ROBERT DWAIN "BOBBY" CLARK
1944 - 2021
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Bob was born in Seattle, Washington to Robert Boyd Clark, of Moscow, Idaho, and Jean Carrol Dahl Clark, of Tacoma, Washington.
Bob began taking accordion lessons at age 5 and performing
soon after. Smitten with entertaining live audiences, he added singing,
dancing, monologues and impersonations to his repertoire. He appeared with two
Seattle-area USO troupes during the Korean War, and at public and private
events from wrestling matches to meetings of fraternal and benevolent
societies. By the age of 8 he was performing two nights a week (shows at 8 and
10:30) at a local nightclub.
In 1954, his parents moved to Los Angeles so that Bobby, as
he was now known, could pursue a career in Hollywood. He was quickly taken up
by agent Lola Moore and made his first tv appearance in a commercial that ran
during The Lone Ranger.
Bobby worked steadily from 1954-1959, especially with
production studio Screen Gems. He appeared in episodes of many TV series,
including The Loretta Young Show, Tales of the Texas Rangers, Zane Grey
Theatre, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Danny Thomas Show, Perry Mason and
Lassie. In 1957 he was cast in the Casey Jones television series, co-starring
with Alan Hale Jr in all 32 episodes. In movies, he led an old man in the
Exodus scene of The Ten Commandments, was shot by a Confederate in Rebel In
Town, went hysterical in Invasion of the Body Snatchers and was kidnapped in
the original Ransom. In 1956 he travelled to France to film The Happy Road with
Gene Kelly.
In an oral history interview recorded with the Gene Autry
National Center in 2016, Bob described the working life of a child actor during
the filming of Casey Jones. Two scripts would be delivered to his home over the
weekend for filming the following week. Two and a half days were devoted to
each episode. Work days were 3 hours of work and 3 hours of school, with the
studio providing a teacher who followed the local curriculum.
Bobby's final Hollywood credit was a 1964 episode of My
Three Sons. More information about Bobby's career can be found on wikipedia and
on Imdb.
As a teenager Bob took to playing both banjo and guitar. He
found time to serve on the Cheer Team and as Senior Class President at Earl
Warren High School in Downey, CA, graduating in 1962. He attended college at
the University of Washington, Seattle, where he majored in theatre and
communication, and served on the cheer squad, but was drafted into the U.S.
Army prior to graduation. Basic training was at Fort Ord; he served as a
Medical Corpsman with postings in California and Texas, with sidelines as a
performer and Battalion newspaper editor, and was honorably discharged in 1968.
Bob returned to the Los Angeles area where he worked in a
variety of sales jobs and did live theatre on the side. Long-time friend Ellie
Green remembers working with Bob in a William Jarvis production of The Drunkard
which was performed for years at various venues, including on the Queen Mary.
In the 80s he met Virginia "Vikki" Cooley Young
while working at The Coronado Playhouse. He followed her to the northern
California village of Ferndale in the mid-90s, and they were married there on
October 25, 1997. They worked on dozens of plays at Ferndale Repertory Theatre,
Bob as an actor, Vikki as a writer, director and designer. Cast parties were
often held at their 1895 Victorian home, filled with song, laughter, movie
memories, and outstanding barbecued ribs.
Bob eventually brought his parents to Humboldt County where
they settled in nearby Fortuna. His mother died in 2013. The year 2021 was a
tough one: his wife Vikki died on January 6, and his father on April 15, and
Bob's broken heart led to a decline in his own health. He is survived by
stepchildren: Carolyn Jones of Bayside, CA, and Joseph Young of Montrose, CA,
and cousins in Washington and Idaho.
His longest lasting role was that of Casey Junior in the syndicated 1957–1958 television series, Casey Jones, starring Alan Hale Jr., in the title role, with supporting cast members Mary Lawrence as Mrs. Jones, Dub Taylor as Fireman Wallie Sims, and Eddy Waller as "Red Rock", the train conductor.
Clark appeared in the movies Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Ransom!, Gun Duel in Durango, Rebel in Town, The Happy Road, Bring Your Smile Along, and The Ten Commandments.
Clark made a guest appearance on Perry Mason as the title character in the 1958 episode, "The Case of the Pint-Sized Client". He also appeared in episodes of Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Loretta Young Show, The Americans (a drama of the American Civil War), Lassie, General Electric Theater, Ford Theatre, Gunsmoke, Studio 57, The Pepsi-Cola Playhouse, Screen Directors Playhouse, Climax!, Front Row Center, Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre, Northwest Passage, Crossroads, and Bachelor Father.
In honor of Bob Clark and Vikki Young, and their life-long love of live theatre, donations in their name are being made to the Ferndale Rep Theatre, their stage home for more than two decades.
Filmography
Year Title Role Notes
1951 Kentucky
Jubilee Vaudeville Performer
1955 Bring Your
Smile Along Waldo
1956 Ransom! Andy Stannard
1956 Invasion
of the Body Snatchers Jimmy
Grimaldi
1956 The Ten
Commandments Little Boy in
Exodus
1957 The Happy Road Danny Andrews
1957 Gun Duel in
Durango Robbie
1957 Destination
60,000 Skip Buckley
1957 Tales of Wells
Fargo Dan Simmons
1957 General
Electric Theater Joey Hogan
1957 Code 3 Bobby
1957–1958 Casey
Jones Casey Jones Jr.
1958 The Danny
Thomas Show Shoeshine Boy
1958 Perry Mason Nicky Renzi
1958 Northwest
Passage Jean Louis
1959 Wanted:
Dead or Alive Shoeshine Boy
1959 Lassie Frankie Jessup
1961 The Donna Reed
Show Gordie
1962 The New Breed Tommy
1964 My Three Sons Eddie Final role
1968 The Virginian (TV series) Lookout saison 6 episode 20 (The good-hearted badman)
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