RIP Bobby Clark

 Los Angeles Times

March 1, 2022

Robert “Dwain” Bobby Clark

 

Bob was born in Seattle, Washington to Robert Boyd Clark, of Moscow, Idaho, and Jean Carrol Dahl Clark, of Tacoma, Washington.
Bob began taking accordion lessons at age 5 and performing soon after. Smitten with entertaining live audiences, he added singing, dancing, monologues and impersonations to his repertoire. He appeared with two Seattle-area USO troupes during the Korean War, and at public and private events from wrestling matches to meetings of fraternal and benevolent societies. By the age of 8 he was performing two nights a week (shows at 8 and 10:30) at a local nightclub.
In 1954, his parents moved to Los Angeles so that Bobby, as he was now known, could pursue a career in Hollywood. He was quickly taken up by agent Lola Moore and made his first tv appearance in a commercial that ran during The Lone Ranger.
Bobby worked steadily from 1954-1959, especially with production studio Screen Gems. He appeared in episodes of many TV series, including The Loretta Young Show, Tales of the Texas Rangers, Zane Grey Theatre, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Danny Thomas Show, Perry Mason and Lassie. In 1957 he was cast in the Casey Jones television series, co-starring with Alan Hale Jr in all 32 episodes. In movies, he led an old man in the Exodus scene of The Ten Commandments, was shot by a Confederate in Rebel In Town, went hysterical in Invasion of the Body Snatchers and was kidnapped in the original Ransom. In 1956 he travelled to France to film The Happy Road with Gene Kelly.
In an oral history interview recorded with the Gene Autry National Center in 2016, Bob described the working life of a child actor during the filming of Casey Jones. Two scripts would be delivered to his home over the weekend for filming the following week. Two and a half days were devoted to each episode. Work days were 3 hours of work and 3 hours of school, with the studio providing a teacher who followed the local curriculum.
Bobby's final Hollywood credit was a 1964 episode of My Three Sons. More information about Bobby's career can be found on wikipedia and on Imdb.
As a teenager Bob took to playing both banjo and guitar. He found time to serve on the Cheer Team and as Senior Class President at Earl Warren High School in Downey, CA, graduating in 1962. He attended college at the University of Washington, Seattle, where he majored in theatre and communication, and served on the cheer squad, but was drafted into the U.S. Army prior to graduation. Basic training was at Fort Ord; he served as a Medical Corpsman with postings in California and Texas, with sidelines as a performer and Battalion newspaper editor, and was honorably discharged in 1968.
Bob returned to the Los Angeles area where he worked in a variety of sales jobs and did live theatre on the side. Long-time friend Ellie Green remembers working with Bob in a William Jarvis production of The Drunkard which was performed for years at various venues, including on the Queen Mary.
In the 80s he met Virginia "Vikki" Cooley Young while working at The Coronado Playhouse. He followed her to the northern California village of Ferndale in the mid-90s, and they were married there on October 25, 1997. They worked on dozens of plays at Ferndale Repertory Theatre, Bob as an actor, Vikki as a writer, director and designer. Cast parties were often held at their 1895 Victorian home, filled with song, laughter, movie memories, and outstanding barbecued ribs.
Bob eventually brought his parents to Humboldt County where they settled in nearby Fortuna. His mother died in 2013. The year 2021 was a tough one: his wife Vikki died on January 6, and his father on April 15, and Bob's broken heart led to a decline in his own health. He is survived by stepchildren: Carolyn Jones of Bayside, CA, and Joseph Young of Montrose, CA, and cousins in Washington and Idaho.
In honor of Bob Clark and Vikki Young, and their life-long love of live theatre, donations in their name are being made to the Ferndale Rep Theatre, their stage home for more than two decades.

 

CLARK, Bobby (Robert Eugene Clark)

Born: 11/13/1944, Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.

Died: 11 /14/2021, Ferndale, California, U.S.A.

 

Bobby Clark’s westerns – actor:

Tales of the Texas Rangers (TV) – 1955 (Jimmy)

Rebel in Town – 1956 (Peter Willoughby)

Zane Grey Theater (TV) – 1956 (Howie Saunders)

Gun Duel in Daiblo – 1957 (Robbie)

Casey Jones (TV) – 1957-1958 (Casey Jones Jr.)

Tales of Wells Fargo (TV) – 1957 (Dan Simmons)

Northwest Passage (TV) – 1958 (Jean Louis)

Wanted: Dead or Alive (TV) – 1959 (shoeshine boy)