General American (GA), also known as Standard American English (SAE), is a major accent of American English. The accent is not restricted to the United States. Within American English, General American and accents approximating it are contrasted with Southern American English, several Northeastern accents, and other distinct regional accents and social group accents like African American Vernacular English.

General American in the media[link]

General American, like British Received Pronunciation (RP) and most standard language varieties of many other societies, has never been the accent of the entire nation. However, it has become widely spoken in many American films, TV series, national news, commercial ads, and American radio broadcasts^{[citation needed]}.

The General American accent is most closely related to a generalized Midwestern accent and is spoken particularly by many newscasters. Walter Cronkite is a good example of a broadcaster using this accent.^{[citation needed]} This has led the accent to sometimes be referred to as a "newscaster accent" or "television English". General American is sometimes promoted as preferable to other regional accents.^{[citation needed]} In the United States, classes promising "accent reduction","accent modification" and "accent neutralization" generally attempt to teach speech patterns similar to this accent. The well-known television journalist Linda Ellerbee, who worked hard early in her career to eliminate a Texas accent, stated, "in television you are not supposed to sound like you're from anywhere"^{[citation needed]}; political comedian Stephen Colbert worked hard as a child to reduce his South Carolina accent because of the common portrayal of Southerners as stupid on American television.^[1][2] General American is also the accent typically taught to people learning English as a second language in the United States, as well as outside the country to anyone who wishes to learn "American English," although in much of Asia and some other places ESL teachers are strongly encouraged to teach American English no matter their own origins or accents.^{[citation needed]}.

Regional home of General American[link]

It is commonly believed that General American English evolved as a result of an aggregation of rural and suburban Midwestern dialects, though the English of the Upper Midwest can deviate quite dramatically from what would be considered a "regular" American Accent.^{[citation needed]} The local accent often gets more distinct the farther north one goes within the Midwest, and the more rural the area, with the Northern Midwest featuring its own dialect North Central American English.^{[citation needed]} The fact that a Midwestern dialect became the basis of what is General American English is often attributed to the mass migration of Midwestern farmers to California and the Pacific Northwest from where it spread.

The area of the United States where the local accent is most similar to General American

The Telsur Project^[3] (of William Labov and others) examines a number of phonetic properties by which regional accents of the U.S. may be identified. The area with Midwestern regional properties is indicated on the map: eastern Nebraska (including Omaha and Lincoln), southern and central Iowa (including Des Moines), and western Illinois (including Peoria and the Quad Cities but not the Chicago area).

Since the 1960s, northeastern Ohio and much of the rest of the Inland North have been affected by the Northern Cities Vowel Shift (abbreviated "NCS").^[4]

The fact that the NCS is well established in Michigan is particularly interesting in light of the dominant beliefs about local speech. As research by Dennis Preston has shown, Michiganders believe they are “blessed” with a high degree of linguistic security; when surveyed, they rate their own speech as more correct and more pleasant than that of even their fellow Mid-westerners. By contrast Indianans tend to rate the speech of their state on par with that of Illinois, Ohio, and Michigan. Indeed, it is not uncommon to find Michiganders who will claim that the speech of national broadcasters is modeled on their dialect. Even a cursory comparison of the speech of the network news anchors with that of the local news anchors in Detroit will reveal the fallacy of such claims. Nevertheless, the Michiganders′ faith that they speak an accentless variety is just an extreme version of the general stereotype of Midwestern English.^[5]

Particularly important in setting standards was John Kenyon, the pronunciation editor of the second edition of Webster's New International Dictionary.^[6]

Phonology[link]

Consonants[link]

A table containing the consonant phonemes is given below:

The phoneme /ʍ/ is present only in varieties that have not undergone the wine–whine merger. /ʍ/ is often analyzed as a consonant cluster of /hw/. Also, many Americans realize the phoneme /ɹ/ (often transcribed as /r/) as postalveolar, with some possible retroflexion.^[7] /t/ undergoes T-glottalization to produce a glottal stop in words like mutton and sit [ʔ].

Vowels[link]

General American has sixteen or seventeen vowel sounds that can be used in stressed syllables as well as two that can be used only in unstressed syllables. Most of the vowel sounds are monophthongs. The monophthongs of General American are shown in the table below:

^* For most speakers, what are often transcribed as /e o/ are realized as [eɪ oʊ], especially in open syllables.

^** The vowel of strut may be more central (usually [ʌ̈]) than back, depending on speaker. For example, speakers from Ohio realize this vowel as an open-mid central unrounded vowel ([ɜ]).^[8] It however remains a back vowel before /ɫ/.

^*** For most speakers, what is transcribed as /æ/ is always raised and sometimes diphthongized when appearing before a nasal consonant (that is, before /m/, /n/ and, for some, /ŋ/). This may be narrowly transcribed as [æ̝ˑ], [æ̝ə] or, based on specific dialect, variously as [ɛə], [eə] or [ɪə] (see Æ-tensing in General American).

Depending on one's analysis, people who merge the vowels of cot and caught to /ɑ/ either have no phoneme /ɔ/ at all or have the [ɔ] only before /r/. Words like north and horse are usually transcribed /nɔɹθ/ and /hɔɹs/, but since all accents with cot and caught merged to /kɑt/ have also undergone the horse–hoarse merger, it may be preferable to transcribe north and horse /noɹθ/ and /hoɹs/.^[9] Thus, in these cases, the [ɔ] before /ɹ/ can be analyzed as an allophone of /o/. [ɝ] and [ɚ] are often analyzed as sequences of /ʌr, ər/, respectively.^{[citation needed]} /ə/ is an indeterminate vowel that occurs only in unstressed syllables.

