Roy Linwood Clark (April 15, 1933 – November 15, 2018) was an American singer and musician. He is best known for having hosted Hee Haw, a nationally televised country variety show, from 1969 to 1997. Clark was an important and influential figure in country music, both as a performer and helping to popularize the genre.
During the 1970s, Clark frequently guest-hosted for Johnny Carson on The Tonight Show and enjoyed a 30-million viewership for Hee Haw. Clark was highly regarded and renowned as a guitarist, banjo player, and fiddler. He was skilled in the traditions of many genres, including classical guitar, country music, Latin music, bluegrass, and pop. He had hit songs as a pop vocalist (e.g., “Yesterday, When I Was Young” and “Thank God and Greyhound”), and his instrumental skill had an enormous effect on generations of bluegrass and country musicians. He became a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 1987, and, in 2009, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame. He published his autobiography, My Life in Spite of Myself, in 1994.
Clark married Barbara Joyce Rupard on August 31, 1957, and they had five children. He made his home in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the Roy Clark Elementary School was named in his honor in 1978.
Roy Clark Cause of Death
Clark died on November 15, 2018, at 85 at his Tulsa home due to complications of pneumonia.
Roy Clark play Guitar, Banjo and Fiddle
Hee Haw Season 01 – Episode 1º(Full Episode),Loretta Lynn,Buck Owens,Charley Pride,Roy Clark
Roy Clark: Yesterday, When I Was Young – 1969