Bob Clark
Encyclopedia
Benjamin "Bob" Clark was an American actor, director
, screenwriter
and producer
best known for directing and writing the script with Jean Shepherd
to the 1983 Christmas film A Christmas Story
. Although he worked primarily in the United States
, from 1973 to 1983 he worked in Canada
and was responsible for some of most successful films in Canadian history such as Black Christmas
(1974), Murder by Decree
(1979), Tribute
(1980), and Porky's
(1982).
and later moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida
. He grew up poor, as his father died during his childhood and his mother was a barmaid. After attending Catawba College
majoring in philosophy, Clark won a football
scholarship to Hillsdale College
in Michigan
, where he played quarterback
. Eventually he studied theater at the University of Miami
, turning down offers to play professional football. He did briefly play semi-pro
for the Fort Lauderdale Black Knights.
genre, in the early 1970s
. His first film of this ilk, Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things
(1972), was a blend of comedy and graphic horror.
Clark and his collaborator for this film, screenwriter and makeup artist Alan Ormsby
, would revisit the zombie subgenre in 1972's Deathdream
, also known by its alternate title, Dead of Night, a Vietnam War
allegory that takes its cue from the classic short story The Monkey's Paw
. The slasher film
Black Christmas
(1974) was one of his most successful films in this period, and is remembered today as an influential precursor to the modern slasher film
genre. Clark had moved to Canada, then a tax haven
for Americans, and these productions were small by Hollywood standards but made Clark a big fish in the small pond of the Canadian film industry of that era.
Clark executive-produced the moonshine
movie Moonrunners
, which was used as source material for the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard
. Clark later produced the 2000 TV movie The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood. Clark and others sued Warner Bros.
over the studio's 2005 movie The Dukes of Hazzard
, winning a $17.5 million settlement just prior to the movie's release.
Turning toward more serious fare, Clark scored a critical success with the Sherlock Holmes
film Murder by Decree
, starring Christopher Plummer
and Geneviève Bujold
, which won five Genie Awards including Best Achievement in Direction and Best Performance for both leads. He followed this with a TV movie of the Bernard Slade
play Tribute, starring Jack Lemmon
reprising his Broadway
role, for which Lemmon was nominated for an Academy Award and 11 Genies including a win for Lemmon's performance.
Clark returned to his B-movie
roots, though, co-writing, producing, and directing Porky's
, a longtime personal project. Clark had a detailed outline based on his own youth in Florida, which he dictated into a cassette recorder due to illness, and collaborator Roger Swaybill said of listening to the tapes, "I became convinced that I was sharing in the birth of a major moment in movie history. It was the funniest film story I had ever heard." Though set in the United States, the film would go on to gross more than any other English-language Canadian film. The film was the third most successful release of 1982 and by the end of the film's lengthy initial release, in 1983, Porky's had secured itself a spot, albeit short-lived, as one of the top-25 highest grossing films of all time in the US. The film was (also briefly) the most successful comedy
in film history. Porky's overwhelming success is credited as launching the genre of the teen sex comedy so prevalent throughout the 1980s and which continued into the millennium in such movies as the American Pie
franchise. Clark wrote, produced, and directed the film's first sequel, Porky's II: The Next Day
(1983
), which shifted the focus away from the title character to two new antagonists with perhaps greater relevance, a sleazy local politician who cynically caters to the influence of a blustering fundamentalist preacher
while seducing a teenage girl. Clark refused involvement with a third film, Porky's Revenge!, which brought Porky and the sexual exploits of the cast back front and center as in the first installment.
He instead collaborated with Jean Shepherd
on A Christmas Story
, which critic Leonard Maltin
described as "one of those rare movies you can say is perfect in every way". Although not a box-office smash in its theatrical release, A Christmas Story would go on to become a perennial a holiday favorite via repeated TV airings and home video
. A joint effort at a sequel in 1994, My Summer Story
, did not fare as well; Maltin said that the studio waited too long, and Clark was forced to recast almost the entire film. Three other film versions of the Parker family had been produced for television by PBS with Shepherd's involvement during the late 1980s, also with a different cast, but without Clark's participation.