Among speakers who distinguish between /ɑ/ and /ɔ/, the vowel of cot (usually transcribed /ɑ/), is sometimes more of a central vowel which may vary from [a̠] to [ɑ̟], while /ɔ/ is phonetically lower, closer to [ɒ].^[10] Among cot-caught merged speakers, /ɑ/ usually remains a back vowel, [ɑ], sometimes showing lip rounding as [ɑʷ] or [ɒ], and, since these speakers do not distinguish between /ɑ/ and /ɔ/, their retracted allophones for /ɑ/ may be identical to the lowered allophones of /ɔ/ among speakers who preserve the contrast.

The diphthongs of General American are shown in the next table:

Characteristics[link]

While there is not any single formal definition of General American, various features are considered to be part of it, including rhotic pronunciation, which maintains the coda [ɹ] in words like pearl, car, and court^{[citation needed]}. Unlike RP, General American is characterized by the merger of the vowels of words like father and bother, flapping, and the reduction of vowel contrasts before [ɹ].^{[citation needed]} General American also generally has yod-dropping after alveolar consonants.^{[citation needed]} Other phonemic mergers, including the cot–caught merger, the pin–pen merger, the Mary–marry–merry merger and the wine–whine merger, may be found optionally at least in informal and semiformal varieties.^{[citation needed]}

One phenomenon apparently unique to General American is the behavior of words that in RP have /ɒrV/ where /V/ stands for any vowel (usually /ə/ or /ɨ/). These words are treated differently in different North American accents: in New York–New Jersey English, Philadelphia dialect, and the Carolinas they are all pronounced with /-ɑr-/ and in Canadian English they are all pronounced with /-ɔr-/ (thus an American's sorry sounds like sar-ee to a Canadian). But in General American there is a split: the majority of these words have /-ɔr-/, like Canadian English, but the last four words of the list below have /-ɑr-/, like New York-New Jersey English, for many speakers.^[11] Words of this class include, among others:

See also[link]

Notes[link]

References[link]

• Boyce, S.; Espy-Wilson, C. (1997), "Coarticulatory stability in American English /r/", Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 101 (6): 3741–3753, DOI:10.1121/1.418333, PMID 9193061 
• Delattre, P.; Freeman, D.C. (1968), "A dialect study of American R's by x-ray motion picture", Linguistics 44: 29–68 
• Hallé, Pierre A.; Best, Catherine T.; Levitt, Andrea; Andrea (1999), "Phonetic vs. phonological influences on French listeners' perception of American English approximants", Journal of Phonetics 27 (3): 281–306, DOI:10.1006/jpho.1999.0097 
• Labov, William; Ash, Sharon; Boberg, Charles (2006), The Atlas of North American English, Berlin: Mouton-de Gruyter, pp. 187–208, ISBN 3-11-016746-8 
• Roca, Iggy; Johnson, Wyn (1999), Course in Phonology, Blackwell Publishing 
• Seabrook, John (May 19, 2005), "The Academy: Talking the Tawk", The New Yorker, http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/11/14/051114ta_talk_seabrook, retrieved 2008-05-14 
• Shitara, Yuko (1993), "A survey of American pronunciation preferences", Speech Hearing and Language 7: 201–232 
• Silverstein, Bernard (1994), NTC's Dictionary of American English Pronunciation, Lincolnwood, Illinois: NTC Publishing Group, ISBN 0-8442-0726-8 
• Thomas, Erik R. (2001), An acoustic analysis of vowel variation in New World English, Publication of the American Dialect Society, 85, Duke University Press for the American Dialect Society, ISSN 0002-8207 
• Wells, John C. (1982a), Accents of English, 1, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-22919-7 
• Wells, John C. (1982b), Accents of English, 2, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-24224-X 
• Wells, John C. (1982c), Accents of English, 3, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-24225-8 
• Wells, John C. (2000), Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (2nd ed.), Harlow: Longman, ISBN 0-582-36468-X 
• Zawadski, P.A.; Kuehn, D.P. (1980), "A cineradiographic study of static and dynamic aspects of American English /r/", Phonetica 37 (4): 253–266, DOI:10.1159/000259995, PMID 7443796 

External links[link]

• The CMU Pronouncing Dictionary
• 'Hover & Hear' pronunciations in a General American accent, and compare side by side with other English accents from the US and around the World.
• Hollywords Audiovisual Industry Dictionary Project Style Guide (Includes pronunciation guides based on the American Broadcast English (ABE) accent)

Dick Clark
Dick Clark in 1961
Born	Richard Wagstaff Clark (1929-11-30)November 30, 1929 Bronxville, New York, U.S.
Died	April 18, 2012(2012-04-18) (aged 82)[1] Santa Monica, California, U.S.
Cause of death	Heart attack
Other names	America's Oldest Teenager (nickname)
Alma mater	Syracuse University
Occupation	Businessman Game show host Radio/television personality
Years active	1945–2012
Spouse	Barbara Mallery (m. 1952–1961; divorced) Loretta Martin (m. 1962–1971; divorced) Kari Wigton (1977–2012, his death)
Children	Richard A. Clark II Duane Clark Cindy Clark
Website
DickClarkProductions.com

Richard Wagstaff "Dick" Clark^[2] (November 30, 1929 – April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, best known for hosting American television's longest-running variety show, American Bandstand, from 1957 to 1987. He also hosted the game show Pyramid and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, which transmitted Times Square's New Year's Eve celebrations worldwide.

