A publicist said country star Roy Clark, the guitar virtuoso and singer who headlined the cornpone TV show "Hee Haw" for nearly a quarter century, has died. He was 85.
Jeremy Westby said Clark died Thursday due to complications from pneumonia at home in Tulsa, Okla.
Clark was "Hee Haw" host or co-host for its entire 24-year run. The country music and comedy show's last new episode aired in 1993, though reruns continued for a few years thereafter.
Clark played the guitar, banjo, fiddle, mandolin, harmonica and other instruments. His skills brought him gigs as guest performer with many top orchestras, including the Boston Pops.
His hits included "The Tips of My Fingers" (1963), "Yesterday When I Was Young" (1969), "Come Live With Me" (1973) and "Honeymoon Feeling" (1974). He was also known for his instrumental versions of "Malaguena," on 12-string guitar, and "Ghost Riders in the Sky."
Clark was guest host on "The Tonight Show" several times in the 1960s and 1970s when it was rare for a country performer to land such a role. His fans included not just musicians, but baseball great Mickey Mantle. The Yankees outfielder was moved to tears by "Yesterday When I Was Young" and for years made Clark promise to sing it at his memorial — a request granted after Mantle died in 1995.
Beginning in 1983, Clark operated the Roy Clark Celebrity Theatre in Branson, Missouri, and was one of the first country entertainers to open a theater there. Dozens followed him.
He was a touring artist as late as the 2000s. Over the years, he played at venues around the world: Carnegie Hall in New York, the Sporting Club in Monte Carlo, the Grand Palace in Brussels and the Rossiya Theatre in Moscow.
Clark was born in Meherrin, Virginia, and received his first guitar on his 14th Christmas. He was playing in his father's square dance band at age 15.
In the 1950s, Clark played in bands in the Washington, D.C., area. In 1960, he got the chance to front the band of country singer Wanda Jackson. He also performed regularly in Las Vegas. He got his first recording contract, with Capitol Records, in 1962.
He appeared on Jimmy Dean's TV show "Town and Country Time" and took over the show when Dean left.
In 1997 he released "Roy Clark's Christmas Memories."
Clark and Owens worked together for years, but they had very different feelings about "Hee Haw." Owens, who left the show in 1986, later referred to it as a "cartoon donkey," one he endured for "that big paycheck." Clark told The Associated Press in 2004 that "Hee Haw" was like a family reunion.
Clark was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 2009.
(The Associated Press, The Hollywood Reporter, CBS News contributed to this report.)
“I want to lay somethin' on you; it's not heavy and it's not to imply that you don't already do it. It's just a reminder... to all of us. The next chance you get, do somethin' nice for somebody… Here’s to love, it’s still the best!” – Roy Clark pic.twitter.com/94raMxTwts
— ACM Awards (@ACMawards) November 15, 2018
