Рой Кларк: Жизнь и карьера кантри-музыканта и телеведущего

American singer, musician, and TV host (1933–2018)

Roy Linwood Clark (April 15, 1933 – November 15, 2018) was an American singer, musician, and television presenter. He is best known for having hosted Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969 to 1997. Clark was an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and in helping to popularize the genre. During the 1970s, Clark frequently guest hosted for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show and enjoyed a 30 million viewership for Hee Haw. Clark was highly regarded and renowned as a guitarist, banjo player, and fiddler. He was skilled in the traditions of many genres, including classical guitar, country music, Latin music, bluegrass, and pop. He had hit songs as a pop vocalist (e. g., "Yesterday, When I Was Young" and "Thank God and Greyhound"), and his instrumental skill had an enormous effect on generations of bluegrass and country musicians. He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1987, and, in 2009, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He published his autobiography, My Life—in Spite of Myself, in 1994.

Clark was born April 15, 1933, in Meherrin, Virginia, one of five children born to Hester Linwood Clark and Lillian Clark (Oliver). His father was a tobacco farmer. He spent his childhood in Meherrin and New York City, where his father moved the family to take jobs during the Great Depression. When Clark was 11 years old, his family moved to a home on 1st Street SE in the Washington Highlands neighborhood of Washington, D. C., after his father found work at the Washington Navy Yard. Clark's father was a semi professional musician who played banjo, fiddle, and guitar, and his mother played piano. The first musical instrument Clark ever played was a four string cigar box with a ukulele neck attached to it, which he picked up in elementary school. His father taught Clark to play guitar when Roy was 14 years old, and soon Clark was playing banjo, guitar, and mandolin. "Guitar was my real love, though," Clark later said. "I never copied anyone, but I was certainly influenced by them; especially by George Barnes. I just loved his swing style and tone." Clark also found inspiration in other local D. C. musicians. "One of the things that influenced me growing up around Washington, D. C., in the '50s was that it had an awful lot of good musicians. And I used to go in and just steal them blind. I stole all their licks. It wasn't until years later that I found out that a lot of them used to cringe and say 'Oh, no! Here comes that kid again' He owned other planes, including a Mitsubishi MU 2, Stearman PT 17 and Mitsubishi MU 300 Diamond 1A business jet.

Rising country music star Jimmy Dean asked Clark to join his band, the Texas Wildcats, in 1954. Clark was the lead guitarist, and made appearances on Dean's "Town and Country Time" program on WARL AM and on WMAL TV (after the show moved to television from radio in 1955). Clark competed in 1956 on Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts, a variety show airing on CBS. It was his first network television appearance, and he came in second. During Jack Paar's temporary absence from The Tonight Show in early 1960, Jimmy Dean was asked to guest host the program. Dean asked Clark to appear on the last night of his guest host stint, and showcased Clark in two songs. Clark made his solo debut on The Tonight Show in January 1963. Subsequently, Clark appeared on The Beverly Hillbillies as a recurring character — actually two, as he played businessman Roy Halsey and Roy's mother, Myrtle. Once, in an episode of the Saturday evening Jackie Gleason Show dedicated to country music, Clark played a blistering rendition of "Down Home". Later, he appeared in an episode of The Odd Couple, where he played "Malagueña". In the mid 1960s, he was a co host (along with Molly Bee and Rusty Draper) of a weekday daytime country variety series for NBC entitled "Swingin' Country", which was cancelled after two seasons. In 1969, Clark and Buck Owens debuted as hosts on the syndicated sketch comedy program Hee Haw which aired from 1969 until 1997 and propelled Clark to stardom. During its tenure, Clark was a member of the Million Dollar Band and participated in a host of comedy sketches. In 1976, Arthur Fiedler conducted Evening at Pops with Roy Clark and the Boston Pops Orchestra. In 1983, Clark opened the Roy Clark Celebrity Theatre in Branson, Missouri, which was the "first venue linked permanently to a widely known entertainer" in the resort town. Clark frequently played in Branson during the 1980s and 1990s. He sold the venue in 1992(now owned by the Hughes Brothers and renamed the Hughes American Family Theatre) and went back to a light touring schedule. Clark annually appeared with Ramona Jones and the Jones Family Band at their annual tribute to Clark's former Hee Haw co star Grandpa Jones in Mountain View, Arkansas. On July 4, 1984, Roy played Washington D. C. along with several other acts to over 500,000 fans. Some of the other acts included Ringo Starr, the Beach Boys, Three Dog Night, George Jones, and B. J. Thomas.

In 1960, In the 1980s, he served as a spokesman for Hunt's ketchup.

Clark married Ruby Conley in 1954. They had a son, Roy Linwood Clark Jr. The couple divorced in 1957. Roy married Barbara Joyce Rupard on August 31, 1957. They remained wed until Roy's passing in 2018 The couple had five children. Clark died on November 15, 2018, at age 85, at his Tulsa home from complications of pneumonia.