As host of American Bandstand, with his strong communication skills, Clark was a "primary force in legitimizing rock and roll," not only to teenagers, but also to America's adult population. The show gave many new music artists their first exposure to national audiences, including Ike and Tina Turner, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, Talking Heads and Simon & Garfunkel. His shows were among the first where blacks and whites performed on the same stage and the live audience seating was desegregated. Singer Paul Anka claimed that Bandstand was responsible for creating a "youth culture." Due to his youthful appearance, Clark was often referred to as "America's oldest teenager".^[3]

As a successful businessperson,^[3] he served as chairman and chief executive officer of Dick Clark Productions, part of which he sold off in his later years. He also founded the American Bandstand Diner, a restaurant chain modeled after the Hard Rock Cafe. In 1973, he created and produced the annual American Music Awards show, similar to the Grammy Awards.

Clark suffered a massive stroke in December 2004.^[4] With speech ability still impaired, Clark returned to his New Year's Rockin' Eve show on December 31, 2005/January 1, 2006. Subsequently, he appeared at the Emmy Awards on August 27, 2006, and every New Year's Rockin' Eve show through the 2011/2012 show. Clark died on April 18, 2012, after suffering a heart attack following a medical procedure.^[5]

Early life[link]

Clark was born in Bronxville, New York, and was raised in nearby Mount Vernon,^[6] the son of Julia Fuller (née Barnard) Clark and Richard Augustus Clark. His only sibling, older brother Bradley, was killed in World War II.

Clark attended A.B. Davis High School (later renamed A.B. Davis Middle School) in Mount Vernon, where he was an average student.^[7] At age 10, Clark decided to pursue a career in radio.^[7] In pursuit of that goal, he attended Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York, graduating in 1951 with a degree in advertising and a minor in radio.^[7] While at Syracuse, he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity (Phi Gamma).^[8]

Radio and television career[link]

In 1945, Clark began his career working in the mailroom at WRUN, an AM radio station in Rome, New York, that was owned by his uncle and managed by his father. Almost immediately, he was asked to fill in for the vacationing weatherman, and within a few months he was announcing station breaks.^[7]

While attending Syracuse, Clark worked at WOLF-AM, then a country music station. After graduation, he returned to WRUN for a short time where he went by the name Dick Clay.^[7] After that, Clark got a job at the television station WKTV in Utica, New York.^[7] His first television-hosting job was on Cactus Dick and the Santa Fe Riders, a country-music program. He would later replace Robert Earle (who would later host the GE College Bowl) as a newscaster.^[9]

Clark was principal in pro broadcasters operator of 1440 KPRO in Riverside, California, from 1962 to 1982. In the 1960s, he was owner of KGUD AM/FM (later KTYD AM/FM) in Santa Barbara, California.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] American Bandstand

In 1952, Clark moved to Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Philadelphia, where he took a job as a disc jockey at radio station WFIL, adopting the Dick Clark handle.^[10] WFIL had an affiliated television station (now WPVI) with the same call sign which began broadcasting a show called Bob Horn's Bandstand in 1952. Clark was responsible for a similar program on the company's radio station, and served as a regular substitute host when Horn went on vacation.^[7] In 1956, Horn was arrested for drunk driving and subsequently dismissed.^[7] On July 9, 1956, Clark became the show's permanent host.^[7]

Clark with audience during a 1957 show

Bandstand was picked up by the ABC television network, renamed American Bandstand, and debuted nationally on August 5, 1957 with a Clark interview of Elvis Presley.^[11] The show took off, due both to Clark's natural rapport with the live teenage audience and dancing participants and the non-threatening image he projected to television audiences, including many parents being introduced to rock and roll music. According to Hollywood producer Michael Uslan, "he was able to use his unparalleled communication skills to present rock 'n roll in a way that was palatable to parents."^[12]

In 1958, the show was added to ABC's Saturday night line up.^[7] By the end of year, viewership exceeded 20 million, and featured artists were "virtually guaranteed" large sales boosts after appearing.^[7] In a surprise television tribute to Clark in 1959 on This Is Your Life, host Ralph Edwards called him "America’s youngest starmaker," and estimated the show had an audience of 50 million.