Clark continued to stay active in the film industry until his death, with lower-budget fare mixed in with brief runs at higher targets. A Hollywood Reporter critic, speaking after his death, described his career as "a very unusual mix of films", because he "at times was a director-for-hire and would do films that, to say the least, aren't stellar". Some of his last output included Baby Geniuses
and SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2
.
Clark was nominated twice for the Razzie Awards as "Worst Director", for Rhinestone
and Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2
. At the end of his life, he was working with Howard Stern
on a remake of Porky's, and three of his early horror films were slated for expensive remakes: Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things, Deathdream and Black Christmas.
Clark was divorced, and had one other son, Michael.
on the Pacific Coast Highway
in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles
on the morning of April 4, 2007. The crash occurred when an SUV crossed the median and struck Clark's Infiniti
I30, causing the closure of the highway for eight hours. Police determined that the SUV's driver, Hector Velazquez-Nava, had a blood alcohol level of three times the legal limit and was driving without a license. He initially pleaded not guilty to two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter, but changed his plea to no contest
in August. On October 12, 2007, Velasquez-Nava was sentenced to six years in prison under the terms of a plea agreement.
In addition, he may face deportation
to his native Mexico, as he entered and was living in the United States illegally
.
A biographical documentary, ClarkWorld on Clark's life, works and death was produced and directed by Deren Abram. Abram and Clark worked together for over a decade.
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
, screenwriter
Screenwriter
Screenwriters or scriptwriters or scenario writers are people who write/create the short or feature-length screenplays from which mass media such as films, television programs, Comics or video games are based.-Profession:...
and producer
Film producer
A film producer oversees and delivers a film project to all relevant parties while preserving the integrity, voice and vision of the film. They will also often take on some financial risk by using their own money, especially during the pre-production period, before a film is fully financed.The...
best known for directing and writing the script with Jean Shepherd
Jean Shepherd
Jean Parker Shepherd was an American raconteur, radio and TV personality, writer and actor who was often referred to by the nickname Shep....
to the 1983 Christmas film A Christmas Story
A Christmas Story
A Christmas Story is a 1983 American Christmas comedy film based on the short stories and semi-fictional anecdotes of author and raconteur Jean Shepherd, including material from his books In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash, and Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories. It was directed by Bob Clark...
. Although he worked primarily in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, from 1973 to 1983 he worked in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
and was responsible for some of most successful films in Canadian history such as Black Christmas
Black Christmas (1974 film)
Black Christmas is a 1974 Canadian slasher film directed by Bob Clark and written by A. Roy Moore, and largely based on a series of murders that took place in Quebec, Canada around Christmas time. The film's score is by Carl Zittrer. It was distributed by Ambassador Film Distributors in Canada and...
(1974), Murder by Decree
Murder by Decree
Murder by Decree is an Anglo-Canadian thriller film involving Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in the case of the serial murderer Jack the Ripper...
(1979), Tribute
Tribute (film)
Tribute is a play by Bernard Slade.The plot focuses on Scottie Templeton, a popular actor who has spent his life shirking responsibility. When he discovers he is terminally ill with leukemia, he attempts to reconnect with his long-estranged son....
(1980), and Porky's
Porky's
Porky's is a 1982 comedy film about the escapades of teenagers at the fictional Angel Beach High School in Florida in 1954. It was released in the United States in 1982, and spawned two sequels: Porky's II: The Next Day and Porky's Revenge! and influenced many writers in the teen film genre...
(1982).
Early life
Clark was born in New Orleans, but grew up in Birmingham, AlabamaBirmingham, Alabama
Birmingham is the largest city in Alabama. The city is the county seat of Jefferson County. According to the 2010 United States Census, Birmingham had a population of 212,237. The Birmingham-Hoover Metropolitan Area, in estimate by the U.S...
and later moved to Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Fort Lauderdale is a city in the U.S. state of Florida, on the Atlantic coast. It is the county seat of Broward County. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 165,521. It is a principal city of the South Florida metropolitan area, which was home to 5,564,635 people at the 2010...
