Bob Clark Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Bob Clark
Born	Benjamin Robert Clark (1939-08-05)August 5, 1939 New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.
Died	April 4, 2007(2007-04-04) (aged 67) Pacific Palisades, California, U.S.
Occupation	Film director, film producer, screenwriter
Years active	1966–2007
Notable work	Black Christmas Murder by Decree Tribute Porky's A Christmas Story
Children	2

Benjamin Robert Clark (born August 5, 1939 – died April 4, 2007) was an American film director and screenwriter. He was known for directing many successful films, especially in the 1970s and 1980s. Some of his most famous movies include Black Christmas (1974), Murder by Decree (1979), Tribute (1980), Porky's (1981), and A Christmas Story (1983). He won several awards for his work, including three Genie Awards.

Early Life and Education
Film Career
Death
Filmography
- Film
- Television
See also

Early Life and Education

Bob Clark was born in New Orleans in 1939. He grew up in Birmingham, Alabama, and later moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida. His family faced financial difficulties when he was young.

He went to Catawba College to study philosophy. Later, he received a football scholarship to Hillsdale College in Michigan, where he played as a quarterback. Even though he had offers to play professional football, he chose to study theater at the University of Miami. He did play semi-pro football for a short time for the Fort Lauderdale Black Knights.

Clark was married and had two sons, Michael and Ariel.

Film Career

Clark started his film career with She-Man: A Story of Fixation in 1967. After this, he began making horror movies in the early 1970s. His first horror film was Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things (1972), which mixed comedy with scary elements.

He also worked with screenwriter and makeup artist Alan Ormsby on Deathdream (1972), a film that used zombies to tell a story about the Vietnam War. One of his most successful films from this time was the slasher film Black Christmas (1974). This movie is still remembered today as an important film that helped shape the modern slasher genre. Clark moved to Canada, which was a good place for American filmmakers to work at the time. His films made there were smaller than Hollywood movies but were very successful in the Canadian film industry.

Clark also helped produce Moonrunners, a movie about moonshine that later inspired the TV show The Dukes of Hazzard. He was involved in a legal dispute over a later Dukes of Hazzard movie, which was settled before the film came out.

He then directed more serious films. Murder by Decree, a Sherlock Holmes movie starring Christopher Plummer, was a big hit with critics and won five Genie Awards. He followed this with Tribute, starring Jack Lemmon, who was nominated for an Academy Award for his performance.

Clark then returned to making comedies with Porky's (1981). He co-wrote, produced, and directed this film, which was based on his own experiences growing up in Florida. Porky's became a huge success, earning more money than any other English-language Canadian film at the time. It was one of the top-grossing films of 1982 and briefly became one of the most successful comedies in film history. Its success helped start a trend for similar teen comedies throughout the 1980s and beyond.

He also wrote, produced, and directed the first sequel, Porky's II: The Next Day (1983). However, he chose not to be involved in the third film, Porky's Revenge!.

Instead, Clark worked on A Christmas Story (1983) with Jean Shepherd. This movie, about a boy's Christmas wishes, is considered a perfect film by many critics. Even though it wasn't a huge box-office hit at first, A Christmas Story became a very popular holiday movie that is shown on TV every year and watched often on home video. A sequel, My Summer Story (1994), was also made, but it didn't do as well.

Bob Clark continued to work in the film industry until his death. He directed a variety of films, including the Baby Geniuses movies.

Death

On April 4, 2007, Bob Clark and his younger son, Ariel Hanrath-Clark, who was 22, were tragically killed in a car crash. The accident happened on the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Director	Writer	Producer	Notes
1966	The Emperor's New Clothes	Yes	Yes	No	Short film
1967	She-Man	Yes	Yes	No	Co-written with Jeff Gillen
1972	Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things	Yes	Yes	Yes	Co-written with Alan Ormsby
1974	Deathdream	Yes	No	Yes
1974	Black Christmas	Yes	No	Yes	Also portrayed Billy in scenes where the character is shown on-screen
1976	Breaking Point	Yes	No	Yes
1979	Murder by Decree	Yes	No	Yes
1980	Tribute	Yes	No	No
1981	Porky's	Yes	Yes	Yes
1983	Porky's II: The Next Day	Yes	Yes	Yes	Co-written with Roger Swaybill and Alan Ormsby
1983	A Christmas Story	Yes	Yes	Yes	Co-written with Jean Shepherd and Leigh Brown
1984	Rhinestone	Yes	No	No
1985	Turk 182	Yes	No	No
1987	From the Hip	Yes	Yes	Yes	Co-written with David E. Kelley
1990	Loose Cannons	Yes	Yes	No	Co-written with Richard Christian Matheson and Richard Matheson
1994	My Summer Story	Yes	Yes	No	Co-written with Jean Shepherd and Leigh Brown
1999	Baby Geniuses	Yes	Yes	No	Co-written with Greg Michael
1999	I'll Remember April	Yes	No	No
2002	Now & Forever	Yes	No	No
2004	Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2	Yes	No	No
2008	Blonde and Blonder	Uncredited	No	No	Uncredited co-director with Dean Hamilton

Executive Producer

Year	Title	Notes
1974	Deranged	Uncredited
1975	Moonrunners
1991	Popcorn	Uncredited
2006	Black Christmas	Remake of his 1974 film of the same title

Television

Year(s)	Title	Director	Writer	Notes
1979, 2000	The Dukes of Hazzard	No	Yes	Episodes: ''Repo Men'', ''Hazzard in Hollywood''
1985	Amazing Stories	Yes	No	Episode: ''Remote Control Man''
1993	The American Clock	Yes	No	Television film
1995	Fudge	Yes	Yes	Pilot film: ''Fudge-a-mania''
1995	Derby	Yes	No	Television films
1996	Stolen Memories: Secrets from the Rose Garden	Yes	No
1998	The Ransom of Red Chief	Yes	No
2000	Catch a Falling Star	Yes	No
2003	Maniac Magee	Yes	No
2004	The Karate Dog	Yes	No

Bob Clark facts for kids

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