Anthony Clark died at 62, according to a post from Mike O’Malley. The loss closes the career of a comedian and actor best known for Yes, Dear, with the source saying he died yesterday.
Mike O’Malley’s post
Mike O’Malley remembered Clark as “a hilarious guy.” That brief line carries the weight of a working relationship on Yes, Dear, where Clark starred with O’Malley, Jean Louisa Kelly and Liza Snyder over six seasons.
Greg Garcia, who worked on Yes, Dear, said Clark had “the most insane sense of humor of all of them.” He added that Clark’s jokes were often unexpected, and said they had reconnected over the last two or three years through monthly phone calls.
Six seasons on CBS
Clark’s reach went beyond the sitcom that made him most familiar to TV viewers. In 1995, he appeared in HBO’s Young Comedians special alongside Garry Shandling, Dave Chappelle, Dave Attell and Louis C.K., a line-up that placed him in the same stand-up orbit as several names that later became fixtures in comedy.
Two years later, he played Billy in A Thing Called Love, and he later stood out in The Rock as a flamboyant hairdresser cutting Sean Connery’s hair. He also led Boston Common and Soul Man, then returned to a hosting role in 2006 when he took Season 4 of Last Comic Standing.
Greg Garcia and Barry Katz
Barry Katz said Clark was “one of the funniest and most talented comedian/actors I have ever had the pleasure of watching.” Katz also said it was “an honor to represent him,” adding that Clark would be missed for the joy, happiness and love he brought to the people he worked with and the audiences who saw him perform.
The source says Clark died yesterday and also says it is understood that he died from complications related to pneumonia, which leaves a small but important gap between the report of his death and the medical cause attached to it. That is the part readers should keep in view: the public news is settled, but the exact circumstances around the pneumonia-related complications are not laid out here.
For now, the lasting record is clear. Clark moved from stand-up into network television, left a mark on film, and then stepped back from Hollywood into real estate before his death at 62.