. He grew up poor, as his father died during his childhood and his mother was a barmaid. After attending Catawba College
Catawba College
Catawba College is a private, coeducational liberal arts college in Salisbury, North Carolina, USA. Founded in 1851 by the North Carolina Classis of the Reformed Church in Newton, the college adopted its name from its county of origin, Catawba County, before moving to its current home of Salisbury...
majoring in philosophy, Clark won a football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
scholarship to Hillsdale College
Hillsdale College
Hillsdale College in Hillsdale, Michigan, United States, is a co-educational liberal arts college known for being the first American college to prohibit in its charter all discrimination based on race, religion, or sex; its refusal of government funding; and its monthly publication, Imprimis...
in Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, where he played quarterback
Quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the offensive line...
. Eventually he studied theater at the University of Miami
University of Miami
The University of Miami is a private, non-sectarian university founded in 1925 with its main campus in Coral Gables, Florida, a medical campus in Miami city proper at Civic Center, and an oceanographic research facility on Virginia Key., the university currently enrolls 15,629 students in 12...
, turning down offers to play professional football. He did briefly play semi-pro
Semi-professional
A semi-professional athlete is one who is paid to play and thus is not an amateur, but for whom sport is not a full-time occupation, generally because the level of pay is too low to make a reasonable living based solely upon that source, thus making the athlete not a full professional...
for the Fort Lauderdale Black Knights.
Career
Though best known for his involvement with these familiar titles, Clark's career actually began squarely in the horrorHorror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
genre, in the early 1970s
1970s in film
The decade of the 1970s in film involved many significant films.----Contents1 World cinema2 Hollywood3 List of films: # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z.4 Events-World cinema:...
. His first film of this ilk, Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things
Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things
Children Shouldn't Play with Dead Things is a 1972 comedic horror film directed by Bob Clark...
(1972), was a blend of comedy and graphic horror.
Clark and his collaborator for this film, screenwriter and makeup artist Alan Ormsby
Alan Ormsby
Alan Ormsby is an American director, screenwriter, make up artist, actor and author. He is best known for his work in the horror genre.-Film career:...
, would revisit the zombie subgenre in 1972's Deathdream
Deathdream
Deathdream is a 1972 Canadian horror film, directed by Bob Clark and written by Alan Ormsby. It was inspired by the W.W. Jacobs short story The Monkey's Paw.-Plot summary:...
, also known by its alternate title, Dead of Night, a Vietnam War
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
allegory that takes its cue from the classic short story The Monkey's Paw
The Monkey's Paw
"The Monkey's Paw" is a horror short story by author W. W. Jacobs. It was published in England in 1902.The story is based on the famous "setup" in which three wishes are granted. In the story, the paw of a dead monkey is a talisman that grants its possessor three wishes, but the wishes come with an...
. The slasher film
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
Black Christmas
Black Christmas (1974 film)
Black Christmas is a 1974 Canadian slasher film directed by Bob Clark and written by A. Roy Moore, and largely based on a series of murders that took place in Quebec, Canada around Christmas time. The film's score is by Carl Zittrer. It was distributed by Ambassador Film Distributors in Canada and...
(1974) was one of his most successful films in this period, and is remembered today as an influential precursor to the modern slasher film
Slasher film
A slasher film is a type of horror film typically involving a psychopathic killer stalking and killing a sequence of victims in a graphically violent manner, often with a cutting tool such as a knife or axe...
genre. Clark had moved to Canada, then a tax haven
Tax haven
A tax haven is a state or a country or territory where certain taxes are levied at a low rate or not at all while offering due process, good governance and a low corruption rate....
for Americans, and these productions were small by Hollywood standards but made Clark a big fish in the small pond of the Canadian film industry of that era.
Clark executive-produced the moonshine
Moonshine
Moonshine is an illegally produced distilled beverage...
movie Moonrunners
Moonrunners
Moonrunners is a 1975 film starring James Mitchum, and the precursor to The Dukes of Hazzard television series. Mitchum had co-starred with his famous father, Robert Mitchum, in the similar drive-in favorite Thunder Road eighteen years earlier, which also focused upon moonshine-running bootleggers...
, which was used as source material for the TV series The Dukes of Hazzard
The Dukes of Hazzard
The Dukes of Hazzard is an American television series that aired on the CBS television network from 1979 to 1985.The series was inspired by the 1975 film Moonrunners, which was also created by Gy Waldron and had many identical or similar character names and concepts.- Overview :The Dukes of Hazzard...
. Clark later produced the 2000 TV movie The Dukes of Hazzard: Hazzard in Hollywood. Clark and others sued Warner Bros.
