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Susan Clark

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Susan Clark
Clark as Babe Didrikson Zaharias in 1975
Born
Nora Golding

(1943-03-08) March 8, 1943 (age 81)
Sarnia, Ontario, Canada
OccupationActress
Years active1963–2007
Spouses
Bob Joseph
(m. 1970; div. 1973)
(m. 1980; died 2012)
Children1

Susan Clark (born Nora Golding; March 8, 1943)[1] is a Canadian actress. She made her big screen debut in the 1967 drama film Banning and the following year played the female lead in the crime thriller Coogan's Bluff. She later starred in films Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here (1969), Colossus: The Forbin Project (1971), Valdez Is Coming (1971), Skin Game (1971), Showdown (1973), The Midnight Man (1974), Airport 1975 (1975), Night Moves (1975), The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975), Murder by Decree (1979), Promises in the Dark (1979) and Porky's (1981).

Clark received Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie for playing Babe Didrikson Zaharias in the 1975 television film Babe, and another Emmy Award nomination for playing Amelia Earhart in the 1976 television film Amelia Earhart.[2] From 1983 to 1989, she starred as Katherine Papadopolis in the American sitcom Webster, on which she appeared with her husband, Alex Karras, receiving Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy nomination in 1985.[3]

Early life

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Clark was born as Nora Golding in Sarnia, Ontario and raised in Toronto, where she attended Northern Secondary School. She made her professional debut at the age of 15 on stage in the musical Silk Stockings, which starred Don Ameche.[4] She went to study acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts in London, England and two years later acted in a number of classical and modern plays.[4]

Career

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Clark as Lady Macbeth in the 1972 production

In the early 1960s, Clark while living in London began appearing on British television, including guest appearances on The Plane Makers, The Sentimental Agent and The Benny Hill Show. She made her debut on the London stage in Poor Bitos. The play and Clark received good reviews but news from home about her father, who had fallen ill, led her back to Canada.[4] She returned to Canada in 1965, when she appeared in a number of episodes of the anthology series Festival.

She was employed by Universal Pictures from 1967 where she appeared in several television series and made her feature film debut in the drama film Banning.[5] Clark had leading roles in several Universal films, including Coogan's Bluff[5] with Clint Eastwood in 1968, Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here with Robert Redford in 1969, Valdez Is Coming with Burt Lancaster in 1971, Showdown with Dean Martin in 1973, Night Moves with Gene Hackman in 1975, the disaster film Airport 1975, The Apple Dumpling Gang with Bill Bixby in 1975, and another disaster film, City on Fire, in 1979.

Clark starred in the 1975 television movie, Babe, playing multi-sport athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias. Her performance won her an Emmy in 1976.[6] In 1976, she starred in a three-hour made-for-television movie biography of the aviator Amelia Earhart which also covered her marriage to noted publisher G. P. Putnam; she received an Emmy nomination for Best Actress. She posed topless for Playboy in the February 1973 issue pictorial entitled "The Ziegfeld Girls: A dazzling review starring the talking pictures' own Susan Clark".

Clark played Dr. Cleo Markham in Colossus: The Forbin Project, hooker Cherry Forever in Porky's (in which Karras also starred), Elizabeth Murray in Emily of New Moon, Elaine Moore in the television movie Trapped, and Muriel Mulligan in the 1994 television movie Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story. She played murderess Beth Chadwick in the Columbo episode "Lady in Waiting". She and Karras played husband and wife together on the sitcom Webster for six years in the 1980s.[5]

In 2006, Clark appeared at the Manitoba Theatre Centre in the Warehouse production of The Retreat from Moscow, and in the 2007 Mainstage production of The Importance of Being Earnest.

Personal life

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She married American football player turned actor Alex Karras in 1980. They met when they co-starred in Babe (and he played her husband,[6] professional wrestler George Zaharias). They later co-starred on the popular primetime sitcom Webster together, portraying husband and wife. Their daughter Katie was born in 1980.

