Bob Clark
Bob Clark | |
---|---|
Born | Benjamin Robert Clark August 5, 1939 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
Died | April 4, 2007 Pacific Palisades, California, U.S. | (aged 67)
Occupation(s) | Film director, film producer, screenwriter |
Years active | 1966–2007 |
Notable work | Black Christmas Murder by Decree Tribute Porky's A Christmas Story |
Children | 2 |
Benjamin Robert Clark (August 5, 1939 – April 4, 2007) was an American film director and
Personal life
Clark was born in
After attending
Clark was divorced, and had two sons, Michael and Ariel.[9]
Career
Clark's career began with She-Man: A Story of Fixation (1967) featured in a gender-bender double feature. Then transitioned into the horror genre in the early 1970s. His first film, Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972), was a blend of comedy and graphic horror.
Clark and his collaborator for this film, screenwriter and makeup artist
Clark executive-produced the moonshine movie Moonrunners, which was used as source material for the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard. Clark later produced the 2000 TV movie The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood. Clark and others sued Warner Bros. over the studio's 2005 movie The Dukes of Hazzard, winning a $17.5 million settlement just prior to the movie's release.[10]
Turning toward more serious fare, Clark scored a critical success with the
Clark returned to his
Though set in the United States, the film would go on to gross more than any other English-language Canadian film.[8] The film was the third most successful release of 1982 and by the end of the film's lengthy initial release, in 1983, Porky's had secured itself a spot, albeit short-lived, as one of the top-25 highest-grossing films of all time in the US. The film was (also briefly) the most successful comedy in film history.
The overwhelming success of Porky's is credited as launching the genre of the
Clark refused involvement with a third film, Porky's Revenge!, which brought Porky and the sexual exploits of the cast back front and center as in the first installment, as well as bringing everything full-circle and bringing the gang's high school rowdy escapades to a close.
He instead collaborated with Jean Shepherd on A Christmas Story, which critic Leonard Maltin described as "one of those rare movies you can say is perfect in every way".[12] Although not a box-office smash in its theatrical release, A Christmas Story would go on to become a perennial holiday favorite via repeated TV airings and home video. A joint effort at a sequel in 1994, My Summer Story, did not fare as well; Maltin said that the studio waited too long, and Clark was forced to recast almost the entire film.[12] Three other film versions of the Parker family had been produced for television by PBS with Shepherd's involvement during the late 1980s, also with a different cast, but without Clark's participation.
Clark continued to stay active in the film industry until his death, with lower-budget fare mixed in with brief runs at higher targets. A The Hollywood Reporter critic, speaking after his death, described his career as "a very unusual mix of films", because he "at times was a director-for-hire and would do films that, to say the least, aren't stellar".[12] Some of his last output included Baby Geniuses and Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2.
Clark was nominated twice for the
Death
Clark and his younger son, Ariel Hanrath-Clark, 22, were killed in a head-on car crash on the
Filmography
Film
Year | Title | Director | Writer | Producer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1966 | The Emperor's New Clothes | Yes | Yes | No | Short film |
1967 | She-Man | Yes | Yes | No | Co-written with Jeff Gillen |
1972 | Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-written with Alan Ormsby |
1974 | Deathdream | Yes | No | Yes | |
Black Christmas | Yes | No | Yes | Also portrayed Billy in scenes where the character is shown on-screen | |
1976 | Breaking Point | Yes | No | Yes | |
1979 | Murder by Decree | Yes | No | Yes | |
1980 | Tribute | Yes | No | No | |
1981 | Porky's | Yes | Yes | Yes | |
1983 | Porky's II: The Next Day | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-written with Roger Swaybill and Alan Ormsby |
A Christmas Story | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-written with Jean Shepherd and Leigh Brown | |
1984 | Rhinestone | Yes | No | No | |
1985 | Turk 182 | Yes | No | No | |
1987 | From the Hip | Yes | Yes | Yes | Co-written with David E. Kelley |