Clark moved the show from Philadelphia to Los Angeles in 1964.^[7] The move was related to the popularity of new "surf" groups based in Southern California, including The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean. The show ran daily Monday through Friday until 1963, then weekly on Saturdays until 1987. Bandstand was briefly revived in 1989, with Clark again serving as host. By the time of its cancellation, the show had become longest running variety show in TV history.^[7]

In the 1960s, the show's emphasis changed from merely playing records to including live performers. During this period, many of the leading rock groups of the 1960s had their first exposure to nationwide audiences. A few of the many artists introduced were Ike and Tina Turner, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, the Talking Heads, Simon and Garfunkel, Jerry Lee Lewis, Buddy Holly, Johnny Cash, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino and Chubby Checker.^[13][14]

During an interview with Clark by Henry Schipper of Rolling Stone magazine in 1990, it was noted that "over two-thirds of the people who've been initiated into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame had their television debuts on American Bandstand, and the rest of them probably debuted on other shows [they] produced."^[15] During the show's lifetime, it featured over 10,000 live performances, many by artists who would have been unable to appear anywhere else on TV, as the variety shows during much of this period were "antirock."^[15] Schipper points out that Clark's performers were shocking to general audiences:

The music establishment, and the adults in general, really hated rock and roll. Politicians, ministers, older songwriters and musicians foamed at the mouth. Frank Sinatra reportedly called Elvis Presley a "rancid-smelling aphrodisiac.^[15]

Clark was therefore considered to have a negative influence on youth, and was well aware of that impression held by most adults:

I was roundly criticized for being in and around rock and roll music at its inception. It was the devil's music, it would make your teeth fall out and your hair turn blue, whatever the hell. You get through that.^[16]

In 2002, many of the groups he introduced appeared at the 50th anniversary special to celebrate American Bandstand.^[17] Clark noted during the special that American Bandstand was listed in the Guinness Book of Records as "the longest running variety show in TV history." In 2010, American Bandstand and Clark himself were honored at the Daytime Emmy Awards.^[18] Hank Ballard, who wrote "The Twist," described Clark's popularity during the early years of American Bandstand:

The man was big. He was the biggest thing in America at that time. He was bigger than the president!^[19]

As a result of Clark's work on Bandstand, journalist Ann Oldenburg states "he deserves credit for doing something bigger than just putting on a show."^[19] Los Angeles Times writer, Geoff Boucher, goes further, stating that "with the exception of Elvis Presley, Clark was considered by many to be the person most responsible for the bonfire spread of rock 'n roll across the country in the late 1950s," making Clark a "household name."^[12] He became a "primary force in legitimizing rock 'n' roll," adds Uslan. Clark, however, simplified his contribution:

I played records, the kids danced, and America watched.^[20]

Shortly after taking over, Clark also ended the show's all-white policy by featuring black artists such as Chuck Berry. In time blacks and whites performed on the same stage and studio seating was desegregated.^[13] During the late 1950s and 1960s, Clark produced and hosted a series of concert tours around the success of American Bandstand, which by 1959 had a national audience of 20 million.^[19] However, Clark was unable to get the Beatles to appear when they came to America.^[12]

The reason for Clark's impact on popular culture was partly explained by Paul Anka, a singer who appeared on the show early in his career: "This was a time when there was no youth culture — he created it. And the impact of the show on people was enormous."^[21] In 1990, a few years after the show had been off the air, Clark considered his personal contribution to the music he helped introduce:

My talent is bringing out the best in other talent, organizing people to showcase them and being able to survive the ordeal. I hope someday that somebody will say that in the beginning stages of the birth of the music of the Fifties, though I didn't contribute in terms of creativity, I helped keep it alive.^[15]

Payola hearings[link]

In 1960, the United States Senate investigated payola, the practice of music-producing companies paying broadcasting companies to favor their product. As a result of Clark's personal investments in music publishing and recording companies, his investments were considered a conflict of interest, and he sold his shares in those companies.^[22] Clark denied any involvement in "payola" and was not charged with any illegal activities.

When asked about some of the causes for the hearings, Clark speculated about some of the contributing factors not mentioned by the press:

Politicians . . . did their damnedest to respond to the pressures they were getting from parents and publishing companies and people who were being driven out of business [by rock]. . . . It hit a responsive chord with the electorate, the older people. . . . they full-out hated the music. [But] it stayed alive. It could've been nipped in the bud, because they could've stopped it from being on television and radio.^[15]

Game show host[link]

In 1963, Clark branched out into hosting game shows, presiding over The Object Is.^[23] The show was cancelled in 1964, and replaced by Missing Links, which had moved from NBC. Clark took over as host, replacing Ed McMahon.^[23]

Dick Clark as host of The $10,000 Pyramid

Clark became the first host of The $10,000 Pyramid, which premiered on CBS March 26, 1973.^[24] The show — a word association game created and produced by daytime television producer Bob Stewart — moved to ABC in 1974. Over the coming years, the top prize changed several times (and with it the name of the show), and several prime time spin-offs were created.^[24] Clark continued to host the day time version through most of its history, winning three Emmy Awards for best game show host.^[25] In total, Pyramid won nine Emmy Awards for best game show during his run, a mark that is eclipsed only by the twelve won by the syndicated version of Jeopardy!.^[26] Clark retired from the program in 1988.

Clark subsequently returned to Pyramid as a guest in later incarnations. During the premiere of the John Davidson version in 1991, Clark sent a pre-recorded message wishing Davidson well in hosting the show. In 2002, Clark played as a celebrity guest for three days on the Donny Osmond version. Earlier, he was also a guest during the Bill Cullen version of The $25,000 Pyramid which aired simultaneously with Clark's daytime version of the show.

