Roy Linwood Clark is an American
country musicCountry music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
musicianA musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
and performer. He is best known for hosting
Hee HawHee Haw is an American television variety show featuring country music and humor with fictional rural Kornfield Kounty as a backdrop. It aired on CBS-TV from 1969–1971 before a 20-year run in local syndication. The show was inspired by Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, the major difference being...
, 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 CarsonJohn William "Johnny" Carson was an American television host and comedian, known as host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson for 30 years . Carson received six Emmy Awards including the Governor Award and a 1985 Peabody Award; he was inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987...
on
The Tonight ShowThe Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
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 guitarThe classical guitar is a 6-stringed plucked string instrument from the family of instruments called chordophones...
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
bluegrassBluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
and country musicians. He is a member of the
Grand Ole OpryThe Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
and The Country Music Hall of Fame.
Biography
Born in
Meherrin, VirginiaMeherrin is a small unincorporated community in Lunenburg and Prince Edward counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. It is approximately 18.6 miles by road south of Farmville....
, Clark grew up in Staten Island, New York and lived as a teenager in
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
where his father worked at the
Washington Navy YardThe Washington Navy Yard is the former shipyard and ordnance plant of the United States Navy in Southeast Washington, D.C. It is the oldest shore establishment of the U.S. Navy...
. At 14, Clark began playing
banjoIn the 1830s Sweeney became the first white man to play the banjo on stage. His version of the instrument replaced the gourd with a drum-like sound box and included four full-length strings alongside a short fifth-string. There is no proof, however, that Sweeney invented either innovation. This new...
,
guitarThe guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
, and
mandolinA mandolin is a musical instrument in the lute family . It descends from the mandore, a soprano member of the lute family. The mandolin soundboard comes in many shapes—but generally round or teardrop-shaped, sometimes with scrolls or other projections. A mandolin may have f-holes, or a single...
, 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
baseballBaseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
player, and then as a
boxerBoxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
, before dedicating himself solely to music. At 17, he had his first appearance on the
Grand Ole OpryThe Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
.
By 1955, he was a regular on
Jimmy DeanJimmy Ray Dean was an American country music singer, television host, actor and businessman. Although he may be best known today as the creator of the Jimmy Dean sausage brand, he became a national television personality starting in 1957, rising to fame for his 1961 country crossover hit "Big Bad...
's
Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
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 VegasThe Las Vegas Valley is the heart of the Las Vegas-Paradise, NV MSA also known as the Las Vegas–Paradise–Henderson MSA which includes all of Clark County, Nevada, and is a metropolitan area in the southern part of the U.S. state of Nevada. The Valley is defined by the Las Vegas Valley landform, a ...
where he worked as guitarist in a band led by former West Coast Western Swing bandleader-comedian
Hank PennyHerbert Clayton Penny was an accomplished banjo player and practitioner of western swing. He worked as a comedian best known for his backwoods character "That Plain Ol' Country Boy" on TV with Spade Cooley...
. During the very early 1960s, he was also prominent in the backing band for
Wanda JacksonWanda Lavonne Jackson is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and guitarist who had success in the mid-1950s and 60s as one of the first popular female rockabilly singers and a pioneering rock and roll artist...
during the latter part of her
rockabillyRockabilly is one of the earliest styles of rock and roll music, dating to the early 1950s.The term rockabilly is a portmanteau of rock and hillbilly, the latter a reference to the country music that contributed strongly to the style's development...
period.
When Dean was tapped to host
The Tonight ShowThe Tonight Show is an American late-night talk show that has aired on NBC since 1954. It is the longest currently running regularly scheduled entertainment program in the United States, and the third longest-running show on NBC, after Meet the Press and Today.The Tonight Show has been hosted by...
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 HillbilliesThe Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
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 GleasonJackie Gleason was an American comedian, actor and musician. He was known for his brash visual and verbal comedy style, especially by his character Ralph Kramden on The Honeymooners, a situation-comedy television series. His most noted film roles were as Minnesota Fats in the drama film The...
Show dedicated to country music, Clark played a blistering rendition of "Down Home". Later, he even appeared on an episode of
The Odd CoupleThe Odd Couple is a television situation comedy broadcast from September 24, 1970 to July 4, 1975 on ABC. It starred Tony Randall as Felix Unger and Jack Klugman as Oscar Madison. It was based upon the play of the same name, which was written by Neil Simon.Felix and Oscar are two divorced men....
where he played "Malagueña".
In 1963, Clark signed to
Capitol RecordsCapitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
and had three top 10 hits. He switched to
Dot RecordsDot Records was an American record label and company that was active between 1950 and 1977. It was founded by Randy Wood. In Gallatin, Tennessee, Wood had earlier started a mail order record shop, known for its radio ads on WLAC in Nashville and its R&B air personality Bill "Hoss" Allen...
and again scored hits. He later recorded for
ABC RecordsABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
, which had acquired Dot, and
MCA RecordsMCA Records was an American-based record company owned by MCA Inc., which later gave way to the larger MCA Music Entertainment Group , of which MCA Records was still part. MCA Records was absorbed by Geffen Records in 2003...
, which absorbed the ABC label.
In 1969, Clark and
Buck OwensAlvis Edgar Owens, Jr. , better known as Buck Owens, was an American singer and guitarist who had 21 No. 1 hits on the Billboard country music charts with his band, the Buckaroos...
