In Remembrance: David Clarke

     David Clarke, character actor and theatre playwright best known for his film noir roles in the 1940’s and 50s, has passed away on April 18, 2004 in Arlington, Virginia. He was 95.

     Clarke was born on August 30, 1908 in Chicago, Illinois. He discovered he had a passion for acting and made his Broadway debut in Journeyman in 1938, and later appeared in Abe Lincoln in Illinois with Raymond Massey. He caught the eye of producer Leland Hayward while performing the play out in Los Angeles, leading to his first film role in Knockout (1941). Clarke could be seen later that same year in the comedy Million Dollar Baby (1941), starring Ronald Regan. But comedy was not Clarke’s most memorable genre.

     During the 1940’s, Clarke excelled in roles in film noir, seeing screen time in A Gentleman Before Dark (1942) and The Long Night (1947), which starred Henry Fonda and Anthony Mann’s 1948 noir masterpiece, Raw Deal. In early 1949, he co-starred as Gunboat Johnson in one of the better boxing film noir’s of the era, The Set-Up, directed by Robert Wise. In addition, he appeared in several other films that year, including Too Late for Tears (1949) and Thieves’ Highway (1949), directed by noir master Jules Dassin. In many of the films, Clarke’s roles may have been small, but unforgettable.

     Audiences watching director John Huston’s 1950 masterpiece, The Asphalt Jungle would catch Clarke in a small role. Clarke worked hard that year, appearing in a total of ten films, many of them B-movies. Regardless, he still left his mark in 1950’s Hollywood, co-starring in Richard Fleischer’s The Narrow Margin (1952), Edge of the City (1957), and 1959’s Robert Wise directed Odds Against Tomorrow.

     Despite his career in noir, Clarke did appear in other films as well during his career, including the war drama Sands of Iwo Jima (1949), the Hepburn and Tracy classic Adam’s Rib (1949), and the great Western The Gunfighter (1950) starring Gregory Peck.

     Film was not only source of acting for Clarke. Clarke was active in theatre as well. He starred with James Dean in 1952 in See the Jaguar by N. Richard Nash, and was featured on Broadway in the original productions of A View from the Bridge, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, and The Visit with Alfred Lunt.

     He had some notable TV guest appearances as well, appearing in The Naked City, Route 66, and The Waltons.

     In many of his films, Clarke was not listed in the credits, but he added a depth and menace to his characters, having appeared in some of the best film noir ever made.

-John Gibbon