Dick Clark
By Turina Hellanbaum
Dick Clark's career spans well over five decades. He was born Richard Wagstaff Clark in Mount Vernon, New York, on November 30, 1929, and started out at WRUN in Utica, New York, as a mailroom clerk. Clark was eventually promoted to news and weatherman. In 1951, he graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in business administration.
In 1952, Dick Clark made the move to Philadelphia and, four years later, became the host of Bandstand (a.k.a. American Bandstand ) for WFIL-TV. In 1957, a year after he began hosting Bandstand , Clark convinced ABC to take it to the national level. By 1959, it was picked up by over 100 affiliates and reached over 20,000,000 viewers. Clark also changed the show's all-white policy and introduced a lot of talented black artists to the masses, undoubtedly changing the face of American popular culture.
In 1973 -- about 10 years after Clark had relocated to California -- he launched the American Music Awards: ABC's answer to the Grammy Awards. Instead of targeting adults, Clark went for a younger audience and created an awards show that reflected a popularity contest.
Over the years, Dick Clark has been an integral part of television's evolution. He has been involved in music programming, game shows, awards shows, and feature films. Clark shows no signs of slowing down -- his nickname, after all, is "The World's Oldest Teenager" -- but he did take some time to sit down and talk to us about the American Music Awards, his 50 years in the limelight and the legacy he wants to leave behind.
Q: You are widely known for having a finger on the pulse of America, especially when it comes to music. What was it that made you want to launch the American Music Awards, 32 years ago?
ABC asked me to come up with an idea that could be their answer to the Grammy Awards. They had refused to air them when the Grammy Association decided they were going to broadcast from Nashville. It was a grave era for ABC. They called me in and I said, "You can't duplicate an academy, the only thing that isn't on the air is a popularity poll, so let's do a popularity poll with people who listen to the radio and buy records."
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