Clark and Karras remained married for 32 years until his death on October 10, 2012.[7]

Filmography

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Film

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Year Title Role Notes
1967 Banning Cynthia Linus
1968 Madigan Tricia Bentley
1968 Coogan's Bluff Julie Roth
1969 Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here Dr. Elizabeth Arnold
1970 Skullduggery Dr. Sybil Greame
1970 Colossus: The Forbin Project Dr. Cleo Markham
1971 Valdez Is Coming Gay Erin
1971 Skin Game Ginger / Miss Abigail Blodgett Nominated — NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Actress in a Motion Picture
1973 Showdown Kate Jarvis
1974 The Midnight Man Linda Thorpe
1974 Airport 1975 Helen Patroni
1975 Night Moves Ellen Moseby
1975 The Apple Dumpling Gang Magnolia Dusty Clydesdale Nominated — Golden Apple Award for Female New Star of the Year
1979 Murder by Decree Mary Jane Kelly
1979 The North Avenue Irregulars Anne Woods
1979 City on Fire Diana Brockhurst-Lautrec
1979 Promises in the Dark Fran Koenig
1980 Deadly Companion Paula West
1981 Nobody's Perfekt Carol
1981 Porky's Cherry Forever

Television

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Year Title Role Notes
1963 The Plane Makers Janet "A Good Night's Work"
1963 Emergency – Ward 10 Phyllis Armour "1.637", "1.639"
1963 The Sentimental Agent Philippa "Finishing School"
1965 The Benny Hill Show Various "Police: Friend or Foe?"
1965 Festival Cathy / Heloise "Horror of Darkness", "Heloise and Abelard"
1966 Festival Mabel Chiltern "An Ideal Husband"
1966 Seaway Kate Lynch "Trial by Fire"
1967 Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre Helen Silbey "Blind Man's Bluff"
1967 The Virginian Melanie Kohler "Melanie"
1967 Run for Your Life Kathryn Aller "Cry Hard, Cry Fast: Parts 1 & 2"
1968 Something for a Lonely Man Mary Duren TV film
1969 Marcus Welby, M.D. Ruth Ann Adams "Hello, Goodbye, Hello"
1970 The Challengers Catherine "Cat" Burroughs TV film
1971 The Bold Ones: The Lawyers Ellen McKay "In Defense of Ellen McKay"
1971 Columbo Beth Chadwick "Lady in Waiting"
1972 The Astronaut Gail Randolph TV film
1972 Poet Game Diana Howard TV film
1972 Marcus Welby, M.D. Judy Graham "Please Don't Send Flowers"
1972 The Bold Ones: The New Doctors Janice Morrow "An Inalienable Right to Die"
1973 Trapped Elaine Moore TV film
1974 Double Solitaire Barbara Potter TV film
1974 Barnaby Jones Karen Maybury / "Leila Evanston" "Woman in the Shadows"
1975 Babe Mildred "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias TV film
Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
1976 McNaughton's Daughter Laurel McNaughton TV miniseries
1976 Amelia Earhart Amelia Earhart TV film
Nominated — Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie
1978 Hedda Gabler Hedda Gabler TV film
1980 Jimmy B. & André Stevie TV film
1981 The Choice Kay Clements TV film
1981 Standing Room Only Madge Larrabee "Sherlock Holmes"
1982 Maid in America Catherine Abel TV film
1983-89 Webster Katherine Calder-Young Papadapolis 150 episodes
Nominated — Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Musical or Comedy (1985)
1991 Murder, She Wrote Meredith Hellman "Moving Violation"
1994 Snowbound: The Jim and Jennifer Stolpa Story Muriel Mulligan TV film
1994 Tonya & Nancy: The Inside Story LaVona Harding TV film
1995 Butterbox Babies Lila Young TV filmGemini Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role in a Dramatic Program or Mini-Series
1996 Toe Tags Trent's Mother TV film
1998-99 Emily of New Moon Aunt Elizabeth Murray 43 episodes

References

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  1. ^ Wise, Wyndham (March 4, 2015). "Susan Clark". The Canadian Encyclopedia.
  2. ^ "Susan Clark - Rotten Tomatoes". www.rottentomatoes.com.
  3. ^ "Susan Clark". TVGuide.com.
  4. ^ a b c Lucas, Ralph (March 8, 2015). "Susan Clark - Biography". Northernstars.ca.
  5. ^ a b c Dizon, Bettina (February 23, 2020). "Susan Clark, Emmanuel Lewis & Rest of 'Webster' Cast over 30 Years after the Popular Sitcom Ended". Amomama. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  6. ^ a b "Babe (TV Movie): About". Warner Bros.com. Retrieved July 1, 2021.
  7. ^ Byrge, Duane; Barnes, Mike (October 10, 2012). "Alex Karras, Football Star Turned Actor, Dies at 77". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved November 7, 2021.
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