Dick Clark - Wikipedia

Richard Wagstaff Clark[1][2] (November 30, 1929 – April 18, 2012) was an American radio and television personality, television producer and film actor, as well as a cultural icon who remains best known for hosting American Bandstand from 1957 to 1987. He also hosted the game show Pyramid and Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve, which transmitted Times Square's New Year's Eve celebrations. Clark was well known for his trademark sign-off, "For now, Dick Clark — so long!", accompanied by a facsimile of a military salute.
As host of American Bandstand, Clark introduced rock & roll to many Americans. The show gave many new music artists their first exposure to national audiences, including Ike and Tina Turner, Smokey Robinson and the Miracles, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Talking Heads, Simon & Garfunkel and Madonna. Episodes he hosted were among the first in which blacks and whites performed on the same stage, and likewise among the first in which the live studio audience sat without racial segregation. Singer Paul Anka claimed that Bandstand was responsible for creating a "youth culture." Due to his perennial youthful appearance and his largely teenaged audience of American Bandstand, Clark was often referred to as "America's oldest teenager" or "the world's oldest teenager".[3]
In his off-stage roles, Clark served as Chief Executive Officer of Dick Clark Productions (an interest in which he sold off in his later years). He also founded the American Bandstand Diner, a restaurant chain modeled after the Hard Rock Cafe.[vague] In 1973, he created and produced the annual American Music Awardsshow, similar to the Grammy Awards.[3]
Clark suffered a stroke in December 2004. With speech ability still impaired, Clark returned to his New Year's Rockin' Eve show a year later on December 31, 2005. Subsequently, he appeared at the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards in 2006, and every New Year's Rockin' Eve show through the 2011–12 show. He died on April 18, 2012, of a heart attack, at the age of 82, following a medical procedure.[vague][4]SMSgt Lawrence McCarter Maj William W. "Bill" Price SrA Christopher Wright MSG Andrew White SFC Stephen King MCPO Roger Collins SPC Margaret Higgins SGT Gregory Lawritson LTC (Join to see) MSG Frederick Otero LTC Stephen F. COL Mikel J. BurroughsSSgt Robert Marx CW5 Jack Cardwell MSgt John McGowan LCDR (Join to see) SGT Mark Halmrast SGT Jim Arnold SCPO Morris Ramsey PO2 Peter Klein