Anthony Clark, the beloved actor and comedian best known for his roles in Yes, Dear and Boston Common, has died at the age of 62.
The news was shared by his longtime friend and Yes, Dear co-star Mike O’Malley, who paid tribute to the comedian in an emotional social media post.
Went through some ‘real Jerry Springer stuff’
“He was a hilarious guy,” actor Mike O’Malley said as he shared the heartbreaking news of Clark’s death on Instagram.
He went on to recall the first time he and his wife, Lisa, saw Clark perform at The Comedy Connection in Boston back in the mid-1990s, when the comedian was already a major name on the local comedy scene.
“The first time we saw him at The Comedy Connection we laughed and laughed and laughed.”
But it wasn’t simply Clark’s ability to make people laugh that stayed with those who knew him.
O’Malley also described what made his friend’s comedy so distinctive, recalling how Clark would laugh right alongside his audience as he shared his stories and observations.
He was “so unique — one of those comics who is laughing along with you at the absurdity of his stories and observations and it just made you laugh harder because he was laughing.”
“I was a fan before I was a friend,” O’Malley added.
The heartbreaking news also prompted an outpouring of affection from fellow comedians. Dane Cook left a touching comment on O’Malley’s post, remembering Clark as one of the most impressive performers he had ever witnessed.
“He was one of the best live acts I’ve ever seen. Destroyed to a point he made you wanna quit right then and there while watching him do it effortlessly. This is really terrible to hear.”
Always felt misplaced
Born in Lynchburg, Virginia, Clark went on to study at Emerson College before building a career as a stand-up comedian.
But his early years in Virginia weren’t always easy.
In high school, he quickly became the class clown, using humor as a way to cope with a difficult home life, Clark told The Reporter-Times in 2004.
He and his brother were raised by a single mother, and as he later put it, there was “some real Jerry Springer stuff” going on in their household.
He later spoke about feeling out of place growing up in Lynchburg, something that began to change when he moved to Boston to attend school and finally found an environment where he felt he belonged.
“I always felt misplaced,” the stand-up comedian told The News & Advance in 1996, adding:
“I couldn’t wait to go to school. I felt like a big city kid.”
At Emerson College, a small school with a strong reputation for its performing arts program, Clark studied acting before joining the ranks of its notable alumni who went on to find success in entertainment. Among the famous names who attended the college are Jay Leno, Steven Wright, and Denis Leary.
Often compared to Forrest Gump
Clark’s television career began to gain momentum with roles in Boston Common and Soul Man, where he starred alongside Dan Aykroyd as an assistant minister.
One of his best-known roles was Boyd, the lovable Virginia handyman in Boston Common. With his unmistakable Southern drawl, often compared to Forrest Gump’s, Boyd arrives in Boston to help his sister settle into college.
But things don’t quite go as planned. Instead of heading back to Virginia, he finds a job on campus, moves in with his sister and starts building a new life in the city.
The role also hit close to home for Clark. He drew inspiration from his own experiences growing up in Virginia, once revealing that both Boyd and the show itself were loosely based on his life.
However, it was CBS sitcom Yes, Dear that brought him to a much wider audience.
The show ran for six seasons between 2000 and 2006, with Clark playing Greg Warner, a somewhat uptight television executive whose carefully organized family life was turned upside down by his wife’s free-spirited sister and her easygoing husband, Jimmy, played by O’Malley.
“When I first read the script, I was thinking, ‘Whaaa? Me as a dad? What’s that about?’” Clark said in 2004, adding:
“I had never played an uptight, responsible character like this one, so I kept tossing the script away. I always played the loose, laid-back character.”
Anthony Clark cause of death
Away from television, Clark also appeared in several films, making his big-screen debut in the 1991 coming-of-age drama Dogfight. He later appeared in The Thing Called Love, alongside River Phoenix and Sandra Bullock.
His other television credits included appearances on Ellen and Sesame Street, as well as hosting the fourth season of Last Comic Standing.
Manager Barry Katz also shared an emotional tribute, describing Clark as “one of the funniest people that I have ever met in my lifetime.”
Katz went on to praise his remarkable abilities as a performer, remembering him as “one of the most talented actors” he had ever worked with.
According to Deadline, Clark died from complications of pneumonia. The publication reported the cause of death in an article published on November 11.He was 62.
For those who knew him personally and the countless viewers who welcomed him into their homes through his work, Clark leaves behind a legacy of laughter that will not easily be forgotten. Rest in peace, Anthony!
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