Marlene Clark, an actor who appeared on “Sanford and Son,” the horror movie “Ganja & Hess” and several other films of the ’60s and ’70s, died on May 18. She was 85.
Clark starred in several films ahead of landing her breakout role as Lamont Lawson’s (played by Demond Wilson) wife Janet in “Sanford and Son.” She later starred in the 1973 horror movie “Ganja & Hess” alongside Duane Jones.
Clark was born and raised in Harlem, N.Y., and spent time in West Virginia during her summers. She returned to New York after attending Morristown Jr. College in Tennessee and enrolled in City College. While at school, Clark participated in school plays, igniting her interest in the acting world.
Clark later moved to Los Angeles with her then-husband Billy Dee Williams. She began her career in entertainment as a fashion model before landing her first role in the 1968 film “For Love of Ivy.
Clark starred in several films ahead of landing her breakout role as Lamont Lawson’s (played by Demond Wilson) wife Janet in “Sanford and Son.” She later starred in the 1973 horror movie “Ganja & Hess” alongside Duane Jones.
Clark was born and raised in Harlem, N.Y., and spent time in West Virginia during her summers. She returned to New York after attending Morristown Jr. College in Tennessee and enrolled in City College. While at school, Clark participated in school plays, igniting her interest in the acting world.
Clark later moved to Los Angeles with her then-husband Billy Dee Williams. She began her career in entertainment as a fashion model before landing her first role in the 1968 film “For Love of Ivy.
- 5/30/2023
- by McKinley Franklin
- Variety Film + TV
Marlene Clark, best known for her portrayals of Lamont’s girlfriend Janet in the 1970s NBC sitcom Sanford & Son and as Ganja Meda in the 1973 horror film Ganja & Hess, has died.
Demond Wilson, who played Lamont on Sanford & Son, paid tribute to Clark on Twitter, writing “Rip beautiful actress Marlene Clark. . . It was a delight to work with you…,” noting she died on May 18. Wilson listed her age as 73, but that has not been confirmed.
Clark joined Sanford & Son in the comedy’s fifth season in 1976 as a recurring opposite Wilson, remaining through the series’ final season the following year.
Raised in the Harlem section of New York City, Clark was a fashion model before her transition to acting.
Her earliest work began in films in the 1960s including For Love of Ivy opposite Sidney Poitier and Putney Swope in 1969, directed by Robert Downey Sr. She went...
Demond Wilson, who played Lamont on Sanford & Son, paid tribute to Clark on Twitter, writing “Rip beautiful actress Marlene Clark. . . It was a delight to work with you…,” noting she died on May 18. Wilson listed her age as 73, but that has not been confirmed.
Clark joined Sanford & Son in the comedy’s fifth season in 1976 as a recurring opposite Wilson, remaining through the series’ final season the following year.
Raised in the Harlem section of New York City, Clark was a fashion model before her transition to acting.
Her earliest work began in films in the 1960s including For Love of Ivy opposite Sidney Poitier and Putney Swope in 1969, directed by Robert Downey Sr. She went...
- 5/26/2023
- by Denise Petski
- Deadline Film + TV
Marlene Clark, the statuesque actress who portrayed Lamont’s fiancée on Sanford and Son and stood out in such 1970s’ films as Ganja & Hess, Switchblade Sisters and Slaughter, has died. She was 85.
Clark died May 18 in her home in Los Angeles, her family announced. No cause of death was revealed.
Clark also starred as a reptilian seductress in Roger Corman’s Night of the Cobra Woman (1972) and as one of the suspected werewolves in the British horror film The Beast Must Die (1974), and she was an early victim in the Larry Hagman-directed Beware! The Blob (1972).
Clark played John Saxon‘s secretary in Enter the Dragon (1973), starring Bruce Lee, and her big-screen body of work also included Black Mamba (1974), Newman’s Law (1974), Lord Shango (1975) and The Baron (1977), where she appeared opposite her Beast Must Die onscreen husband, Calvin Lockhart.
In the surreal Ganja & Hess (1973), directed by Bill Gunn,...
Clark died May 18 in her home in Los Angeles, her family announced. No cause of death was revealed.
Clark also starred as a reptilian seductress in Roger Corman’s Night of the Cobra Woman (1972) and as one of the suspected werewolves in the British horror film The Beast Must Die (1974), and she was an early victim in the Larry Hagman-directed Beware! The Blob (1972).
Clark played John Saxon‘s secretary in Enter the Dragon (1973), starring Bruce Lee, and her big-screen body of work also included Black Mamba (1974), Newman’s Law (1974), Lord Shango (1975) and The Baron (1977), where she appeared opposite her Beast Must Die onscreen husband, Calvin Lockhart.
In the surreal Ganja & Hess (1973), directed by Bill Gunn,...
