John Clarke Passes On

Actor John Clarke, who starred on the short-lived television series The New Breed and spent 39 years on the soap opera Days of Our Lives, died on October 16 2019 at the age of 88. The cause was complications from pneumonia.

John Clarke was born in South Bend, Indiana on April 13 1939. As his father was an officer in the United States Army, his family moved frequently. He attended UCLA. During the Korea War he served in the United States Air Force as part of touring group that entertained the troops.

John Clarke made his television debut in a guest appearance in an episode of Whirlybirds in 1959. That same year he guest starred on the Twilight Zone episode "The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine." He also guest starred on Death Valley Days, Gunsmoke, Zane Grey Theatre, Lawman, Law of the Plainsman, The Blue Angels, Guestward Ho!, The Loretta Young Show, Michael Shayne, and Hawaiian Eye.

In the Sixties John Clarke was a regular on the short-lived police drama The New Breed alongside Leslie Nielsen. He was part of the cast of Days of Our Lives when it debuted in 1965 and remained with the show until 2004. He guest starred on The Law and Mr. Jones, The Loretta Young Show, Gunsmoke, Petticoat Junction, My Living Doll, The Fugitive, The F.B.I., The Felony Squad, and The Silent Force. Mr. Clarke made his film debut in 1961 in Operation Bottleneck. He appeared in the films You Have to Run Fast (1961), Gun Street (1961), Judgement at Nuremberg (1961), It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963), The Thin Red Line (1964), Finger on the Trigger (1965), and The Satan Bug (1965).

In the Seventies, Mr. Clarke continued to appear on Days of Our Lives. In the Eighties he guest starred on Hart to Hart. In the Nineties he guest starred on Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman and appeared in the film Critics and Other Freaks (1997). He left Days of Our Lives in 2004 and retired from acting.