Warner Bros.
Warner Bros. Entertainment, Inc., also known as Warner Bros. Pictures or simply Warner Bros. , is an American producer of film and television entertainment.One of the major film studios, it is a subsidiary of Time Warner, with its headquarters in Burbank,...
over the studio's 2005 movie The Dukes of Hazzard
The Dukes of Hazzard (film)
The Dukes of Hazzard is a 2005 comedy film based on the American television series of the same name. The film was directed by Jay Chandrasekhar and released on August 5, 2005 by Warner Bros. Pictures...
, winning a $17.5 million settlement just prior to the movie's release.
Turning toward more serious fare, Clark scored a critical success with the Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is a fictional detective created by Scottish author and physician Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The fantastic London-based "consulting detective", Holmes is famous for his astute logical reasoning, his ability to take almost any disguise, and his use of forensic science skills to solve...
film Murder by Decree
Murder by Decree
Murder by Decree is an Anglo-Canadian thriller film involving Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in the case of the serial murderer Jack the Ripper...
, starring Christopher Plummer
Christopher Plummer
Arthur Christopher Orne Plummer, CC is a Canadian theatre, film and television actor. He made his film debut in 1957's Stage Struck, and notable early film performances include Night of the Generals, The Return of the Pink Panther and The Man Who Would Be King.In a career that spans over five...
and Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold
Geneviève Bujold is a Canadian actress best known for her portrayal of Anne Boleyn in the 1969 film Anne of the Thousand Days, for which she won a Golden Globe Award for best actress and was nominated for an Academy Award....
, which won five Genie Awards including Best Achievement in Direction and Best Performance for both leads. He followed this with a TV movie of the Bernard Slade
Bernard Slade
Bernard Slade is a Canadian playwright and screenwriter.Born in St. Catharines, Ontario, Slade began his career as an actor with the Garden Center Theatre in Vineland, Ontario. In the mid-1960s, he relocated to Hollywood and began to work as a writer for television sitcoms, including Bewitched...
play Tribute, starring Jack Lemmon
Jack Lemmon
John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III was an American actor and musician. He starred in more than 60 films including Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, Mister Roberts , Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, Irma la Douce, The Odd Couple, Save the Tiger John Uhler "Jack" Lemmon III (February 8, 1925June...
reprising his Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
role, for which Lemmon was nominated for an Academy Award and 11 Genies including a win for Lemmon's performance.
Clark returned to his B-movie
B-movie
A B movie is a low-budget commercial motion picture that is not definitively an arthouse or pornographic film. In its original usage, during the Golden Age of Hollywood, the term more precisely identified a film intended for distribution as the less-publicized, bottom half of a double feature....
roots, though, co-writing, producing, and directing Porky's
Porky's
Porky's is a 1982 comedy film about the escapades of teenagers at the fictional Angel Beach High School in Florida in 1954. It was released in the United States in 1982, and spawned two sequels: Porky's II: The Next Day and Porky's Revenge! and influenced many writers in the teen film genre...
, a longtime personal project. Clark had a detailed outline based on his own youth in Florida, which he dictated into a cassette recorder due to illness, and collaborator Roger Swaybill said of listening to the tapes, "I became convinced that I was sharing in the birth of a major moment in movie history. It was the funniest film story I had ever heard." Though set in the United States, the film would go on to gross more than any other English-language Canadian film. The film was the third most successful release of 1982 and by the end of the film's lengthy initial release, in 1983, Porky's had secured itself a spot, albeit short-lived, as one of the top-25 highest grossing films of all time in the US. The film was (also briefly) the most successful comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
in film history. Porky's overwhelming success is credited as launching the genre of the teen sex comedy so prevalent throughout the 1980s and which continued into the millennium in such movies as the American Pie
American Pie (film)
American Pie is a 1999 teen comedy film written by Adam Herz. American Pie was the directorial film debut of brothers Paul and Chris Weitz, and the first film in the American Pie film series...
franchise. Clark wrote, produced, and directed the film's first sequel, Porky's II: The Next Day
Porky's II: The Next Day
Porky's II: The Next Day is the 1983 sequel to the 1982 film Porky's. The film is written and directed by Bob Clark.-Plot:After dealing to Porky the "fatal" blow that was coming to him, the gang from Angel Beach is ready for a new challenge: The High School Drama Club is producing a Shakespeare...
