Television legend Dick Clark has died of a heart attack, according to a report in Variety. He was 82.
Clark’s career extended to Broadway two times. In 1975, he was one of the producers of Truckload, a show which played only six previews before closing. In 1982, his company, Dick Clark Inc served as associate producer of Rock ‘N Roll! The First 5,000 Years, a show on which he served as creative consultant.
Clark first gained worldwide fame as the host of American Bandstand, which gave performers such as James Brown, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Diana Ross and the Supremes their first widespread national exposure.
His other television work included Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve specials from Times Square in New York City, and hosting the game show The $10,000 Pyramid.
In addition, Clark appeared in several movies, Because They’re Young, The Young Doctors,” Psych-Out, and Wild in the Streets.
As an author, he wrote an autobiography, Rock, Roll & Remember, as well as Dick Clark’s The First 25 Years of Rock & Roll and The History of American Bandstand.
He won a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Daytime Emmys in 1994 and has been inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame.
Clark was married three times and is survived by his third wife, two sons, and a daughter.