Entertainment Weekly credited Clark's "quietly commanding presence" as a major factor in the game show's success.^[24]

In 1990 and 1991, he hosted the syndicated television game show The Challengers, which only lasted for one season. In 1993, he hosted Scattergories. In 1999, along with Bob Boden, he was one of the executive producers of Fox's TV game show Greed, which ran from November 5, 1999, to July 14, 2000, and was hosted by Chuck Woolery. At the same time, Clark also hosted the Stone-Stanley-created Winning Lines, which ran for six weeks on CBS from January 8, 2000 – February 12, 2000.

[edit] Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve

In 1972, Clark produced and hosted Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, the first of an ongoing series of specials still broadcast on New Year's Eve.^[27] The program has typically consisted of live remotes of Clark in Times Square in New York City, counting down until the New Year ball comes down. After the ball drops, the focus of the program switches to musical segments taped prior to the show in Hollywood, California. The special is live in the Eastern Time Zone, and it is delayed for the other time zones so that those segments of the audience could ring in the New Year with Clark and can continue to with subsequent hosts when midnight strikes in their area.

Clark backstage at the 1990 Grammy Awards

ABC has broadcast the event on every New Year's Eve since 1972 except in 1999 when it was preempted for ABC 2000 Today, news coverage of the milestone year hosted by Peter Jennings. However, during that broadcast, Clark, along with ABC News correspondent Jack Ford, announced his signature countdown to the new year. He was a correspondent, according to the transcript of the broadcast released by ABC News.^[28] Ford had been assigned to Times Square during the broadcast, and thus, Clark's role was limited. Nevertheless, he won a Peabody Award for his coverage.

Clark was unable to host the 2004/05 edition of the show, as he was recovering from his stroke; Regis Philbin substituted as host.^[26] Having not been seen in public since his stroke, Clark announced in an August 2005 statement that he would be back in Times Square for the annual tradition, bringing on Hilary Duff and Ryan Seacrest as co-hosts. In the same press release, it was announced that Seacrest would eventually take over as the sole host should Clark decide to retire, or be unable to continue. As planned, Clark returned to the show for the 2005/06 countdown, although Ryan Seacrest served as primary host.^[26] On air, he stated, "Last year I had a stroke. It left me in bad shape. I had to teach myself how to walk and talk again. It's been a long, hard fight. My speech is not perfect but I'm getting there." Before counting down to 2006, he mentioned he "wouldn't have missed this for the world."

Reaction to Clark's appearance was mixed. While some TV critics (including Tom Shales of The Washington Post, in an interview with the CBS Radio Network) felt he was not in good enough shape to do the broadcast, stroke survivors and many of Clark's fans praised him for being a role model for people dealing with post-stroke recovery.^[29]

From 2005 to 2011, Clark co-hosted New Year's Rockin Eve with Seacrest. In the four decades it has been on the air, the show has become a mainstay in U.S. New Year's Eve celebrations. Watching the ball in Times Square drop on Clark's show was considered an annual cultural tradition for the New Year's holiday for the last decades of his life.^[26]

Radio programs[link]

Clark also had a long stint as a top-40 radio countdown show host. He began in 1963, hosting a radio program called The Dick Clark Radio Show. It was produced by Mars Broadcasting of Stamford. Despite his enormous popularity on American Bandstand, the show was only picked up by a few dozen stations and lasted less than a year.^[30]

Photo of Clark in 1963. His ABC radio show was called "Dick Clark Reports".

On March 25, 1972, Clark hosted American Top 40, filling in for Casey Kasem.^[31] In 1981, he created The Dick Clark National Music Survey for the Mutual Broadcasting System.^[25] The program counted down the Top 30 contemporary hits of the week in direct competition with American Top 40. Clark left Mutual in 1986, and Charlie Tuna took over the National Music Survey.^[25] Clark then launched his own radio syndication group; the United Stations Radio Network, or Unistar, and took over the countdown program, "Countdown America". It ran until 1994, when Clark sold Unistar to Westwood One Radio. The following year, Clark started over, building a new version of the USRN and a new countdown show: "The U.S. Music Survey". He served as its host until his 2004 stroke.^[25]

Dick Clark's longest running radio show began on February 14, 1982. "Rock, Roll & Remember" was a four hour oldies show named after Clark's 1976 autobiography. The first year, it was hosted by veteran Los Angeles disc jockey Gene Weed. Then in 1983 voice over talent Mark Elliot co-hosted with Clark. By 1985, Clark hosted the entire show. Pam Miller served as producer. Each week, Clark would profile a different artist from the Rock and Roll era. He would also count down the top four songs that week from a certain year in the 1950s, 1960s or early 1970s. The show ended production when Clark suffered his 2004 stroke. However, re-runs continue to air in syndication and on Clark's website "dickclarkonline.com".^[25]

Beginning in 2009, Clark merged elements of "Rock, Roll and Remember" with the syndicated oldies show, "Rewind with Gary Bryan". The new show was called "Dick Clark Presents Rewind with Gary Bryan". Bryan, a Los Angeles radio personality, serves as the main host. Clark contributed profile segments.

