Roy Clark

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Roy Clark bigraphy, stories - Dynasty

Roy Clark : biography

April 15, 1933 –

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. Roy 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 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 and The Country Music Hall of Fame.

Discography

The Flip Wilson Show 1971

Awards

  • 1970 – CMA – Comedian Of The Year
  • 1972 – 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

Film roles

  • Matilda (1978)
  • Country Comes Home (1982)
  • Uphill All the Way (1986)
  • Freeway (1988)
  • Gordy (1995)

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)
  • The Bell Telephone Jubilee (1976)
  • The Captain & Tennille Special (1976)
  • Fair Weather Friends (1977)
  • Hanna-Barbera’s All-Star Comedy Ice Revue (1977)
  • The Muppet Show (1978)
  • EPCOT Center opening celebration (1982)
  • Disneyland’s 30th Anniversary Celebration (1985)
  • 6th Annual National Songwriter Awards (1986)
  • The Grand Ole Opry 65th Anniversary (1991)
  • Gordy (1995)
  • The Grand Ole Opry 70th Anniversary (1996)
  • A Bing Crosby Christmas (1998)

Biography

Born in Meherrin, Virginia, Clark grew up in Staten Island, New York and 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 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.http://www.generalaviationnews.com/2012/01/winner-of-roy-clarks-tripacer-named/ He has owned other planes, including a Mitsubishi MU-2, Stearman PT-17http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20069138,00.html and Mitsubishi MU-300 Diamond 1A bizjet.http://www.great-music.net/rclark.html

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." He married Barbara Joyce Rupard on August 31, 1957. 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.Liner notes for the 1961 Wanda Jackson album, There’s a Party Goin’ On. Retrieved 27 Oct 2012.