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Biography
other peopleBLP sources|date=September 2010Infobox musical artist| background = solo_singer| instrument = Guitar , Banjo , Fiddle , Harmonica , Mandolin | name = Roy Clark| image = WIKI ROY CLARK.jpg| caption = Roy Clark in March, 2002| Born = Birth date and age|1933|4|15|mf=y Meherrin, Virginia | death_date =| alias =| genre = Country music | Band Members = Richard, Tony, Pete , Justin, David, Ralph | associated_acts = Hee Haw | label =| notable_instruments =| years_active = 1950–present| website = http://www.royclark.org/ Official website 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 1969–1992. Clark has been an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and helping to popularize the genre. Most of all, he is an entertainer, with an amiable personality and a telegenic presence.
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 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 music|bluegrass and country musicians. He is a member of the Grand Ole Opry and Country Music Hall of Fame|The Country Music Hall of Fame .
Biography
Born in Meherrin, Virginia , Clark grew up in Staten Island, New York http://www.nypl.org/branch/staten/index2.cfm? Trg=1& d1=1391 Staten Island on the Web: Famous Staten Islanders and lived as a teenager in 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 boxing|boxer , before dedicating himself solely to music. At 17, he had his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry .
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." In 1960, Clark went out to Las Vegas metropolitan area|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 during the latter part of her rockabilly period.
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 even appeared on an episode of The Odd Couple (TV series)|The Odd Couple where he played " Malagueña (song)|Malagueña ".
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. 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 (country music group)|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 .
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 has endorsed Mosrite , Gretsch , and many other brands of guitar during his career. He currently endorses Heritage Guitars , which makes a Roy Clark model. http://www.heritageguitar.com/models/RoyClark.htm Heritage Guitar Inc., Roy Clark model page
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.
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.
On May 17, 2009, Clark was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame along with Barbara Mandrell and Charlie McCoy . http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090204/en_nm/us_country_1
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.
Film roles
Country Comes Home (1982)
Uphill All the Way (1986)
Freeway (1988)
Television and film
He has appeared as himself in numerous television programs:
Five episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies as "Cousin Roy" (1969)
Swing Out, Sweet Land (1970)
The Odd Couple (1975) (episode "The Roy Clark Show" as Willie Boggs)
1972 - Academy of Country Music Awards|ACM - Entertainer Of The Year
1973 - ACM - Entertainer Of The Year
1973 - CMA - Entertainer of the Year
1975 - CMA - Instrumental Group Of The Year (with Buck Trent )
1976 - CMA - Instrumental Group Of The Year (with Buck Trent)
1977 - CMA - Instrumentalist Of The Year
1978 - CMA - Instrumentalist Of The Year
1980 - CMA - Instrumentalist Of The Year
1982 - Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance for his recording of Alabama Jubilee (song)|Alabama Jubilee
References
Reflist
External links
http://www.royclark.org Roy Clark official website
http://www.opry.com/artists/c/Clark_Roy.html at the Grand Ole Opry
http://www.unionps.org/index.cfm? id=266 Roy Clark Elementary School
Persondata | NAME =Clark, Roy | ALTERNATIVE NAMES = | SHORT DESCRIPTION = | DATE OF BIRTH =April 15, 1933 | PLACE OF BIRTH = | DATE OF DEATH = | PLACE OF DEATH = DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Roy Category:1933 births Category:Living people Category:American male singers Category:American country guitarists Category:American country singers Category:American television personalities Category:American banjoists Category:Fingerstyle guitarists Category:People from Branson, Missouri Category:People from Prince Edward County, Virginia Category:People from Staten Island Category:People from Tulsa, Oklahoma Category:Musicians from Washington, D.C. Category:Musicians from Virginia Category:Musicians from Oklahoma Category:Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame inductees Category:Grand Ole Opry members Category:Four Star Records artists Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Dot Records artists Category:Country Music Hall of Fame inductees Category:ABC Records artists Category:Musicians from New York City Category:Million Dollar Band (country music group) members
de:Roy Clark fr:Roy Clark
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