Other television programs[link]

At the peak of his American Bandstand fame, Clark also hosted a 30-minute Saturday night program called The Dick Clark Show (aka The Dick Clark Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show). It aired from February 15, 1958, until September 10, 1960, on the ABC television network. It was broadcast live from the "Little Theater" in New York City and was sponsored by Beech-Nut Gum. It featured the rock and roll stars of the day lip synching their hits, just as on American Bandstand. However, unlike the afternoon Bandstand program which focused on the dance floor with the teenage audience demonstrating the latest dance steps, the audience of The Dick Clark Show (consisting mostly of squealing girls) sat in a traditional theater setting. While some of the musical numbers were presented simply, others were major production numbers. The high point of the show was the unveiling with great fanfare at the end of each program, by Clark, of the top ten records of the coming week.^[32]

From September 27 to December 20, 1959, Clark hosted a thirty-minute weekly talent/variety series entitled Dick Clark's World of Talent at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday nights on ABC. A variation of producer Irving Mansfield's earlier CBS series, This Is Show Business (1949–1956), it featured three celebrity panelists, including comedian Jack E. Leonard, judging and offering advice to amateur and semi-professional performers. While this show was not a success, during its nearly three month duration, Clark was one of the few personalities in television history on the air nationwide seven days a week.^[32]

One of Clark's most well-known guest appearances was in the final episode of the original Perry Mason TV series ("The Case of the Final Fadeout") in which he was revealed to be the killer in a dramatic courtroom scene.^{[33][verification needed]}

Clark attempted to branch into the realm of soul music with the series Soul Unlimited in 1973. The series, hosted by Buster Jones, was a more risqué and controversial imitator of the then-popular series Soul Train and alternated in the Bandstand time slot. The series lasted for only a few episodes.^[34] Despite a feud between Clark and Soul Train creator and host Don Cornelius, the two would later collaborate on several specials featuring black artists. Clark hosted the short-lived Dick Clark's LIVE Wednesday in 1978.^[35]

In 1984, Clark produced and co-hosted with Ed McMahon the NBC series TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes. The series ran through 1988 and continued in specials hosted by Clark (sometimes joined by another TV personality) into the 21st century, first on NBC, later on ABC, and currently on TBS (the last version re-edited into 15-minute/filler segments airing at about 5 A.M.). Clark and McMahon were longtime Philadelphia acquaintances, and McMahon praised Clark for first bringing him together with future TV partner Johnny Carson when all three worked at ABC in the late 1950s. The "Bloopers" franchise stems from the Clark-hosted (and produced) NBC "Bloopers" specials of the early 1980s, inspired by the books, record albums and appearances of Kermit Schafer, a radio and TV producer who first popularized outtakes of broadcasts.^[33] For a period of several years in the 1980s, Clark simultaneously hosted regular programs on the 3 major American television networks: ABC (Bandstand), CBS (Pyramid) and NBC (Bloopers).

In July 1985, Clark hosted the ABC prime time portion of the historic Live Aid concert, an all star concert designed by Bob Geldof to end world hunger.^[36]

Clark also hosted various pageants from 1988 to 1993 including Miss USA and Miss Universe.

Clark did a brief stint as announcer on The Jon Stewart Show, in 1995.^[37]

From 2001 to 2003, Clark was a co-host of The Other Half with Mario Lopez, Danny Bonaduce and Dorian Gregory, a syndicated daytime talk show intended to be the male equivalent of The View. Clark also produced the television series American Dreams about a Philadelphia family in the early 1960s whose daughter is a regular on American Bandstand. The series ran from 2002 to 2005.^[33]

Other media appearances[link]

Clark was featured in the 2002 documentary film Bowling for Columbine. He was criticized for hiring poor, unwed mothers to work long hours in his chain of restaurants for little pay. The mother featured is shown to work over 80 hours per week and is still unable to make her rent and then gets evicted which results in her having to have her son stay at his uncle's house. At his uncle's house the boy finds a gun and brings it to school where he shoots another first grader. In the documentary footage featuring Clark, Michael Moore tries to approach him to inform him of the welfare policies that allow for these conditions, and questions him about the people he employs and the tax breaks he takes advantage of, in employing welfare recipients; Clark refuses to answer any of Moore's questions, shutting the car door and driving away.^[38]

Clark also appeared in interview segments of another 2002 film, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, which was based on the "unauthorized autobiography" of Chuck Barris. (Barris had worked at ABC as a standards-and-practices executive during American Bandstand's run on that network.)^[39]

In the 2002 Dharma and Greg episode "Mission: Implausible," Greg is the victim of a college prank, and devises an elaborate plan to retaliate, part of which involves his use of a disguise kit; the first disguise chosen is that of Dick Clark. During a fantasy sequence that portrays the unfolding of the plan, the real Clark plays Greg wearing his disguise.^[40]

He also made brief cameos in two episodes of the The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. In one episode he plays himself at a Philadelphia diner, and in the other he helps Will Smith's character host bloopers from past episodes of that sitcom.^[41]

Post stroke[link]

On August 27, 2006, Clark appeared on NBC's telecast of the 2006 Emmy Awards. He was introduced by Simon Cowell after the show paid tribute to his successful career that has spanned decades. He was shown seated behind a lectern, and although his speech was still slurred, he was able to address the audience and introduce Barry Manilow's performance.

Clark was honored at the 37th Daytime Emmy Awards on CBS TV. It was a tribute to his 40 years hosting American Bandstand.

