Judy Clark

For other people named Judy Clark, see Judy Clark (disambiguation).
Judy Clark
Clark in The Kid Sister (1945)
Born(1921-06-09)June 9, 1921
DiedDecember 27, 2002(2002-12-27) (aged 81)
NationalityAmerican
OccupationActress
Years active1942–1962
Spouses
George Myers
​
​
(m. 1949; div. 1950)​
William Jerome Otto
​
​
(m. 1953; div. 1953)​
Ron Zalimas
​
(m. 1956⁠–⁠2002)​

Judy Clark (June 9, 1921 – December 27, 2002)[citation needed] was an American film and television actress and singer. Clark adopted a brash and energetic singing style, similar to that of musical-comedy star Betty Hutton.

Early life

Clark was the daughter of Jack Kaufman, who was a vaudeville performer.[1] She and comedian Jack Gilford were among the new faces in the stage show Meet the People; Universal Pictures signed both for the Gloria Jean musical Reckless Age (1944).[citation needed]

Clark won the juvenile lead in the 1944 Benny Fields musical Minstrel Man, in which she delivered two songs in the Hutton manner. The role reflected Clark's own life, as a rising star in a theatrical family.[citation needed] She continued to work in pictures through the mid-1940s, including the Joan Davis musical comedy Beautiful but Broke (1944), the Cinderella-styled comedy The Kid Sister (1945), the Freddie Stewart musical Junior Prom (1946), In Fast Company with The Bowery Boys (1946), and the Jean Porter musical Two Blondes and a Redhead (1947). Beginning in 1949, with fewer musicals being made, she worked in the action/adventure field, in two serials, Bruce Gentry and Desperadoes of the West. Altogether she appeared in more than two dozen films and several television productions.

Stage

Clark's work as a singer included performing with Jimmy McHugh's Hollywood Singing Stars.[2] She also danced and sang in the stage musical Lend an Ear at the Las Palmas Theater.[3]

Personal life

Clark was diagnosed with anemia, resulting in pain in both ankles and thus forcing her to give up dancing.[citation needed]

On October 1, 1949, Clark married businessman George Myers in Los Angeles.[4] They were divorced on July 14, 1950.[5] In 1953 she married William Jerome Otto, 24-year-old heir to a drug chain; the union was unsuccessful and she sued for divorce nine months later, asking to be repaid $625 that he had borrowed.[6] In 1956 she met her future husband, Ron Zalimas, on the set of a Burns and Allen TV show. He was 15 years her junior,[7] but they remained married until her death in 2002.[citation needed]

Filmography

References

  1. ^ "Actress Judy Clark To Wed Broker". Lodi News-Sentinel. California, Lodi. United Press. September 29, 1949. p. 7. Retrieved September 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. ^ "Judy Clark Gets $200 Alimony Pending Trial". The Los Angeles Times. September 18, 1953. p. 2. Retrieved September 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Judy Clark Signed for Eythe's Musical". The Los Angeles Times. April 26, 1948. p. 19. Retrieved September 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  4. ^ "Actress Judy Clark files for divorce". Argus-Leader. South Dakota, Sioux Falls. Associated Press. June 6, 1950. p. 2. Retrieved September 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "Actress divorces mate 'who didn't want me'". The Los Angeles Times. July 15, 1950. p. Part II - 16. Retrieved September 10, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ Los Angeles Times, Sept. 18, 1953, p. 2.
  7. ^ westernclippings.com, interview
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