Dane Clark
| Dane Clark | |
|---|---|
Clark in 1963
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| Born |
Bernard Zanville February 26, 1912 Brooklyn, New York, U.S. |
| Died | September 11, 1998 (aged 86) Santa Monica, California, U.S. |
| Years active | 1935–1989 |
| Spouse(s) |
Margot Yoder (m. 1941–70) (her death) Geraldine Zanville (m. 1971–98) (his death) |
Dane Clark (February 26, 1912 – September 11, 1998) was an American film actor who was known for playing, as he labeled himself, "Joe Average".
Clark was born Bernard Zanville in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jewish immigrants, Samuel, a sporting goods store owner, and his wife, Rose. The date of birth is a matter of dispute, amongst different sources. He graduated from Cornell University and earned a law degree at St. John's University School of Law in Queens, New York. During the Great Depression, he worked as a boxer, baseball player, construction worker, and model.
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."
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. 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, Destination Tokyo (1943) with Cary Grant, and Pride of the Marines (1945) with friend and fellow New Yorker John Garfield. According to Clark, Bogart gave him his stage name. He also played a surly artist opposite Bette Davis in A Stolen Life.
Exhibitors voted Clark the 16th most popular star at the US box office in 1945, and 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.
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