(1983
1983 in film
-Events:*February 11 - The Rolling Stones concert film Let's Spend the Night Together opens in New York*May 25 - Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, the final film in the original Star Wars trilogy, is released. Like the previous films, it goes on to become the top grossing picture of...
), which shifted the focus away from the title character to two new antagonists with perhaps greater relevance, a sleazy local politician who cynically caters to the influence of a blustering fundamentalist preacher
Preacher
Preacher is a term for someone who preaches sermons or gives homilies. A preacher is distinct from a theologian by focusing on the communication rather than the development of doctrine. Others see preaching and theology as being intertwined...
while seducing a teenage girl. Clark refused involvement with a third film, Porky's Revenge!, which brought Porky and the sexual exploits of the cast back front and center as in the first installment.
He instead collaborated with Jean Shepherd
Jean Shepherd
Jean Parker Shepherd was an American raconteur, radio and TV personality, writer and actor who was often referred to by the nickname Shep....
on A Christmas Story
A Christmas Story
A Christmas Story is a 1983 American Christmas comedy film based on the short stories and semi-fictional anecdotes of author and raconteur Jean Shepherd, including material from his books In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash, and Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories. It was directed by Bob Clark...
, which critic Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin
Leonard Maltin is an American film and animated film critic and historian, author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives.-Personal life:...
described as "one of those rare movies you can say is perfect in every way". Although not a box-office smash in its theatrical release, A Christmas Story would go on to become a perennial a holiday favorite via repeated TV airings and home video
Home video
Home video is a blanket term used for pre-recorded media that is either sold or rented/hired for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from the VHS/Betamax era but has carried over into current optical disc formats like DVD and Blu-ray Disc and, to a lesser extent, into methods of digital...
. A joint effort at a sequel in 1994, My Summer Story
My Summer Story
It Runs in the Family is a 1994 film that follows the further adventures of Ralphie Parker and his family from the holiday hit A Christmas Story...
, did not fare as well; Maltin said that the studio waited too long, and Clark was forced to recast almost the entire film. Three other film versions of the Parker family had been produced for television by PBS with Shepherd's involvement during the late 1980s, also with a different cast, but without Clark's participation.
Clark continued to stay active in the film industry until his death, with lower-budget fare mixed in with brief runs at higher targets. A Hollywood Reporter critic, speaking after his death, described his career as "a very unusual mix of films", because he "at times was a director-for-hire and would do films that, to say the least, aren't stellar". Some of his last output included Baby Geniuses
Baby Geniuses
Baby Geniuses is a 1999 family-oriented comedy film directed by Bob Clark, rated PG for "some rude behavior and dialogue". It stars Kathleen Turner and Christopher Lloyd....
and SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2
SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2
Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 is a 2004 comedy film and the final to be directed by Bob Clark before his death. It is a sequel to the 1999 film Baby Geniuses and like its predecessor, it received universally negative reviews from film critics, earning "0%" positive rating on review website Rotten...
.
Clark was nominated twice for the Razzie Awards as "Worst Director", for Rhinestone
Rhinestone (film)
Rhinestone is a 1984 comedy film directed by Bob Clark with a screenplay by Sylvester Stallone and Phil Alden Robinson; the film stars Stallone and Dolly Parton.-Plot:...
and Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2
SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2
Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 is a 2004 comedy film and the final to be directed by Bob Clark before his death. It is a sequel to the 1999 film Baby Geniuses and like its predecessor, it received universally negative reviews from film critics, earning "0%" positive rating on review website Rotten...
. At the end of his life, he was working with Howard Stern
Howard Stern
Howard Allan Stern is an American radio personality, television host, author, and actor best known for his radio show, which was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2005. He gained wide recognition in the 1990s where he was labeled a "shock jock" for his outspoken and sometimes controversial style...
on a remake of Porky's, and three of his early horror films were slated for expensive remakes: Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things, Deathdream and Black Christmas.
Clark was divorced, and had one other son, Michael.
