Dane Clark | |
|---|---|
 Clark in 1963 | |
| Born | Bernhardt Zanvilevitz (1912-02-26)February 26, 1912 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | September 11, 1998(1998-09-11) (aged 86) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Alma mater | Cornell University St. John's University School of Law |
| Years active | 1935–1989 |
| Spouses | |
Dane Clark (bornBernhardt Zanvilevitz; February 26, 1912 – September 11, 1998) was an American character actor who was known for playing, as he labeled himself, "Joe Average."[1]
Clark was born Bernhardt Zanvilevitz (later Bernard Zanville), the son of Samuel,[2] a sporting goods store owner, and his wife Rose.
His date of birth is a matter of some dispute among different sources.[4]
He graduated fromCornell University in 1936 and earned a law degree in 1938 atSt. John's University School of Law[5] in Brooklyn, New York, which was before its current building was constructed at St. John's campus in Queens. During theGreat Depression, he worked as a professional boxer, minor league baseball player, construction worker, and model.[1]
Modeling brought him in contact with people in the arts. He gradually perceived them to be snobbish, with their talk of the "theatah," and "I decided to give it a try myself, just to show them anyone could do it."[1]
Clark's early acting experience included work with theGroup Theatre in New York City.[6] He progressed from smallBroadway parts to larger ones, eventually taking over the role of George fromWallace Ford in the 1937 production ofOf Mice and Men.[1] His other Broadway credits includeMike Downstairs (1968),A Thousand Clowns (1962),Fragile Fox (1954),The Number (1951),Dead End (1935),Waiting for Lefty (1935),Till the Day I Die (1935), andPanic (1935).[7]
Clark's first film wasThe Pride of the Yankees (1942). He had an uncredited bit inThe Glass Key (1942) at Paramount.
Clark got his big break when he was signed byWarner Bros. in 1943. He worked alongside some of his era's biggest stars, often in war movies such asAction in the North Atlantic (1943), his breakthrough part, oppositeHumphrey Bogart. According to Clark, Bogart gave him his stage name.[1] Hollywood newspaper columnistLouella Parsons wrote in 1942 that Warner Bros. first changed his name to Zane Clark but then decided on Dane Clark because "Too many confused Zane Clark with Jane Clark."[8]
He was third billed inDestination Tokyo (1943) beneathCary Grant andJohn Garfield, and inThe Very Thought of You (1944) withDennis Morgan andEleanor Parker. He had one of the leads inHollywood Canteen (1944), playing an actual role while most Warners stars made cameo appearances as themselves. Clark had the lead in the 1944 short filmI Won't Play withJanis Paige, which received the 1945 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel).[9] Clark supported Morgan inGod Is My Co-Pilot (1945) and Garfield inPride of the Marines (1945).
Exhibitors voted Clark the 16th most popular star at the US box office in 1945.[10] In that same year he had a notable part in an Army Airforce training film,Tail Gunner, which starred actorsRonald Reagan,Burgess Meredith as the main character,Tom Neal andJonathan Hale.
Clark supportedBette Davis andGlenn Ford inA Stolen Life (1946) and was promoted to top billing forHer Kind of Man (1946), a crime film. He followed it withThat Way with Women (1947),Deep Valley (1947), andEmbraceable You (1948). Republic Pictures borrowed him to play the lead forFrank Borzage inMoonrise (1948). At Warner Bros., he was inWhiplash (1948). Clark went to United Artists forWithout Honor (1948), then back to Warner Bros. forBackfire (1950) andBarricade (1950). He travelled to England to makeHighly Dangerous (1950) and France forGunman in the Streets (1951). Back at Columbia he was inNever Trust a Gambler (1951). He acted in the United Artists WesternFort Defiance (1951). He returned to Britain forThe Gambler and the Lady (1953),Murder by Proxy (1954) andFive Days (1955), all forHammer Films. In the US, he was inGo Man Go (1954) with theHarlem Globetrotters andToughest Man Alive (1955).
During the 1950s, he became one of a small group of actors (excluding the original 'founding' members brought in at the Studio's inception) awarded life membership in theActors Studio.[11]
Clark played Peter Chambers in the short-lived radio programCrime and Peter Chambers,[12] a half-hour show which aired from April 6 to September 7, 1954.
Clark first appeared on television in the late 1940s, and after the mid-1950s worked much more in that medium than in feature films. In the 1954/1955 season, he co-starred as the character Richard Adams in thecrime dramaJustice.[13]
On July 1, 1955 while starring in the playThe Shrike, the lead actressIsabel Bonner, suffered a brain hemorrhage and died.[14] The scene took place in a hospital, and when Isabel Bonner collapsed on a bed, Dane Clark, ad-libbing, put his arm around Bonner and said, "Ann, speak to me. Is something the matter? What's wrong, darling? I love you." Then, realizing something was wrong, he turned to the wings and said "Bring down the curtain." A film editor in the audience, Harold Cornsweet, later said of the ad-libbed scene: "It was so realistic that people in the audience were crying."[15]
He returned to films forThe Man Is Armed (1956) andOutlaw's Son (1957).
In 1958 he was a guest star on the television series Wagon Train in The John Wilbut Story. Clark played John Wilbut, a man who some on the train believe to be John Wilkes Booth on the run from the assassination of Lincoln.
In 1959, he reprised Humphrey Bogart's role as Slate inBold Venture, a short-lived television series. He also guest starred on a number of television shows, includingFaye Emerson's Wonderful Town,Appointment with Adventure,CBS'sRawhide in the episode "Incident of the Night Visitor", andThe Twilight Zone, in the episode "The Prime Mover".
In 1970, he guest-starred in an episode ofThe Silent Force and had a role inThe McMasters (1970). That same year he appeared as Barton Ellis onThe Men From Shiloh, rebranded name of the long running TV Western seriesThe Virginian in the episode titled "The Mysterious Mrs. Tate." He also played Lieutenant Tragg in the short-lived revival of thePerry Mason television series in 1973, and appeared in the 1976 miniseriesOnce an Eagle. He also appeared seven times on the cop television showPolice Story, always playing a Lieutenant but in different roles.
Clark died on September 11, 1998, of lung cancer at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California.[16] His remains were cremated and his ashes given to his widow.[17]
| Year | Program | Episode/source |
|---|---|---|
| 1942 | Suspense | Tom Cochrane in "The Singing Walls", air date September 2, 1943 |
| 1943 | Suspense | Walter Bates in "Life Ends at Midnight", air date February 17, 1944 |
| 1945 | Suspense | Joe Jordan in "This Will Kill You", air date August 23, 1945[18] |
| 1946 | The Fifth Horseman[19] | Doomsday |
| 1951 | The Big Show | Guest appearance, air date November 25, 1951 |
| 1952 | Philip Morris Playhouse | The Criminal Code[20] |
| 1953 | Broadway Playhouse | The Turning Point[21] |
Aside from the originalRobert Lewis group and those who came in withMann andMeisner and were asked to remain, being such individuals asRoscoe Lee Browne, Dane Clark,Tamara Daykarhanova,Rita Gam,Burgess Meredith,Sidney Poitier,Paula Strasberg, Anna Mizrahi Strasberg, andFranchot Tone have been voted directly into membership by the Studio's directorate or byStrasberg himself. In the early sixties, several actors who performed with The Actors Studio Theatre were similarly admitted.