- 5/26/2023
- by Mike Barnes
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Sanford and Son, the first mainstream, primetime sitcom in television history with an almost-all Black cast, debuted on NBC on Jan. 14, 1972. Created by Norman Lear, and starring legendary “blue” comedian Redd Foxx as an African American bigot, it was seen as a direct answer to CBS’ All in the Family. But the Bunker family series was a social satire which took its laughs seriously. The Sanfords presented pure comedy, any lessons it taught were intentionally coincidental. The most controversial part of the show, when it first aired, was its lead actor.
Foxx was already an underground comedy legend when Cleavon Little, best known for his role as Sheriff Bart in Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles, suggested him for the lead in the mid-season replacement. Little wasn’t available, but worked with Foxx on Ossie Davis’s 1970 neo-noir film Cotton Comes to Harlem. Before Foxx played the junk dealer stuck with the bale of genuine Mississippi cotton,...
Foxx was already an underground comedy legend when Cleavon Little, best known for his role as Sheriff Bart in Mel Brooks’ Blazing Saddles, suggested him for the lead in the mid-season replacement. Little wasn’t available, but worked with Foxx on Ossie Davis’s 1970 neo-noir film Cotton Comes to Harlem. Before Foxx played the junk dealer stuck with the bale of genuine Mississippi cotton,...
- 1/14/2022
- by Alec Bojalad
- Den of Geek
Consider this a holiday gift for fans of vintage TV shows, as the below classics all arrived on streaming this month. The Jeffersons You’re already humming the joyous theme song, aren’t you? Thanks to his successful dry-cleaning business, fiery George Jefferson (Sherman Hemsley), spirited wife Weezy (Isabel Sanford), and hip son Lionel (Mike Evans and Damon Evans) moved on up from Queens to New York’s Upper East Side on CBS’s 1975–85 spinoff of All in the Family. Like its predecessor, the sitcom seamlessly blended humor with groundbreaking issues, like interracial romance. Seasons 1–11 available Sanford and Son (Credit: Everett Collection) Sanford and Son Widower Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) may have worked as a junk dealer, but this sitcom was comedy gold. Episodes of the 1972–77 series — NBC’s answer to issue-charged All in the Family, also from producer Norman Lear — centered around Fred’s clashes with levelheaded son Lamont...
- 12/26/2021
- TV Insider
In the next installment of “Zoom Where It Happens”, Cedric the Entertainer, Wayne Brady, Lala Milan and Dwyane Wade will do a live, virtual table read of the classic trailblazing sitcom Sanford and Son which aired on NBC for 6 seasons from 1972 to 1977. The live table read will be directed by Sanaa Lathan and is set for October 13 (that’s today!) at 6pm Pst.
The “Zoom Where It Happens” series showcases script reads of throwback sitcoms, with all-Black casts for a civic cause. This week’s episode will spotlight and support Pulso, a non-profit media start-up with a growing subscriber base of nearly 1 million Hispanic and Latinx people across the United States.
Created by Black women in Hollywood, including Ava DuVernay, Kerry Washington, Issa Rae, Tessa Thompson, Rashida Jones, Regina King and Channing Dungey, “Zoom Where It Happens,” produces a weekly live event, featuring a script read of a throwback sitcom,...
The “Zoom Where It Happens” series showcases script reads of throwback sitcoms, with all-Black casts for a civic cause. This week’s episode will spotlight and support Pulso, a non-profit media start-up with a growing subscriber base of nearly 1 million Hispanic and Latinx people across the United States.
Created by Black women in Hollywood, including Ava DuVernay, Kerry Washington, Issa Rae, Tessa Thompson, Rashida Jones, Regina King and Channing Dungey, “Zoom Where It Happens,” produces a weekly live event, featuring a script read of a throwback sitcom,...
- 10/13/2020
- by Dino-Ray Ramos
- Deadline Film + TV
Nathaniel Taylor, the actor best known for playing smooth-talking sidekick Rollo Lawson on 1970s sitcom Sanford and Son, died Feb. 27 at the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center after suffering a heart attack. He was 80.
His death was announced on social media by his friend, the music promoter Alonzo Williams. According to Williams, the actor was hospitalized on Feb. 23 after suffering a heart attack.
Although Taylor had a few small guest roles on television in the early ’70s – credited as Jita Hadi on The Bold Ones and The Bill Cosby Show – it was his recurring role on the 1972-77 Sanford and Son that brought lasting fame among the show’s still-considerable fan base. His Rollo, a streetwise character typically dressed in the snazziest of hip clothes, was the best friend of Demond Wilson’s Lamont Sanford and forever the target of often-justified scorn and mistrust of Redd Foxx’s Fred Sanford.
His death was announced on social media by his friend, the music promoter Alonzo Williams. According to Williams, the actor was hospitalized on Feb. 23 after suffering a heart attack.
Although Taylor had a few small guest roles on television in the early ’70s – credited as Jita Hadi on The Bold Ones and The Bill Cosby Show – it was his recurring role on the 1972-77 Sanford and Son that brought lasting fame among the show’s still-considerable fan base. His Rollo, a streetwise character typically dressed in the snazziest of hip clothes, was the best friend of Demond Wilson’s Lamont Sanford and forever the target of often-justified scorn and mistrust of Redd Foxx’s Fred Sanford.
