April 18, 2012: Dick Clark, age 82, died of a Massive Heart Attack at his Malibu, CA home, survived by his widow, Kari Rigdon (his wife since 7/7/1977) of nearly 35 years, as well as 3 grown children, including fraternal boy/girl twins Duane & Cindy with his 2nd ex-wife, Loretta Martin, and an older son, Dick Clark, Jr. (aka RAC Clark, who grew up to work behind-the-scenes in a number of TV Game Shows such as the Dick Clark creation "The Challengers" & the Disney Channel Original Game Show "Teen Win, Lose or Draw," 65 episodes of which were Videotaped in 1989 & 1990 at The Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando, Florida) with his first ex-wife, teen sweetheart Barbara Mallery.
The younger of 2 boys (including an elder brother, Bradley, who was tragically killed in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II when Dick was a young teenager), Richard Wagstaff "Dick" Clark was born in New York City, New York on November 30, 1929 and raised soon afterwards in Mount Vernon, New York, a small-ish town just north of the NYC Borough of The Bronx.
As a young teenager, Dick began his Legendary Broadcasting Career as a Radio DJ in Utica, New York, eventually continuing such career as a college student upstate at Syracuse University via its student station WAER-FM.
Majoring in advertising with a Minor in Radio in College, Dick used his Minor in Radio to work at WFIL Radio in Philadelphia, eventually transferring to Broadcast Television after the abrupt firing of "Bandstand" Host/Creator Bob Horn at WFIL-TV.
Dick replaced Bob as "Bandstand" host, eventually taking the show national in 1957 as "American Bandstand," which aired for 30 years on the ABC Television Network--at first on Weekdays before moving permanently to Saturday afternoons only in 1963--with ABC airing the show for 30 years until its cancellation in 1987.
That same year, Dick Clark took "American Bandstand" to first-run Syndication--and later USA Network--after stepping down as host in 1988, succeeded in the USA Network episodes by David Hirsch.
In 1972, nearly a decade after heading West from Philadelphia to Los Angeles, Dick Clark was hired by Bob Stewart (the earlier creator of "Password" for Mark Goodson & Bill Todman) to host his new GS creation called "Pyramid," eventually hosting the show on-and-off for 15 years on CBS, ABC & in First-Run Syndication, with Dollar Values increasing during that time from the original $10,000 upon its CBS debut on March 26, 1973 to $20,000 after CBS cancelled it initially and ABC picked it up (its original CBS and ABC runs taped in New York City), and later $25,000 in the nighttime 1974-1979 show starring Bill Cullen, $50,000 in 1980-1981, back to $25,000 upon its 1982 CBS return and $100,000 in 1985 for a nighttime Syndie run and again in 1991 with Dick Clark succeeding as "Pyramid" host by John Davidson.
In 1990, 2 years after last hosting "Pyramid," Dick Clark conceived and created a Game Show knockoff of "Jeopardy!" based on current events called "The Challengers," hiring soon after Ron Greenberg to help him produce the show on behalf of The Walt Disney Company (distributing the show in First-Run Syndication as Buena Vista Television) and implementing elements of Ron's earlier "Who, What or Where Game" in the Process; unlike "Jeopardy!" at the time, "The Challengers" contestants continued playing on until they Lost the Game.
Initially on "The Challengers," the Winning Contestant played a Bonus Round called "The Ultimate Challenge" for an additional $10,000 on top of their regular winnings--initially every 3rd Win before it became a Weekly Feature mid-season and later dropped by early 1991.
In 2004, just shy of his 75th Birthday that November, Dick Clark revealed exclusively to Larry King his then-recent diagnosis of Type 2 Diabetes; later that year, just before Christmas, Dick survived a Massive Stroke, missing his only New Year's Rockin' Eve telecast in his lifetime, with Regis Philbin filling in for Dick Clark that year, after which Dick Clark was joined by co-host every year from 2005-2011 by Atlanta's Ryan Seacrest (who's done the New Year's Rockin' Eve Broadcast solo every year since 2012); Dick Clark became Physically Disabled thereafter for the next 7 1/2 years.
Based on what I've read in his Obituary, 24 Hours before he died, Dick Clark underwent what SHOULD HAVE been a routine Transurethral Resection of the Prostate (TURP) at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica.
In regards to the above fact, frankly, I PERSONALLY believe that BECAUSE of his Disability, Dick Clark NEVER should have had the TURP--and if I'd been his Doctor, I'd have Prescribed Medications to successfully treat his Enlarged Prostate, such as Hytrin, Flomax and Avodart to name 3 examples, prescribing each and every one until finding the right Medications as Prescribed in the Recommended Dosage Prescribed; likewise, if MY name were Dick Clark, Jr., I'd have IMMEDIATELY filed a Wrongful Death Lawsuit against St. John's, not unlike Melissa Rivers after her mama Joan died due to Complications from an Endoscopic Procedure, eventually settling Out-of-Court with the Doctor's Office where Joan had the Procedure that ended her life in 2014 at age 81 in a nearby Hospital.
As noted a bit ago, like the Joan Rivers situation, if MY name were Dick Clark, Jr. I'd have IMMEDIATELY filed a Wrongful Death Lawsuit against St. John's in the Hopes that the Hospital would admit their Negligent Mistake as part of an Out-of-Court Settlement against the Hospital where Dick Clark had the TURP (what should have been Routine Outpatient Surgery).
In any case, despite his unfortunate end, let's Rock, Roll & Remember (see what I did there) the countless hours of Radio and Television that Dick Clark gave us, the Viewing and Listening Public, throughout his 82-year Lifespan and his Career.
11/30/1929 - 04/18/2012