" and such self-help books as "Dick
Clark's Program for Success in Your Business and Personal Life" and
"Looking Great, Staying Young." His unchanging looks inspired a joke in
"Peggy Sue Gets Married," the 1986 comedy starring Kathleen Turner as an
unhappy wife and mother transported back to 1960. Watching Clark on a
black and white TV set, she shakes her head in amazement, "Look at that
man, he never ages."
Clark's clean-cut image
survived a music industry scandal. In 1960, during a congressional
investigation of "payola" or bribery in the record and radio industry,
Clark was called on to testify.
He was cleared of any
suspicions but was required by ABC to divest himself of record-company
interests to avoid any appearance of a conflict of interest. The demand
cost him $8 million, Clark once estimated. His holdings included partial
ownership of Swan Records, which later released the first U.S. version
of the Beatles' smash "She Loves You."
In 2004, Clark announced
plans for a revamped version of "American Bandstand." The show, produced
with "American Idol" creator Simon Fuller, was to feature a host other
than Clark.
He was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 1994 and served as spokesman for the American Association of Diabetes Educators.
Clark, twice divorced, had a
son, Richard Augustus II, with first wife Barbara Mallery and two
children, Duane and Cindy, with second wife Loretta Martin. He married
Kari Wigton in 1977.
___
AP National Writers David Bauder and Hillel Italie contributed to this report.
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