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Dane Clark
Dane Clark
	Clark in 1963
Born	Bernhardt Zanvilevitz; February 26, 1912; Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	September 11, 1998 (aged 86); Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Alma mater	Cornell University; St. John's University School of Law
Years active	1935–1989
Spouses	; Margot Yoder (m. 1941; died 1970) ; Geraldine Frank (m. 1971)

Dane Clark (born Bernhardt Zanvilevitz; February 26, 1912 – September 11, 1998) was an American character actor who was known for playing, as he labeled himself, "Joe Average."^[1]

Early life

Clark was born Bernhardt Zanvilevitz (later Bernard Zanville), the son of Samuel,^[2] a sporting goods store owner, and his wife Rose.

His date of birth is a matter of some dispute among different sources.^[4]

He graduated from Cornell University in 1936 and earned a law degree in 1938 at St. John's University School of Law^[5] in Brooklyn, New York, which was before its current building was constructed at St. John's campus in Queens. During the Great Depression, he worked as a professional boxer, minor league baseball player, construction worker, and model.^[1]

Acting career

Modeling brought him in contact with people in the arts. He gradually perceived them to be snobbish, with their talk of the "theatah," and "I decided to give it a try myself, just to show them anyone could do it."^[1]

Theatre

Clark's early acting experience included work with the Group Theatre in New York City.^[6] He progressed from small Broadway parts to larger ones, eventually taking over the role of George from Wallace Ford in the 1937 production of Of Mice and Men.^[1] His other Broadway credits include Mike Downstairs (1968), A Thousand Clowns (1962), Fragile Fox (1954), The Number (1951), Dead End (1935), Waiting for Lefty (1935), Till the Day I Die (1935), and Panic (1935).^[7]

Film

Clark's first film was The Pride of the Yankees (1942). He had an uncredited bit in The Glass Key (1942) at Paramount.

Warner Bros.

Clark got his big break when he was signed by Warner Bros. in 1943. He worked alongside some of his era's biggest stars, often in war movies such as Action in the North Atlantic (1943), his breakthrough part, opposite Humphrey Bogart. According to Clark, Bogart gave him his stage name.^[1] Hollywood newspaper columnist Louella Parsons wrote in 1942 that Warner Bros. first changed his name to Zane Clark but then decided on Dane Clark because "Too many confused Zane Clark with Jane Clark."^[8]

He was third billed in Destination Tokyo (1943) beneath Cary Grant and John Garfield, and in The Very Thought of You (1944) with Dennis Morgan and Eleanor Parker. He had one of the leads in Hollywood Canteen (1944), playing an actual role while most Warners stars made cameo appearances as themselves. Clark had the lead in the 1944 short film I Won't Play with Janis Paige, which received the 1945 Academy Award for Best Short Subject (Two-Reel).^[9] Clark supported Morgan in God Is My Co-Pilot (1945) and Garfield in Pride of the Marines (1945).

Exhibitors voted Clark the 16th most popular star at the US box office in 1945.^[10] In that same year he had a notable part in an Army Airforce training film, Tail Gunner, which starred actors Ronald Reagan, Burgess Meredith as the main character, Tom Neal and Jonathan Hale.

Leading man

Clark supported Bette Davis and Glenn Ford in A Stolen Life (1946) and was promoted to top billing for Her Kind of Man (1946), a crime film. He followed it with That Way with Women (1947), Deep Valley (1947), and Embraceable You (1948). Republic Pictures borrowed him to play the lead for Frank Borzage in Moonrise (1948). At Warner Bros., he was in Whiplash (1948). Clark went to United Artists for Without Honor (1948), then back to Warner Bros. for Backfire (1950) and Barricade (1950). He travelled to England to make Highly Dangerous (1950) and France for Gunman in the Streets (1951). Back at Columbia he was in Never Trust a Gambler (1951). He acted in the United Artists Western Fort Defiance (1951). He returned to Britain for The Gambler and the Lady (1953), Murder by Proxy (1954) and Five Days (1955), all for Hammer Films. In the US, he was in Go Man Go (1954) with the Harlem Globetrotters and Toughest Man Alive (1955).

During the 1950s, he became one of a small group of actors (excluding the original 'founding' members brought in at the Studio's inception) awarded life membership in the Actors Studio.^[11]

Radio, television and later films

Clark played Peter Chambers in the short-lived radio program Crime and Peter Chambers,^[12] a half-hour show which aired from April 6 to September 7, 1954.

Clark first appeared on television in the late 1940s, and after the mid-1950s worked much more in that medium than in feature films. In the 1954/1955 season, he co-starred as the character Richard Adams in the crime drama Justice.^[13]

On July 1, 1955 while starring in the play The Shrike, the lead actress Isabel Bonner, suffered a brain hemorrhage and died. ^[14] The scene took place in a hospital, and when Isabel Bonner collapsed on a bed, Dane Clark, ad-libbing, put his arm around Bonner and said, "Ann, speak to me. Is something the matter? What's wrong, darling? I love you." Then, realizing something was wrong, he turned to the wings and said "Bring down the curtain." A film editor in the audience, Harold Cornsweet, later said of the ad-libbed scene: "It was so realistic that people in the audience were crying."^[15]

He returned to films for The Man Is Armed (1956) and Outlaw's Son (1957).

