| Known
as “America’s oldest living teenager,” Dick
Clark was born on November 20, 1929 in Utica, New York. As
a teenager, he became an office boy and later announcer for
local station WRUN.
After
graduating from Syracuse University, he became a news anchor
at WKTV/Utica. He moved to Philadelphia in 1952 to work
for WFIL radio and television.
Clark
was hosting a record-hop program on WFIL in 1956 when he
was asked to take over a local television show called Bandstand.
The following year, Clark convinced ABC to carry the show
nationally. The show gave national television exposure to
future music legends like Chuck Berry, Buddy Holly and Jerry
Lee Lewis. Eventually, American Bandstand became television's
longest-running music/variety program.
Clark
is the founder and a director of the United Stations Radio
Networks, who distribute more than 50 hours of weekly radio
programming to nearly 3000 radio stations. In recent years,
he has hosted the nationally syndicated radio shows, Dick
Clark’s Rock, Roll and Remember, Countdown America
and Dick Clark’s Music Calendar. Clark also appears
on television as the host of Dick Clark’s Rockin’
New Year’s Eve.
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