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 BandThe Million Dollar Band was an all-star group of popular country musicians which often performed on the Hee Haw television variety show from August 1980 through November 1988....
and participated in a host of comedy sketches.
In 1983, Clark opened the Roy Clark Celebrity Theatre in
Branson, MissouriBranson is a city in Taney County in the U.S. state of Missouri. It was named after Reuben Branson, postmaster and operator of a general store in the area in the 1880s....
, 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 JonesLouis Marshall Jones , known professionally as Grandpa Jones, was an American banjo player and "old time" country and gospel music singer...
in
Mountain View, ArkansasMountain View is the largest city in and the county seat of Stone County in the north-central region of the U.S. state of Arkansas. According to 2005 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 2,998. The town's name comes from its location in a valley surrounded by the eastern Ozark...
.
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
MosriteMosrite is an American guitar manufacturing company, based in Bakersfield, California, from the late 1950s to the early 1990s. Founded by Semie Moseley, Mosrite guitars were played by many rock and roll and country artists....
,
GretschThe Gretsch Company was founded in 1883 by Friedrich Gretsch, a twenty-seven year old German immigrant recently arrived in the US. Friedrich Gretsch manufactured banjos, tambourines, and drums, until his death in 1895. His son, Fred, moved operations to Brooklyn, New York in 1916...
, and many other brands of guitar during his career. He currently endorses
Heritage GuitarsHeritage Guitars is a guitar manufacturer in Kalamazoo, Michigan, United States.-History:Heritage Guitars was founded in 1985 by former employees of the Gibson guitar factory...
, 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 UniversityLongwood University is a four-year public, liberal-arts university located in Farmville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1839 and became a university on July 1, 2002...
in
Farmville, VirginiaFarmville is a town in Prince Edward and Cumberland counties in the U.S. state of Virginia. The population was 6,845 at the 2000 census. It is the county seat of Prince Edward County....
, the proceeds of which go to fund scholarships for aspiring musicians.
For many years Clark has made his home in
Tulsa, OklahomaTulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...
. Roy Clark
Elementary SchoolAn elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...
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 MandrellBarbara Ann Mandrell is an American country music singer best known for a 1970s–1980s series of Top 10 hits and TV shows that helped her become one of country's most successful female vocalists of the 1970s and 1980s...
and
Charlie McCoyCharles "Charlie" Ray McCoy is an American musician noted for his harmonica playing. In his career, McCoy has backed several notable musicians including Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, Tom Astor, Elvis Presley and Ween. He has also recorded thirty-seven studio albums, including fourteen for Monument Records...
.
On September 23, 2010, Clark sang
God Bless America"God Bless America" is an American patriotic song written by Irving Berlin in 1918 and revised by him in 1938. The later version has notably been recorded by Kate Smith, becoming her signature song ....
during the
seventh-inning stretchThe seventh-inning stretch is a tradition in baseball that takes place between the halves of the seventh inning of any game – in the middle of the seventh inning. Fans generally stand up and stretch out their arms and legs and sometimes walk around. It is a popular time to get a late-game snack as...
at
Dodger StadiumDodger Stadium, also sometimes called Chavez Ravine, is a stadium in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962...
in a game featuring the
Los Angeles DodgersThe Los Angeles Dodgers are a professional baseball team based in Los Angeles, California. The Dodgers are members of Major League Baseball's National League West Division. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming...
versus the
San Diego PadresThe San Diego Padres are a Major League Baseball team based in San Diego, California. They play in the National League Western Division. Founded in 1969, the Padres have won the National League Pennant twice, in 1984 and 1998, losing in the World Series both times...
.
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
Uphill All The Way is a 1986 motion picture starring Roy Clark, Mel Tillis, Glen Campbell, Burl Ives and Trish Van Devere....
(1986)
- Freeway (1988)
Television and film
He has appeared as himself in numerous television programs:
- Five episodes of The Beverly Hillbillies
The Beverly Hillbillies is an American situation comedy originally broadcast for nine seasons on CBS from 1962 to 1971, starring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer, Jr....
as "Cousin Roy" (1969)
- Swing Out, Sweet Land (1970)
- The Odd Couple
The Odd Couple is a 1965 Broadway play by Neil Simon, followed by a successful film and television series, as well as other derivative works and spin offs, many featuring one or more of the same actors. The plot concerns two mismatched roommates, one neat and uptight, the other more easygoing and...
(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
Hanna-Barbera's All-Star Comedy Ice Revue is a 60-minute live-action/animated television special produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions in association with deFaria Productions which aired on CBS on Friday, January 13, 1978 at 8:00 pm EST....
(1977)
- The Muppet Show
The Muppet Show is a British television programme produced by American puppeteer Jim Henson and featuring Muppets. After two pilot episodes were produced in 1974 and 1975, the show premiered on 5 September 1976 and five series were produced until 15 March 1981, lasting 120 episodes...
(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
Gordy is a 1995 feature film about a piglet who searches for his missing family...
(1995)
- The Grand Ole Opry 70th Anniversary (1996)
- A Bing Crosby Christmas (1998)
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
Charles Wilburn "Buck" Trent is an American country music instrumentalist. He invented the electric Banjo and also plays the five-string Banjo, Dobro, Steel Guitar, Mandolin, Electric Bass and Guitar.-Biography:...
)
- 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
The Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance was awarded from 1970 to 2011. Between 1986 and 1989 the award was presented as the Grammy Award for Best Country Instrumental Performance ....
for "Roy Clark - Alabama Jubilee"
External links