Dick Clark, pioneer of radio and TV, is dead at 82
Dick Clark, the legendary TV producer and host, died Wednesday of a heart attack. He had suffered a stroke in 2004 and had struggled with the effects ever since.
The man known as “America’s oldest living teenager,” made rock music safe for Middle America and earned a place in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame along the way.
Clark hosted “American Bandstand” for more than three decades starting in the 1950s as well as game shows and “The Dick Clark Show” (1958-60). His “Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” show marked its 40th anniversary this year.
PHOTOS: Dick Clark | 1929-2012
He started Dick Clark Productions in 1957 and sold it in 2007 for $175 million. Though currently in Santa Monica, the company made its home on West Olive Avenue in Burbank for many years.
Clark was born Richard Wagstaff Clark on Nov. 30, 1929 in Mt. Vernon, N.Y.
His 1976 memoir was titled “Rock, Roll & Remember,” a nod to a career inextricably intertwined with the history of rock ‘n’ roll.
-- Los Angeles Times