Business ventures[link]

In 1965, Clark branched out from hosting, producing Where The Action Is, a variety show hosted by Paul Revere and the Raiders.^[7] In 1973, he produced the American Music Awards Show.^[7] In 1987, Dick Clark Productions went public.^[7] Clark, remained active in television and movie production into the 1990s.^[7]

Clark had a stake in a chain of music-themed restaurants licensed under the names "Dick Clark's American Bandstand Grill", "Dick Clark's AB Grill", "Dick Clark's Bandstand — Food, Spirits & Fun" and "Dick Clark's AB Diner". There are currently three airport locations in Newark, New Jersey; Phoenix, Arizona; and Salt Lake City, Utah, one location in the Molly Pitcher travel plaza on the New Jersey Turnpike in Cranbury, New Jersey, and one location at "Dick Clark's American Bandstand Theater" in Branson, Missouri.^[42]

"Dick Clark's American Bandstand Theater" opened in Branson in April 2006,^[43] and nine months later, a new theater and restaurant entitled "Dick Clark's American Bandstand Music Complex" opened near Dolly Parton's Dollywood theme park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee.^[44]

In popular culture[link]

Before his stroke, Clark's perennial youthful appearance, despite his advancing years, was a subject of jokes and commentary in the popular culture, most notably his nickname of "the World's Oldest Teenager". One of Gary Larson's The Far Side cartoons has the caption, "Suddenly, on a national talk show in front of millions of viewers, Dick Clark ages 200 years in 30 seconds." In the Police Squad! episode "Testimony of Evil (Dead Men Don't Laugh)," Dick Clark, appearing as himself, purchases Secret Formula Youth Cream from street snitch Johnny the Shoeshine Boy.^[45] In The Simpsons 1999 Y2K episode "Treehouse of Horror X," at midnight a computer glitch causes Dick Clark to melt and he is revealed to be a robot. In a stand-up comedy routine, Bill Hicks referenced Clark as the "anti-Christ," pointing to his unusually youthful appearance as evidence.^[46]

Personal life[link]

Clark was married three times. His first marriage was to Barbara Mallery in 1952; the couple had one son, Richard ("R.A.", or "Rac"), and divorced in 1961. He married Loretta Martin in 1962; the couple had two children, Duane and Cindy, and divorced in 1971. His third marriage, in 1977 to Kari Wigton, lasted until his death.^[47]

Stroke[link]

During an interview on Larry King Live in April 2004, Clark revealed that he had Type 2 diabetes.^[48]

On December 8 2004, the then 75-year-old was hospitalized in Los Angeles after suffering what was initially termed a minor stroke. Clark's spokeswoman, Amy Streibel, said that he was hospitalized but was expected to be fine. However, on December 13, 2004, it was announced that Clark would be unable to host his annual New Year's Rockin' Eve broadcast.^[49] Clark returned to the series the following year, but the dysarthria that resulted from the stroke rendered him unable to speak clearly for the remainder of his life.

Death[link]

On April 18, 2012, Clark died after suffering a heart attack following surgery to fix an enlarged prostate, a transurethral resection of the prostate,^[50] at Saint John's Health Center and the Pacific Urology Institute in Santa Monica, California.^[5][12] Clark's family did not immediately decide on whether there would be a public memorial service, but stated "there will be no funeral".^[31] Clark was cremated on April 20, and his ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.^[51]

Following Clark's death, U.S. President Barack Obama praised Clark's career: "With American Bandstand, he introduced decades' worth of viewers to the music of our times. He reshaped the television landscape forever as a creative and innovative producer. And, of course, for 40 years, we welcomed him into our homes to ring in the New Year."^[52]

Motown founder Berry Gordy and singer Diana Ross spoke of Clark's impact on the recording industry: "Dick was always there for me and Motown, even before there was a Motown. He was an entrepreneur, a visionary and a major force in changing pop culture and ultimately influencing integration," Gordy said. "I will always appreciate what he did for me and for popular music. He presented Motown and the Supremes on tour with the "Caravan of Stars" and on American Bandstand, where I got my start. Dick Clark was a pioneer, he was a music star maker, he was a legend and was my friend," Ross said.^[52]

Ryan Seacrest, who began hosting New Year's Rockin' Eve after Clark suffered a stroke, paid tribute to Clark on American Idol,^[53][54] which, along with Game Show Network, broadcast tributes to Clark during the week of April 22-28.^{[dated info][55]}

Credits[link]

Television[link]

• ABC 2000 Today, Times Square correspondent
• American Bandstand, host
• The Challengers, host
• The Krypton Factor, host (1981)
• Missing Links, host (1964)
• Miss Teen USA, host (1988, 1991–1993)
• Miss Universe, host (1990–1993)
• Miss USA, host (1989–1993)
• New Year's Rockin' Eve, host (1972–2004), co-host (2006–2012), producer
• The Object Is, host (1963–1964)
• Pyramid, host ($10,000, $20,000, $25,000, $50,000, $100,000 version), guest (2003 version)
• The Saturday Night Beech-Nut Show, host (1958–1960)
• Scattergories, host
• TV's Bloopers & Practical Jokes, co-host, producer
• Winning Lines, host

Notable awards[link]

Clark received the following awards:

• Emmy Awards (1979, 1983, 1985, and 1986)
• Daytime Emmy Lifetime Achievement Award (1994)
• Peabody Award (1999)

He was also an inductee at several Hall of Fame locations:

• Hollywood Walk of Fame (1976)
• National Radio Hall of Fame (1990)
• Broadcasting Magazine Hall of Fame (1992)
• Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (1993)
• Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame (1993)

