DICK CLARK

Dick Clark, who suffered a serious stroke in 2004 but then returned to the airwaves, reportedly died from a heart attack April 18, 2012 … he was 82.

Dick and I spoke by phone on several occasions, the last being just before our alumni reunion back in 2004.  He did some voicers saying happy anniversary and briefly talking about his years at WOLF.
Dick Clark, will always be remembered as the host of American Bandstand as well as television producer who changed the way we listened to pop music. In his later years his New Years Rockin' Eve became a fixture of New Year's celebrations.

He was born in Mount Vernon, N.Y., on Nov. 30, 1929, Richard Wagstaff Clark began his lifelong career in show business began before he was even out of high school. He started working in the mailroom of WRUN, Utica, New York. Which was run by his father and uncle. It wasn't long before he was filling in for the weatherman and the announcer.
Clark pursued his passion at Syracuse University, working as a disc jockey at the student-run radio station as well as WOLF. After graduating in 1951, Clark went back to his family's radio station, and also worked at WKTV as a news man using the name Dick Clay. But within a year, he moved on to bigger things.
Dick landed a gig as a DJ at WFIL in Philadelphia, spinning records for a show he called Dick Clark's Caravan of Music. There he broke into the big time, hosting Bandstand, an afternoon dance show for teenagers.
Within five years, the whole country was watching. ABC took the show national, and American Bandstand was born.

According to ABC News, American Bandstand's formula was simple. Clean-cut boys and girls danced to the hottest hits and the newest singles. In between, Clark chatted with the teens, who helped "rate-a-record," turning songs into sensations. Everyone showed up on American Bandstand: from Elvis Presley to Jerry Lee Lewis, Chuck Berry to Chubby Checker.

When Dick Clark moved to Hollywood in 1963, American Bandstand moved with him. He started Dick Clark Productions, and began cranking out one hit show after another. His name became synonymous with everything from the $25,000 Pyramid and TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes to the American Music Awards. In 1972, Dick Clark became synonymous with one of the biggest nights of the year.
Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve on ABC became a Dec. 31 tradition, with Clark hosting the festivities for more than three decades, introducing the entertainment acts and, of course, counting down to midnight as the ball dropped in New York's Times Square.

But the traditional celebration saw a temporary stop in 2004, when Clark suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed and struggling to speak.. But by the next New Year's Eve, Dick Clark was back, his speech still impaired. In halting words, he told the audience, "I had to teach myself how to walk and talk again. It's been a long, hard fight. My speech is not perfect but I'm getting there."
But that didn't stop him: he returned each year, and recently Ryan Seacrest joined him.
The Museum of Broadcast Communications has done the math, and figures that Dick Clark Productions has turned out more than 7,500 hours of television programming, including more than 30 series and 250 specials, as well as more than 20 movies for theatre and TV.

All this earned Clark a long list of awards and accolades: Emmys, Grammys, induction in the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame, a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It also made him one of the richest men in Hollywood; he also had stakes in a wide range of businesses, including restaurants, theatres and real estate.
In March of  2012, he put one of his homes on the market, asking $3.5 million for a one-of-a-kind house on 22 acres in Malibu, modeled after Fred and Wilma's house on "The Flintstones."
His three children and his third wife, Keri Wigton, married to him since 1977, survive Clark, whose eternally youthful look earned him the nickname “America’s Oldest Teenager”. He credited his appearance to good genes, once saying, "if you want to stay young looking, pick your parents very carefully."

Now, America's Oldest Teenager is gone, leaving his indelible mark on generations of fans, and helping change rock 'n' roll and TV forever. His signature sign-off was always "For now, Dick Clark… so long," said with a salute. Today, generations of Americans are saluting back.
God Speed Dick.