Death
Clark and his son, Ariel Hanrath-Clark, 22, were killed in a head-on car accidentCar accident
A traffic collision, also known as a traffic accident, motor vehicle collision, motor vehicle accident, car accident, automobile accident, Road Traffic Collision or car crash, occurs when a vehicle collides with another vehicle, pedestrian, animal, road debris, or other stationary obstruction,...
on the Pacific Coast Highway
California State Route 1
State Route 1 , more often called Highway 1, is a state highway that runs along much of the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California. It is famous for running along some of the most beautiful coastlines in the world, leading to its designation as an All-American Road.Highway 1 does not run...
in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles
Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, California
Pacific Palisades is an affluent neighborhood and district within the U.S. city of Los Angeles, California, located among Brentwood to the east, Malibu and Topanga to the west, Santa Monica to the southeast, the Santa Monica Bay to the southwest, and the Santa Monica Mountains to the north. The...
on the morning of April 4, 2007. The crash occurred when an SUV crossed the median and struck Clark's Infiniti
Infiniti
is the luxury division of automaker Nissan. Infiniti officially started selling vehicles on November 8, 1989 in North America. Marketing operations have since grown to include the Middle East, South Korea, Russia, Taiwan, China, Ukraine and the United Kingdom. Infiniti began sales in additional...
I30, causing the closure of the highway for eight hours. Police determined that the SUV's driver, Hector Velazquez-Nava, had a blood alcohol level of three times the legal limit and was driving without a license. He initially pleaded not guilty to two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter, but changed his plea to no contest
Nolo contendere
is a legal term that comes from the Latin for "I do not wish to contend." It is also referred to as a plea of no contest.In criminal trials, and in some common law jurisdictions, it is a plea where the defendant neither admits nor disputes a charge, serving as an alternative to a pleading of...
in August. On October 12, 2007, Velasquez-Nava was sentenced to six years in prison under the terms of a plea agreement.
In addition, he may face deportation
Deportation
Deportation means the expulsion of a person or group of people from a place or country. Today it often refers to the expulsion of foreign nationals whereas the expulsion of nationals is called banishment, exile, or penal transportation...
to his native Mexico, as he entered and was living in the United States illegally
Illegal immigration
Illegal immigration is the migration into a nation in violation of the immigration laws of that jurisdiction. Illegal immigration raises many political, economical and social issues and has become a source of major controversy in developed countries and the more successful developing countries.In...
.
A biographical documentary, ClarkWorld on Clark's life, works and death was produced and directed by Deren Abram. Abram and Clark worked together for over a decade.
Selected Filmography
- The Emperor's New ClothesThe Emperor's New Clothes (1966 film)The Emperor's New Clothes is a 1966 Florida shot film directed by Bob Clark and based on the fairy tale of the same name and featured John Carradine....
(1966) (Director/Writer) - She-ManShe-Man-Plot:A soldier is forced to take estrogen and wear lingerie when he's blackmailed by a violent transvestite....
(1967) (Director/Co-Writer, with Harris Anders and Jeff GillenJeff GillenActor, Director, Producer, Art Director, Set Design and Construction, Mentor, Owner of Great Southern Studios MiamiBest Known as Santa Claus in A Christmas Story Directed by Bob ClarkActor in Numerous Movies and Commercials....
) - Children Shouldn't Play with Dead ThingsChildren Shouldn't Play with Dead ThingsChildren Shouldn't Play with Dead Things is a 1972 comedic horror film directed by Bob Clark...
(1973) (Director/Co-Writer, with Alan OrmsbyAlan OrmsbyAlan Ormsby is an American director, screenwriter, make up artist, actor and author. He is best known for his work in the horror genre.-Film career:...
) - Dead of NightDead of NightDead of Night is a British portmanteau horror film made by Ealing Studios, its various episodes directed by Alberto Cavalcanti, Charles Crichton, Basil Dearden and Robert Hamer. The film stars Mervyn Johns, Googie Withers and Michael Redgrave...
(a.k.a. DeathdreamDeathdreamDeathdream is a 1972 Canadian horror film, directed by Bob Clark and written by Alan Ormsby. It was inspired by the W.W. Jacobs short story The Monkey's Paw.-Plot summary:...
) (1974) - Black ChristmasBlack Christmas (1974 film)Black Christmas is a 1974 Canadian slasher film directed by Bob Clark and written by A. Roy Moore, and largely based on a series of murders that took place in Quebec, Canada around Christmas time. The film's score is by Carl Zittrer. It was distributed by Ambassador Film Distributors in Canada and...
