Dick Clark - DJ & TV Personality

Dick Clark - Drexel Hill

Richard Augustus Wagstaff Clark, Jr. (Dick Clark) was born and raised in Mt. Vernon, New York. He began his career working in the mailroom of an AM station in Rome, New York that was owned by his uncle and managed by his father. He soon became a stand-in for vacationing weathermen, and within a few months he was announcing station breaks.

After a few stints in broadcasting, Clark moved to Drexel Hill after taking a job as a disc jockey at radio station WFIL. A TV station with the same call letters began broadcasting a show called Bob Horn's Bandstand. Clark was doing a similar show on the radio station and soon became a stand-in for Horn.

Clark took over for Horn in 1956 becoming the regular host. The show changed its name to American Bandstand and debuted nationally in 1957. Clarks's rapport with the live teenage audience and dancing participants made the show an instant success.

Clark moved American Bandstand to Los Angeles from Philadelphia in 1964. During the '60s, many recording artists were introduced on the show such as Ike and Tina Turner, The Beach Boys, Simon and Garfunkle and Chubby Checker.

Clark branched out into other areas such as hosting game shows like The Object Is and The $10,000 Pyramid, and from 1972 to 2003 he hosted Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve.

In addition to his broadcast work, Dick Clark became a highly successful producer and businessman owning a series of diners and a theater in Branson, Missouri. He passed away in 2012 at the age of 82.