In 1958 he was a guest star on the television series Wagon Train in The John Wilbut Story. Clark played John Wilbut, a man who some on the train believe to be John Wilkes Booth on the run from the assassination of Lincoln.

In 1959, he reprised Humphrey Bogart's role as Slate in Bold Venture, a short-lived television series. He also guest starred on a number of television shows, including Faye Emerson's Wonderful Town, Appointment with Adventure, CBS's Rawhide in the episode "Incident of the Night Visitor", and The Twilight Zone, in the episode "The Prime Mover".

In 1970, he guest-starred in an episode of The Silent Force and had a role in The McMasters (1970). That same year he appeared as Barton Ellis on The Men From Shiloh, rebranded name of the long running TV Western series The Virginian in the episode titled "The Mysterious Mrs. Tate." He also played Lieutenant Tragg in the short-lived revival of the Perry Mason television series in 1973, and appeared in the 1976 miniseries Once an Eagle. He also appeared seven times on the cop television show Police Story, always playing a Lieutenant but in different roles.

Death

Clark died on September 11, 1998, of lung cancer at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, California.^[16] His remains were cremated and his ashes given to his widow.^[17]

Complete filmography

Toils of the Law (1938 short) (as Bernard Zanville)
Money and the Woman (1940) – (scenes deleted)
Sunday Punch (1942) – Phil Grogan (uncredited)
The Pride of the Yankees (1942) – Fraternity Boy (uncredited)
Wake Island (1942) – 'Sparks' (radioman #1) (uncredited)
The Glass Key (1942) – Henry Sloss (uncredited)
Tennessee Johnson (1942) – Wirts (uncredited)
The Rear Gunner (1943 short) – Benny (as Bernard Zanville)
Action in the North Atlantic (1943) – Johnnie Pulaski
Destination Tokyo (1943) – Tin Can
Over the Wall (1943 short) – Benny Vigo
The Very Thought of You (1944) – Sgt. 'Fixit' Gilman
I Won't Play (1944 short) – Joe Fingers
Hollywood Canteen (1944) – Sgt. Nowland
God Is My Co-Pilot (1945) – Johnny Petach
Pride of the Marines (1945) – Lee Diamond
A Stolen Life (1946) – Karnock
Her Kind of Man (1946) – Don Corwin
That Way with Women (1947) – Greg Wilson
Deep Valley (1947) – Barry Burnette
Embraceable You (1948) – Eddie Novoc
Moonrise (1948) – Danny Hawkins
Whiplash (1948) – Michael Gordon – aka Mike Angelo
Without Honor (1949) – Bill Bandle
Backfire (1950) – Ben Arno / Lou Walsh
Barricade (1950) – Bob Peters
The Hunted (1950) – Eddy Roback
Highly Dangerous (1950) – Bill Casey
Gunman in the Streets (1950) – Eddy Roback
Never Trust a Gambler (1951) – Steve Garry
Fort Defiance (1951) – Lead actor as Johnny Tallon - Civil War Vet, Outlaw & Deadly Gunslinger
The Gambler and the Lady (1952) – Jim Forster
Go, Man, Go! (1954) – Abe Saperstein
Murder by Proxy (aka Blackout) (1954) – Casey Morrow
Five Days (aka Paid to Kill) (1954) – James Nevill
Thunder Pass (1954) – Captain Dave Storm
Port of Hell (1954) – Gibson 'Gibb' Pardee
Toughest Man Alive (1955) – Lee Stevens, posing as Pete Gore
Massacre (1956) – Capitán Ramón
The Man Is Armed (1956) – Johnny Morrison
Outlaw's Son (1957) – Nate Blaine
The Closing Door (1960 TV movie)
Dage i min fars hus (aka Days in My Father's House) (1968) – Eddie
The McMasters (1970) – Spencer
The Face of Fear (1971 TV movie) – Tamworth
The Family Rico (1972 TV movie) – Boston Phil
Say Goodbye, Maggie Cole (1972 TV movie) – Hank Cooper
Cop on the Beat (1975 TV movie) – Lt. Baker
Murder on Flight 502 (1975 TV movie) – Ray Garwood
James Dean (1976 TV movie) – James Whitmore
The Woman Inside (1981)
Blood Song (1982) – Sheriff Gibbons
Last Rites (1988) – Don Carlo

