Biography: Roy Clark
From Thursday’s The Oklahoman.
Country Music Hall of Fame 2009 inductee Roy Clark
Renowned country musician Roy Clark was born April 15, 1933 in Meherrin, Va., the son of two amateur musicians. He learned to play banjo, guitar and mandolin at a young age and often performed with his father as a teen. By age 17, he had won two national banjo championships, which earned him his first appearance on the Grand Ole Opry.
He became a regular on Jimmy Dean’s TV show “Town and Country Time,” taking over the series when Dean left. In 1960, Clark moved to Las Vegas and became a fixture at the Golden Nugget. He later was the leader of Oklahoma native Wanda Jackson’s band.
In the 1960s and ‘70s, Clark notched a series of Top 10 country singles, including “Tips of My Fingers,” “Yesterday When I Was Young,” “I Never Picked Cotton” and “If I Had It to Do All Over Again.”
He also branched out into acting, first with TV shows such as “The Tonight Show” and “The Beverly Hillbillies” and later in the movies “Uphill All the Way,” “Freeway” and “Gordy.” He finished filming the movie “Palo Pinto Gold” with Mel Tillis and Trent Willmon last year.
In 1969, he got the defining role in his career when CBS tapped Clark and Buck Owens to co-host “Hee Haw,” a country version of the series “Laugh-In.” He was the show’s co-host until 1992, when it neared the end of its more than 20-year run.
Over the course of his career, Clark has won a Grammy and numerous other awards, gained a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and joined the Grand Ole Opry. He and Jackson were inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame in 2000.
Clark and his wife Barbara have made their home in Tulsa for many years.
Clark will be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in the “Career Achieved National Prominence Between World War II and 1975″ category.
-BAM
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