(1974) - Breaking PointBreaking Point (1976 film)Breaking Point is a 1976 film directed by Bob Clark.-Plot:Vincent Karbone is a leading construction magnate in Philadelphia and a suspected leader of one of the city's most notorious criminal gangs. Several of his thugs are on trial, and the key witness is Michael, a mild-mannered judo instructor...
(1976) - Murder by DecreeMurder by DecreeMurder by Decree is an Anglo-Canadian thriller film involving Sherlock Holmes and Doctor Watson in the case of the serial murderer Jack the Ripper...
(1979) - TributeTribute (film)Tribute is a play by Bernard Slade.The plot focuses on Scottie Templeton, a popular actor who has spent his life shirking responsibility. When he discovers he is terminally ill with leukemia, he attempts to reconnect with his long-estranged son....
(1980) - Porky'sPorky'sPorky's is a 1982 comedy film about the escapades of teenagers at the fictional Angel Beach High School in Florida in 1954. It was released in the United States in 1982, and spawned two sequels: Porky's II: The Next Day and Porky's Revenge! and influenced many writers in the teen film genre...
(1982) (Director/Co-Writer, with Roger E. Swaybill) - Porky's II: The Next DayPorky's II: The Next DayPorky's II: The Next Day is the 1983 sequel to the 1982 film Porky's. The film is written and directed by Bob Clark.-Plot:After dealing to Porky the "fatal" blow that was coming to him, the gang from Angel Beach is ready for a new challenge: The High School Drama Club is producing a Shakespeare...
(1983) (Director/Co-Writer, with Roger E. Swaybill and Alan OrmsbyAlan OrmsbyAlan Ormsby is an American director, screenwriter, make up artist, actor and author. He is best known for his work in the horror genre.-Film career:...
) - A Christmas StoryA Christmas StoryA Christmas Story is a 1983 American Christmas comedy film based on the short stories and semi-fictional anecdotes of author and raconteur Jean Shepherd, including material from his books In God We Trust, All Others Pay Cash, and Wanda Hickey's Night of Golden Memories. It was directed by Bob Clark...
(1983) (Director/Co-Writer, with Jean ShepherdJean ShepherdJean Parker Shepherd was an American raconteur, radio and TV personality, writer and actor who was often referred to by the nickname Shep....
and Leigh BrownLeigh BrownLeigh Brown is a former Australian rules football player who played for Fremantle, North Melbourne and finally Collingwood in the Australian Football League. He is a Collingwood premiership player...
) - RhinestoneRhinestone (film)Rhinestone is a 1984 comedy film directed by Bob Clark with a screenplay by Sylvester Stallone and Phil Alden Robinson; the film stars Stallone and Dolly Parton.-Plot:...
(1984) - Turk 182! (1985)
- Amazing StoriesAmazing StoriesAmazing Stories was an American science fiction magazine launched in April 1926 by Hugo Gernsback's Experimenter Publishing. It was the first magazine devoted solely to science fiction...
(1985) (TV) - From the HipFrom the Hip (film)From the Hip, is a 1987 comedy film directed by Bob Clark from a screenplay by Bob Clark and David E. Kelley. The film stars Judd Nelson, Elizabeth Perkins and John Hurt. Nelson's performance earned him a Razzie Award nomination for Worst Actor....
(1987) (Director/Co-Writer, with David E. KelleyDavid E. KelleyDavid Edward Kelley is an American television writer and producer, known as the creator of Picket Fences, Chicago Hope, The Practice, Ally McBeal, Boston Public, Boston Legal and Harry's Law, as well as several films. Kelley is one of the only screenwriters to have had a show created by him run on...
) - Loose CannonsLoose CannonsLoose Cannons is a 1990 comedy film, written by Richard Matheson, Richard Christian Matheson, and Bob Clark, who also directed the film. The film is about a hard-nosed cop who is teamed up with a detective with multiple-personality disorder to uncover a long-lost Nazi sex tape, featuring Adolf...
