Marcia Clark facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Marcia Clark
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Clark at the 2011 Texas Book Festival
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Marcia Rachel Kleks
August 31, 1953 Alameda, California, U.S.
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| Years active | 1979–present |
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| Children | 2 |
Marcia Rachel Clark (born August 31, 1953) is an American prosecutor, author, and television personality. She is widely known for being the main prosecutor in the famous O. J. Simpson trial.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Marcia Rachel Kleks was born in Alameda, California. Her father, Abraham Kleks, was from Israel and worked as a chemist. Her family moved often because of her father's job. They lived in different states like California, New York, Michigan, and Maryland.
Marcia went to Susan E. Wagner High School in New York City. She then studied at the University of California, Los Angeles. In 1976, she earned a degree in political science. After that, she went to Southwestern University School of Law and became a lawyer.
Career as an Attorney
Marcia Clark became a lawyer in California in 1979. She first worked in private law and as a public defender. A public defender is a lawyer who helps people who cannot afford legal help. In 1981, she became a prosecutor. A prosecutor is a lawyer who works for the government. Their job is to try and prove that someone has broken the law. She worked for Los Angeles County.
Clark became very well known as the lead prosecutor in the 1995 trial of O. J. Simpson. This trial was about the deaths of his ex-wife and her friend. Before this, in 1991, Clark also prosecuted a high-profile case involving the murder of a television star.
Marcia Clark found the media attention during the Simpson trial very difficult. She said it was "terrifying" to be so famous. She even changed her hairstyle to try and improve her public image.
Author and Commentator
After the O. J. Simpson trial, Marcia Clark left her job as a prosecutor. She then wrote a book about the Simpson case called Without a Doubt. She wrote it with another author, Teresa Carpenter.
Since the trial, Clark has often appeared on television. She has worked as a special reporter for shows like Entertainment Tonight. She has covered other important trials and reported from awards shows. She also shared her legal opinions on news channels like CNN.
Marcia Clark has also written several novels. Her "Rachel Knight" series is about a prosecutor in Los Angeles. Some books in this series include Guilt By Association (2011) and Killer Ambition (2013). One of her books, Guilt by Association, was even made into a TV pilot.
She also has a "Samantha Brinkman" series, which features a female defense attorney. Books in this series include Blood Defense (2016) and Snap Judgment (2017). Clark enjoys writing stories. She said that as a lawyer, she learned how important storytelling is when talking to a jury. She loved reading Nancy Drew and The Hardy Boys mystery books when she was a child.
Media Appearances
Marcia Clark has appeared in various TV shows and documentaries.
- In August 2013, she played an attorney named Sidney Barnes in an episode of Pretty Little Liars.
- In 2015, she was made fun of in the sitcom Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. Actress Tina Fey played a character named Marcia, who was meant to be Marcia Clark.
- She appeared in the 2016 documentary series O.J.: Made in America.
- In the 2016 TV series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, actress Sarah Paulson played Marcia Clark. Paulson won awards for her performance. Clark even attended the Emmy Awards with Paulson.
- In 2019, Clark was a special guest diner on the reality cooking show Hell's Kitchen.
- In 2024, she appeared on comedian John Mulaney’s live comedy special Everybody’s in LA.
Personal Life
In 1976, Marcia Clark married Gabriel Horowitz. They divorced in 1980. In 1980, she married Gordon Clark, a computer programmer. They had two sons together before divorcing in 1995.
Marcia Clark was raised in a Jewish family. She was also a member of the Church of Scientology until 1980. Today, she does not consider herself religious. She lives in Calabasas, California.
See also
In Spanish: Marcia Clark para niños
