Once known as "America's oldest living teenager," emcee, occasional actor, television producer, commercial pitchman, restaurateur, and entrepreneur Dick Clark is one of Hollywood's powerhouses, but he is still most famous for hosting the longest-running series on the ABC television network, American Bandstand, which aired from 1957 to 1987 and then was resurrected for a year on the USA network in 1989. This show played an important role in promoting rock music and gave many important acts their first national exposure. Clark started out as a radio announcer. The first episodes of American Bandstand were broadcast from Philadelphia and were quite innovative. Each show featured popular artists who lip-synched their latest hits, interviews, autograph sessions, and lots of teen dancing. Though playing rock & roll music -- which was still regarded with trepidation and suspicion among conservatives -- the shows were reassuringly wholesome, an image in large part projected by the clean-cut, friendly, and honest-faced Clark himself. Through the years, the canny host secured the rights to each episode, many of which contain the only available clips of popular performers and one-hit wonders alike. Therefore, his collection provides a priceless archive to the history of rock music.
Clark at one time was an aspiring actor and has appeared in a few feature films playing someone other than himself. He made his feature-film debut in 1960's Because They're Young. As an emcee, he has hosted game shows and has for many years been in charge of the annual ABC New Year's Eve telecast from Times Square in New York. He has also hosted numerous television compilation shows, often in the company of Ed McMahon with whom he also represents the Publisher's Clearing House sweepstakes on television. As a producer, Clark's dick clark productions has been behind numerous series, television movies, game shows, specials, and compilations as well as television commercials and awards specials. As a restaurant owner, Clark has a small chain of Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grills, rock & roll-themed restaurants that are decorated with memorabilia from Clark's enormous personal collection.
