“America’s Oldest Teenager” has died of a heart attack at the age of 82. Renowned for his youthful appearance, Mr. Clark was born Richard Wagstaff Clark on November 30th 1929.
He was also renowned for “legitimizing Rock’n’Roll.
In 1952 he moved to Philadelphia, where he worked as a d.j on a show called Bob Horne’s bandstand, which he began to host when Bob was dismissed. In 1956 the name was changed to American Bandstand. Dick made his ultimate debut on August 5th 1957, when he introduced Elvis Presley. The rest, as they say, is history. Mr. Clark went on to introduce myriad unknowns who later skyrocketed to fame including Ike and Tina Turner, Stevie Wonder, Simon and Garfunkel and The Talking Heads.
Dick also owned a chain of successful restaurants akin to Hard Rock Café known as American Bandstand cafes.
Mr. Clark suffered a massive stroke in 2004.
He was given a tribute by President Barack, and will be sadly missed, although never forgotten.
Image from wikipedia.org