1990 | Loose Cannons | Yes | Yes | No | Co-written with Richard Christian Matheson and Richard Matheson |
1994 | My Summer Story | Yes | Yes | No | Co-written with Jean Shepherd and Leigh Brown |
1999 | Baby Geniuses | Yes | Yes | No | Co-written with Greg Michael |
I'll Remember April | Yes | No | No | ||
2002 | Now & Forever | Yes | No | No | |
2004 | Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 | Yes | No | No | |
2008 | Blonde and Blonder | Uncredited | No | No | Uncredited co-director with Dean Hamilton[a] |
Executive Producer
Year | Title | Notes |
---|---|---|
1974 | Deranged | Uncredited |
1975 | Moonrunners | |
1991 | Popcorn | Uncredited |
2006 | Black Christmas | Remake of his 1974 film of the same title |
Television
Year(s) | Title | Director | Writer | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1979, 2000 | The Dukes of Hazzard | No | Yes | Episodes: ''Repo Men'', ''Hazzard in Hollywood'' |
1985 | Amazing Stories | Yes | No | Episode: ''Remote Control Man'' |
1993 | The American Clock | Yes | No | Television film |
1995 | Fudge | Yes | Yes | Pilot film: ''Fudge-a-mania'' |
Derby | Yes | No | Television films | |
1996 | Stolen Memories: Secrets from the Rose Garden | Yes | No | |
1998 | The Ransom of Red Chief | Yes | No | |
2000 | Catch a Falling Star | Yes | No | |
2003 | Maniac Magee | Yes | No | |
2004 | The Karate Dog | Yes | No |
Notes
- ^ Bob Clark in fact directed the film, including additional re-shoots in Los Angeles. Due to the fact that his Canadian citizenship had lapsed he was unable to receive director's credit. He was still fighting to get the credit when he was killed in a car accident.
References
- ^ Garrett, Diane (April 5, 2007). "Bob Clark, 67, director". Variety. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
- ^ "Canuxploitation Interview: Bob Clark". www.canuxploitation.com. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
- ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
- ^ Reuters reported on the day of his death, "Clark was 67, according to police, although some reference sites list him as 65."
- ^ theodin.co.uk, Philip Beel. "Canuxploitation Interview: Bob Clark". www.canuxploitation.com.
- ^ Canuxploitation.com (July 29, 2005). "Interview: Bob Clark". Canuxploitation. Retrieved April 6, 2007.
- ^ a b Lamkin, Elaine (January 2006). "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things: Bob Clark". Bloody-Disgusting.com. Archived from the original on October 30, 2006. Retrieved April 4, 2007.
- ^ a b c d "Bob Clark". Canadian Film Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on January 16, 2009. Retrieved March 23, 2015.
- ^ a b c d Valerie Reitman and Andrew Blankstein (April 5, 2007). "'A Christmas Story' director dies in crash". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 6, 2007. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
- ^ Lippman, John (July 15, 2005). "How a lingering legal issue threatened 'Dukes of Hazzard'". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved April 4, 2007.
- ^ Dana Harris (June 19, 2001). "At 20, 'Risky' is still frisky". Variety. Archived from the original on December 15, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2007.
- ^ a b c Greg Hernandez (April 5, 2007). "Film director Clark and son die in crash". Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved April 5, 2007. Typographical error fixed.
- ^ Brendan Kelly (December 3, 2006). "'Porky's' helmer is back: Clark prepping re-makes of his early horror films, teen sex romp". Variety. Retrieved April 4, 2007.
- ^ "'A Christmas Story' director dies in crash". Los Angeles Times. April 5, 2007. Archived from the original on April 6, 2007. Retrieved June 16, 2015.
- ^ Valerie Reitman and Andrew Blankstein (April 6, 2007). "Driver was drunk in PCH crash that killed 2". L.A. Times.
- ^ "Driver was drunk in PCH crash that killed 2". Los Angeles Times. April 6, 2007.
- ^ archived copy of LA Times Article: Driver accused of DUI in crash that killed director pleads not guilty Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine by Valerie Reitman and Andrew Blankstein, Times Staff Writers 3:19 PM PDT, April 6, 2007. Accessed May 11, 2007
- ^ Finn, Natalia (October 12, 2007). "Prison for Driver in Fatal Director Crash". E! News. Retrieved December 30, 2017.
External links
- Bob Clark at IMDb
- Canadian Film Encyclopedia [A publication of The Film Reference Library/a division of the Toronto International Film Festival Group]
- Canuxploitation interview Canuxploitation Interview: Bob Clark