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Dick Clark

• Dick Clark's personal/radio web site
• Dick Clark Productions
• Dick Clark Papers at Syracuse University
• Dick Clark at the National Radio Hall of Fame
• Dick Clark at the Internet Movie Database
• Dick Clark's Rock, Roll and Remember newspaper comic strip series
• Dick Clark interviewed on the Pop Chronicles (recorded March 11, 1968)
• Dick Clark collected news and commentary at The New York Times

Videos[link]

• "American Bandstand 30 Year Special", 1982
• 37th Daytime Emmy Awards - Tribute to American Bandstand and Dick Clark, June 27, 2010

Amy Frances Walker (born September 1, 1982) is an American actress, singer, and co-founder of the ConnectedFilm project.^[1]

Early life[link]

Walker was born in Seattle, Washington.^[2] Growing up, she performed in a wide variety of plays and musicals, including Audrey in Little Shop of Horrors, Hero in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing and Helen Keller in The Miracle Worker.

Education abroad[link]

Walker studied acting and singing at the University of Wollongong in Australia. From Australia, she moved to Wellington, New Zealand, where she played Joan in the wartime love story short film Dead Letters by Paolo Rotondo.^[3]

The ConnectedFilm Project[link]

Walker wrote a screenplay for a film called Connected, with help from her script adviser, Marilee Jolin. Together with Sander Kallshian, the three co-founded the production company SoulFire Films.^[4] They created ConnectedFilm.com to fund Connected by dollar donations from 1 million people around the world, listing the names of every donor in the credits of the finished film "to show that each gift is equally important".^[1] Amy Walker and Mike Shafer were awarded Best Music Video for "We Are Connected" at the Raindance Short Film Festival.^[5]

YouTube[link]

Amy has also gained enormous attention from her YouTube video 21 Accents, and over 90 other videos online.^[6][7] To date, her videos have reached an audience of over 16 million viewers.^[8] 21 Accents earned Amy appearances on both The Today Show^[9][10] and on Inside Edition.^[11][12] She also partnered with Nokia as an accent expert to promote their Foreign Accent Cup.^[13]

One-woman shows[link]

Amy performed her first original one-woman show, Amy Walker: Inside Out, in November 2007 and has since created 3 other original shows, both on stage and online, where viewers were able to interact from around the globe.^{[14][15][16][17][18]}

Discography[link]

• Discourse on Accents (Third Man Records, 2011)^[19]

TEDx Talk[link]

On September 24, 2011, Walker was a host and a featured speaker at the TEDx conference in Phoenixville, PA. Amy divided her Talk into 3 parts, with a combined topic of "Expanding Your Identity to Embody Your Potential":

Defining Your Identity Expanding Your Identity Embodying Your Potential

Awards[link]

In 2008 Walker received an award at the International Mystery Writers Festival for "Best Actress" and "Best Supporting Actress".^[20] Amy was awarded Best Actress for her role as Pam Brent in Personal Call the following year.^[21] Amy Walker and Mike Shafer were awarded Best Music Video for We Are Connected at the 2009 Raindance Short Film Festival.^[5]

References[link]

• ""Expanding Your Identity to Embody Your Potential"". TEDx Phoenixville. http://www.ted.com/tedx/events/1869. Retrieved 27 October 2011. 

External links[link]

• AmyWalkerOnline.com
• The ConnectedFilm Project
• YouTube.com/AmiableWalker
• Twitter.com/AmiableWalker
• Facebook.com/AmiableAmyWalker
• Kathryn Parrott Photography

"General" Larry Platt (born August 27, 1947) is an American Civil and political rights activist and rapper who gained fame with his performance of "Pants on the Ground" on the ninth season of American Idol. His hit release song "Pants on the Ground" was released on iTunes and received over 150,000 hits. As of April 2011, the video has received over 8 million views on YouTube.^[1]

Nickname[link]

Platt earned his nickname during the American Civil Rights Movement in which he was an active participant. Rev. Hosea Williams coined the nickname on behalf of his heroic efforts in support of the movement.^[2]

American Idol[link]

During auditions for the ninth season of American Idol in Atlanta, Platt appeared and performed his own original song, "Pants on the Ground". Platt, who at the time was 62, was ineligible to continue due to being over the show's age limit of 28. However, his audition has since become a viral hit, with over 7.7 million views on YouTube. He was invited to perform the song during the finale.

Several celebrities performed the song in the days that followed the original airing of his audition. This included late night talk show host Jimmy Fallon, who performed a version of the song while also impersonating Neil Young on his show Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. NFL quarterback Brett Favre was also caught leading the Minnesota Vikings in a performance of the song in their locker room following their game against the Dallas Cowboys in the 2010 NFL playoffs. Today Show hosts Meredith Viera, Matt Lauer, Al Roker and Ann Curry also organized a performance of the song. Canadian MLA T.J. Burke also performed a rendition of the song in criticizing Progressive Conservative opposition leader David Alward during a session of the New Brunswick provincial legislature. Platt himself made a subsequent appearance on ABC's The View on January 18, 2010, performing the song in its entirety. "Pants on the Ground" was also sung on WWE's Royal Rumble 2010 PPV event, in a backstage segment between Teddy Long, Cryme Tyme, Ranjin Singh, and The Great Khali.

Discography[link]

Singles[link]

See also[link]

• Sagging (fashion)

References[link]

External links[link]