Roy Linwood Clark (born April 15, 1933) is an American
country music musician and performer.
He is best known for hosting
Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969 to 1992.
Roy Clark has been an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and helping to popularize the genre.
During the 1970s, Clark frequently guest-hosted for
Johnny Carson on
The Tonight Show and enjoyed a 30-million viewership for
Hee Haw.
Clark is highly regarded and renowned as a guitarist and banjo player, and is also skilled in
classical guitar and several other instruments.
Although he has had hit songs as a pop vocalist (e.g., "
Yesterday, When I Was Young" and "Thank God and Greyhound"), his instrumental skill has had an enormous effect on generations of
bluegrass and country musicians.
He is a member of the
Grand Ole Opry, since 1987
[1][2] and
The Country Music Hall of Fame.
Biography
Born in
Meherrin, Virginia, Clark lived as a teenager in southeast
Washington, D.C., where his father worked at the
Washington Navy Yard.
At 14, Clark began playing
banjo,
guitar, and
mandolin, and by age 15 he had already won two National Banjo Championships and world banjo/guitar flatpick championships.
He was simultaneously pursuing a sporting career, first as a
baseball player and then as a
boxer, before dedicating himself solely to music.
At 17, he had his first appearance on the
Grand Ole Opry.
At the age of 23, Clark obtained his pilot's license and then bought a 1953
Piper Tri-Pacer (N1132C), which he flew for many years.
This plane was raffled off on December 17, 2012, to benefit the charity
Wings of Hope.
[3]
He has owned other planes, including a
Mitsubishi MU-2,
Stearman PT-17[4] and
Mitsubishi MU-300 Diamond 1A
bizjet.
[5]
By 1955, he was a regular on
Jimmy Dean's
Washington, D.C., television program. Dean, who valued punctuality among musicians in his band, the Texas Wildcats, fired Clark for habitual tardiness, telling him, "You're the most talented person I've ever fired."
Clark married Barbara Joyce Rupard on August 31, 1957.
[6]
In 1960, Clark went out to
Las Vegas, where he worked as guitarist in a band led by former West Coast Western Swing bandleader-comedian
Hank Penny.
During the very early 1960s, he was also prominent in the backing band for
Wanda Jackson—known as
the Party Timers—during the latter part of her
rockabilly period.
[7]
When Dean was tapped to host
The Tonight Show in the early 1960s, he asked Clark to appear, introducing him to a national audience for the first time. Subsequently, Clark appeared on
The Beverly Hillbillies as a recurring character (actually two: he played businessman Roy Halsey and Roy's mother, Myrtle).
Once, on an episode of the Sunday evening
Jackie Gleason Show dedicated to country music, Clark played a blistering rendition of "Down Home".
Later, he appeared on an episode of
The Odd Couple wherein he played "
Malagueña".
[citation needed]
In 1963, Clark signed to
Capitol Records and had three top 10 hits. He switched to
Dot Records and again scored hits.
He later recorded for
ABC Records, which had acquired Dot, and
MCA Records, which absorbed the ABC label.
Clark as "Myrtle Halsey" on The Beverly Hillbillies, 1968.
In the mid '60s, he co-hosted, along with
Buck Owens, a weekday daytime country variety series for NBC entitled "Swingin' Country", which was cancelled after two seasons. In 1969, Clark and
Buck Owens were the hosts of
Hee Haw.
The show was dropped by CBS Television in 1971 but continued to run in syndication for twenty-one more years.
During its tenure, Clark was a member of the
Million Dollar Band and participated in a host of comedy sketches.
In 1983, Clark opened the
Roy Clark Celebrity Theatre in
Branson, Missouri, becoming the first country music star to have his own venue there, and thus beginning a trend which led to Branson becoming a center of live music performance, as it is today.
Many of the celebrities who play in Branson first performed at the Roy Clark Celebrity Theatre.
Clark frequently played in Branson during the 1980s and 1990s. He has since sold the venue (now owned by the Hughes Brothers and renamed the Hughes American Family Theatre) and gone back to a fairly light touring schedule, which usually includes a performance with Ramona Jones and the Jones Family Band at their annual tribute to Clark's old
Hee Haw co-star
Grandpa Jones in
Mountain View, Arkansas.
[citation needed]
In addition to his musical skill, Clark has often displayed his talents as a comedian and actor. During his years on
Hee Haw, Clark entertained with numerous comedy sketches, including a recurring feature where he played the clerk of the "Empty Arms Hotel".
Clark released several albums of his comedic performances, to varying critical acclaim and commercial success.
Clark is one of the few surviving regular male cast members from the show.
[citation needed]
Clark has endorsed
Mosrite,
Gretsch, and many other brands of guitar during his career. He currently endorses
Heritage Guitars, which makes a Roy Clark model.
On August 22, 1987, Clark was made a member of the
Grand Ole Opry. He plays an annual benefit concert at
Longwood University in
Farmville, Virginia, the proceeds of which go to fund scholarships for aspiring musicians.
[citation needed]
For many years Clark has made his home in
Tulsa, Oklahoma. Roy Clark
Elementary School in Tulsa's Union School District was named in his honor in 1978.
Fellow Oklahoma resident
Mickey Mantle arranged for Clark to sing "Yesterday When I Was Young" at his funeral (which Clark did in 1995).
[citation needed]
On May 17, 2009, Clark was inducted into the
Country Music Hall of Fame along with
Barbara Mandrell and
Charlie McCoy.
On September 23, 2010, Clark sang "
God Bless America" during the
seventh-inning stretch at
Dodger Stadium in a game featuring the
Los Angeles Dodgers versus the
San Diego Padres.
On April 12, 2011, Clark was honored by the
Oklahoma House of Representatives.
He will be honored by the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame as Oklahoma's Music Ambassador for Children and will be presented with a commendation from Oklahoma Governor
Mary Fallin.
[citation needed]
Source: Wikipedia.org
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