Partial television credits

The Twilight Zone (1961, episode "The Prime Mover") – Ace Larsen
Dan August (1971, episode "The Meal Ticket") - Sam
Ironside (1969 Goodbye to Yesterday)
Hawaii Five-O (1975, episode "The Hostage") – Jesse
Hawaii Five-O (1977, episode "Blood Money Is Hard to Wash") – Victor Jovanko
Hawaii Five-O (1978, episode "The Pagoda Factor") – Sergeant Riley
Fantasy Island (1980 TV series season 4) (1980, episode "The Love Doctor; Pleasure Palace; Possessed") - Lieutenant Blainey
Murder She Wrote (1989, episode "The Grand Old Lady") - Mr. Viscard

Radio appearances

Year	Program	Episode/source
1942	Suspense	Tom Cochrane in "The Singing Walls", air date September 2, 1943
1943	Suspense	Walter Bates in "Life Ends at Midnight", air date February 17, 1944
1945	Suspense	Joe Jordan in "This Will Kill You", air date August 23, 1945^[18]
1946	The Fifth Horseman^[19]	Doomsday
1951	The Big Show	Guest appearance, air date November 25, 1951
1952	Philip Morris Playhouse	The Criminal Code^[20]
1953	Broadway Playhouse	The Turning Point^[21]

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e Lawrence Van Gelder (September 16, 1998). "Dane Clark, Actor, 85, Dies; Starred in World War II Films". The New York Times. Retrieved May 25, 2008.
^ Adams, Marjory (September 13, 1943). "Movie Question Box". The Boston Globe. Massachusetts, Boston. p. 7. Retrieved August 3, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Social Security Death Index for Dane Clark Archived May 13, 2008, at the Wayback Machine, Social Security No. 067-05-7928, accessed via Ancestry.com on February 4, 2010.
^ The three most frequently shown dates are February 26, 1912; February 18, 1913; and February 18, 1915. The Social Security Death Index shows the 1912 date.^[3] Age listings consistent with a 1912 birthdate are also found in border crossing information available on Ancestry.com, and 1930 census records. The 1920 census listing is consistent with a 1913 birth date.
^ Keim, Norman O.; Marc, David (2008). Our Movie Houses: A History of Film & Cinematic Innovation in Central New York. Syracuse University Press. p. 105. ISBN 9780815608967. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
^ Pollock, Arthur (March 27, 1935). "The Theater". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. New York, Brooklyn. p. 12. Retrieved August 3, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "Dane Clark". Internet Broadway Database. The Broadway League. Archived from the original on August 3, 2018. Retrieved August 3, 2018.
^ Parsons, Louella O. (November 19, 1942). "Cheryl Walker, Rose Bowl Queen Of 1938, Gets Stage Door Canteen Lead". The Fresno Bee The Republican. California, Fresno. International News Service. p. 16. Retrieved August 3, 2018 – via Newspapers.com.
^ "The 17th Academy Awards: 1945". Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. October 4, 2014.
^ "Bing Crosby Again Box-Office Leader: Van Johnson Second in Film Poll of Exhibitors – Rogers Wins for Westerns". The New York Times. December 28, 1945.
^ Garfield, David (1980). "Strasberg Takes Over: 1951–1955". A Player's Place: The Story of The Actors Studio. New York: MacMillan. p. 93. ISBN 0-02-542650-8. Aside from the original Robert Lewis group and those who came in with Mann and Meisner and were asked to remain, being such individuals as Roscoe Lee Browne, Dane Clark, Tamara Daykarhanova, Rita Gam, Burgess Meredith, Sidney Poitier, Paula Strasberg, Anna Mizrahi Strasberg, and Franchot Tone have been voted directly into membership by the Studio's directorate or by Strasberg himself. In the early sixties, several actors who performed with The Actors Studio Theatre were similarly admitted.
^ Terrace, Vincent (1999). Radio Programs, 1924–1984: A Catalog of More Than 1800 Shows. McFarland & Company, Inc. p. 85. ISBN 978-0-7864-4513-4.
^ Alex McNeil, Total Television, p. 444
^ Ames, W. (July 13, 1955). "Clark resumes work as 'little guy'; catalina also has traffic problem". Los Angeles Times. ProQuest 166810142.
^ "Actress Dies on Stage Playing Hospital Scene". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh. July 4, 1955. p. 2. Retrieved November 5, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Boyer, Edward J. (September 15, 1998). "Dane Clark; Theater and Television Actor". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 29, 2016.
^ Wilson, Scott (September 16, 2016). Resting Places: The Burial Sites of More Than 14,000 Famous Persons, 3d ed. McFarland. p. 137. ISBN 9781476625997.
^ "Escape and Suspense!: Suspense – This Will Kill You". www.escape-suspense.com.
^ "The Fifth Horseman".
^ Kirby, Walter (March 2, 1952). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. The Decatur Daily Review. p. 42. Retrieved May 28, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
^ Kirby, Walter (May 10, 1953). "Better Radio Programs for the Week". The Decatur Daily Review. The Decatur Daily Review. p. 50. Retrieved June 27, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.