(1990) (Director/Co-Writer, with Richard MathesonRichard MathesonRichard Burton Matheson is an American author and screenwriter, primarily in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres. He is perhaps best known as the author of What Dreams May Come, Bid Time Return, A Stir of Echoes, The Incredible Shrinking Man, and I Am Legend, all of which have been...
and Richard Christian MathesonRichard Christian MathesonRichard Christian Matheson is an American writer of horror fiction and screenplays. He is the author of the short story collections Scars and Other Distinguishing Marks and Dystopia; the novel Created By; and the screenplay for the Showtime Masters of Horror installments Dance of the Dead and...
) - The American ClockThe American ClockThe American Clock is a play by Arthur Miller. The play is about 1930s America during The Great Depression. It is based in part on Studs Terkel's Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression. The play premiered on Broadway at the Biltmore Theatre on November 11, 1980; closing on November 30,...
(1993) (TV) - It Runs in the FamilyIt Runs in the FamilyIt Runs in the Family may refer to:* It Runs in the Family , a sequel to A Christmas Story* It Runs in the Family , a film starring three generations of the Douglas acting family...
(a.k.a. My Summer StoryMy Summer StoryIt Runs in the Family is a 1994 film that follows the further adventures of Ralphie Parker and his family from the holiday hit A Christmas Story...
) (1993) (Director/Co-Writer, with Jean ShepherdJean ShepherdJean Parker Shepherd was an American raconteur, radio and TV personality, writer and actor who was often referred to by the nickname Shep....
and Leigh BrownLeigh BrownLeigh Brown is a former Australian rules football player who played for Fremantle, North Melbourne and finally Collingwood in the Australian Football League. He is a Collingwood premiership player...
) - DerbyDerbyDerby , is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands region of England. It lies upon the banks of the River Derwent and is located in the south of the ceremonial county of Derbyshire. In the 2001 census, the population of the city was 233,700, whilst that of the Derby Urban Area was 229,407...
(1995) (TV) - FudgeFudge (TV series)Fudge is an American children's television series produced by Amblin Entertainment in association with MTE, based on a series of Judy Blume books about a young boy nicknamed Fudge. The series ran for two seasons , with 24 episodes following a telefilm adaptation of Blume's novel Fudge-A-Mania,...
(1995) (TV) - The Ransom of Red ChiefThe Ransom of Red Chief"The Ransom of Red Chief" is a 1910 short story by O. Henry. It follows two men who attempt to kidnap and ransom a wealthy Alabaman's son; eventually, the men are driven to distraction by the boy and end up having to pay the boy's father to take him back....
(1998) (TV) - Baby GeniusesBaby GeniusesBaby Geniuses is a 1999 family-oriented comedy film directed by Bob Clark, rated PG for "some rude behavior and dialogue". It stars Kathleen Turner and Christopher Lloyd....
(1999) (Director/Co-Writer, with Greg Michael) - I'll Remember AprilI'll Remember April (film)I'll Remember April is a 1999 film starring Pat Morita, Pam Dawber, Haley Joel Osment and Yuki Tokuhiro, directed by Bob Clark.- Plot :Four children capture a Japanese soldier who washes ashore during the Second World War....
(2000) - Now & ForeverNow & Forever (film)-Plot:Against a backdrop of clashing cultures, John Myron and Angela Wilson find each other and over the years form a powerful bond. One tragic night, John rescues Angela from a wicked act of betrayal...
(2002) - Maniac MageeManiac MageeManiac Magee is a young adult fiction novel written by American author Jerry Spinelli and published in 1990. Exploring themes of racism and homelessness, it follows the story of an orphaned boy looking for a home in the fictional Pennsylvania town of Two Mills...
(2003) (TV) - The Karate DogThe Karate DogThe Karate Dog is a 2004 made for TV movie starring Chevy Chase, Simon Rex, Jon Voight, and Jaime Pressly...
(2004) (TV) - Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2 is a 2004 comedy film and the final to be directed by Bob Clark before his death. It is a sequel to the 1999 film Baby Geniuses and like its predecessor, it received universally negative reviews from film critics, earning "0%" positive rating on review website Rotten...
(2004)
External links
- Canadian Film Encyclopedia [A publication of The Film Reference Library/a division of the Toronto International Film Festival Group]
- Bob Clark at Notable Names Database.
- Canuxploitation interview http://www.canuxploitation.com/interview/clark.html