Gary Clarke

This article is about the American actor. For the New Zealand rugby league player, see Gary Clarke (rugby league).

Gary Clarke
Clarke as Steve Hill on The Virginian.
Born	Clarke Frederic Lamoreaux (1933-08-16) August 16, 1933 Los Angeles, California, USA
Residence	Buda, Hays County, Texas
Occupation	Actor: Michael Shayne and The Virginian
Height
Spouse(s)	(1) Divorced (2) Pat Woodell (3) Third wife unknown
Children	4

Gary Clarke (born Clarke Frederic Lamoreaux; August 16, 1933 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actor best known for his role as Steve Hill in the NBC western television series The Virginian with James Drury and Doug McClure.

Filmography

One of his first roles was as Stony Harrison in the 1958 episode "Rodeo Decathlon" of the western aviation series, Sky King, with Kirby Grant and Gloria Winters. Another role, he would want to forget, was the role he had in "Missile to the Moon 1958". It was an even lower budget remake of 1953's low budget Cat-Women of the Moon. Clarke made his motion picture debut in American International Pictures' Dragstrip Riot. In an interview about his friend Steve Ihnat Clarke recalled that he won the lead after the original choice was unavailable and what began as a six week shoot turned into a six month shoot.

In the 1960-1961 season, he appeared as Dick Hamilton in the NBC television series Michael Shayne, based on the fictional private detective character created by Brett Halliday. His co-stars were Richard Denning as the title character, Herbert Rudley, and Jerry Paris. Patricia Donahue played Lucy Hamilton, Shayne's secretary and Dick Hamilton's older sister.

In 1961, he appeared as Tad Kimball, a friend of the character Jess Harper, played by Robert Fuller, in the episode "The Fatal Step" of the NBC western series Laramie. Kimball joins a partner, portrayed by Dennis Patrick. in the sabotage and robbery of a stage in which Jess is riding shotgun but regrets taking part in the crime and tries belatedly to make amends.

Clarke appeared on the long-running program The Virginian only from 1962 to 1964; after Pippa Scott left the series in 1963, Clarke was only the second cast member to depart; others would in time also leave, but Drury and McClure remained until the end in 1971.

The Virginian episodes

Clarke appeared in these forty-five episodes from 1962 to 1964:

• The Executioners (19 September 1962)
• Woman from White Wing (26 September 1962)
• Throw a Long Rope (3 October 1962)
• The Big Deal (10 October 1962)
• The Brazen Bell (17 October 1962)
• Big Day, Great Day (24 October 1962)
• Riff-Raff (7 November 1962)
• Impasse (14 November 1962)
• It Tolls for Thee (21 November 1962)
• The Devil's Children (5 December 1962)
• 50 Days to Moose Jaw (12 December 1962)
• The Accomplice (19 December 1962)
• The Man from the Sea (26 December 1962)
• Duel at Shiloh (2 January 1963)
• The Exiles (9 January 1963)
• Say Goodbye to All That (23 January 1963)
• The Man Who Wouldn't Die (30 January 1963)
• The Small Parade (20 February 1963)
• The Money Cage (6 March 1963)
• A Distant Fury (20 March 1963)
• Run Away Home (24 April 1963)
• Ride a Dark Trail (18 September 1963)
• A Killer in Town (9 October 1963)
• The Evil That Men Do (16 October 1963)
• It Takes a Big Man (23 October 1963)
• Brother Thaddeus (30 October 1963)
• A Portrait of Marie Valonne (6 November 1963)
• Run Quiet (13 November 1963)
• Stopover in a Western Town (27 November 1963)
• The Fatal Journey (4 December 1963)
• A Time Remembered (11 December 1963)
• The Invaders (1 January 1964)
• Roar from the Mountain (8 January 1964)
• The Thirty Days of Gavin Heath (22 January 1964)
• The Drifter (29 January 1964)
• First to Thine Own Self (12 February 1964)
• Smile of a Dragon (26 February 1964)
• Another's Footsteps (11 March 1964)
• Rope of Lies (25 March 1964)
• A Bride for Lars (15 April 1964)
• Dark Destiny (29 April 1964) l
• A Man Called Kane (6 May 1964)
• Felicity's Spring (14 October 1964)
• Big Image... Little Man (28 October 1964)
• The Girl from Yesterday (11 November 1964)

Later years

In July 2003, Clarke and Drury, along with two other The Virginian costars, Roberta Shore and singer Randy Boone, were guests at the Western Film Fair in Charlotte, North Carolina. In 2005, Clarke was interviewed by Tom Weaver in "Earth vs. the Sci-Fi Filmmakers".

Clarke formerly resided in Phoenix, Arizona, but he is listed in the Internet Movie Data Base and numerous "People Search" websites as residing in Buda in Hays County near Austin, Texas, as of January 2009, under the birth name, Clarke F. Lamoreaux.

He and first wife Marilyn Knudsen had three sons: Jeff, Dennis and David. Following the couple's divorce, Clarke married Petticoat Junction actress Pat Woodell, but they later divorced.

He also has a daughter, Ava, who appeared with him at the 2011 Memphis Film Festival.

Under the name C.F. L'Amoreaux, Clarke wrote six scripts for the 1960s NBC sitcom Get Smart.

In 2014, Clarke wrote the screenplay and directed a TV pilot title Billy and the Bandit, based upon short stories by Nancy Thomas and Darryl Bartlett.

References

• Scary Monsters Magazine, September 1998 no.28 "Gary Clarke Memories Of Fangs, Spurs, And Moondust" Interview by Paul Parla and Charles P. Mitchell
• Movie Collector's World, September 2009 no.735 "Tales Of A Teenage Werewolf" Interview by Paul Parla and Charles P. Mitchell and Anthony DiSalvo
• Scarlet The Film Magazine, June 2010 no.5 "Teen Wolf, Teen Wolf Too" Interview by Lawrence Fultz Jr.
• Filmfax magazine, September 2011 no.128 "I Was A Teenage Werewolf Too!" Interview by Lawrence Fultz Jr.
• California Birth Index shows birthdate of 16 Aug 1933, Los Angeles County

External links

• Gary Clarke at the Internet Movie Database