- 3/1/2019
- by Greg Evans
- Deadline Film + TV
Demond Wilson has lived kind of an incredible and impressive life when you really look back on it. He made his Broadway debut at the age of 4 after taking tap and ballet lessons and he managed to appear at the famed Apollo Theater in Harlem when was just 12. In many ways it seemed as though he was made for show business since he took to it so naturally. But his life didn’t always revolve around the stage or on screen. In fact he wouldn’t get to TV until the 70s when he started doing movies and TV shows,
Whatever Happened to Demond Wilson?...
Whatever Happened to Demond Wilson?...
- 11/6/2018
- by Tom
- TVovermind.com
Howard Platt (left) and Hal Williams (right) are best known for playing the police pals Hoppy and Smitty -- opposite Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson -- in the hilarious '70s sitcom, "Sanford and Son." Guess what they look like now!
- 3/2/2018
- by TMZ Staff
- TMZ
“Sanford & Son,” the classic ‘70s sitcom starring legendary comedian Redd Foxx and Demond Wilson, will take over TV One with a three-day marathon beginning tomorrow, Friday, Jan. 13 at 8 p.m. Et. Celebrating the series’ 45th anniversary, the network is… Continue Reading →...
- 1/12/2017
- by shadowandact
- ShadowAndAct
Tony Sokol Nov 27, 2016
Such sad news: Ron Glass, Firefly’s guru, has died at the age of 71.
Such sad news for you. The brilliant Ron Glass died on November 25th 2016 at the age of 71, it was announced by his representative through Variety.
Glass was initially best known for playing Detective Ron Harris, who moonlit as the author of such true crime books as Blood On The Badge, in the classic 70s Us sitcom Barney Miller. But for those of us of the nerdy persuasion, he was Shepherd Derrial Book, the spiritual centre of Joss Whedon’s Firefly. Glass, of course, reprised the role in the 2005 movie Serenity.
Video of Barney Miller - The Harris Incident - Season 5 - Ep 9
“Ron Glass was one of the greatest actors to work with. His laugh was beyond infectious and his generosity was ever present. #ripronglass,” actor Alan Tudyk wrote on Twitter.
"I've had...
Such sad news: Ron Glass, Firefly’s guru, has died at the age of 71.
Such sad news for you. The brilliant Ron Glass died on November 25th 2016 at the age of 71, it was announced by his representative through Variety.
Glass was initially best known for playing Detective Ron Harris, who moonlit as the author of such true crime books as Blood On The Badge, in the classic 70s Us sitcom Barney Miller. But for those of us of the nerdy persuasion, he was Shepherd Derrial Book, the spiritual centre of Joss Whedon’s Firefly. Glass, of course, reprised the role in the 2005 movie Serenity.
Video of Barney Miller - The Harris Incident - Season 5 - Ep 9
“Ron Glass was one of the greatest actors to work with. His laugh was beyond infectious and his generosity was ever present. #ripronglass,” actor Alan Tudyk wrote on Twitter.
"I've had...
- 11/27/2016
- Den of Geek
September is here again, and it's time to delve into the cinematic bounty of the Wavelengths section of the Toronto International Film Festival, that rambunctious and idiosyncratic corner of the Reitman Machine largely cordoned off from commercial concerns and set aside for lovely and sometimes difficult film art. Despite the ever-changing profile of Tiff, stalwart programmer Andréa Picard has [cue needle-scratching-record sound] What? Yes, last year at this time, the avant-garde community thought we were seeing Ms. Picard leaving this position behind. Fortunately for us all, Tiff won her back.
And this is where things get interesting. Starting with this 2012 edition of the festival, the Wavelengths section is a much more broadly based, festival-wide category. In essence, it now subsumes the old Visions designation, which was Tiff’s home for formally challenging, feature-length arthouse fare. This merger, which may seem like a bit of a shotgun wedding to some, does in fact make sense.
And this is where things get interesting. Starting with this 2012 edition of the festival, the Wavelengths section is a much more broadly based, festival-wide category. In essence, it now subsumes the old Visions designation, which was Tiff’s home for formally challenging, feature-length arthouse fare. This merger, which may seem like a bit of a shotgun wedding to some, does in fact make sense.
- 9/11/2012
- MUBI
Today, Sandford & Son made history in 1972 when it debuted. It was the first show since The Amos and Andy Show to feature an all-African-American cast. The show was actually based on a popular British sitcom called Steptoe and Son. Television producers Norman Lear and Bud Yorkin “Americanized” the show by recasting the leads with African-Americans. During four of its six seasons, it garnered higher ratings than any other NBC prime-time series.
The sitcom starred Redd Foxx (whose real name was John Sanford) as Fred Sanford and Demond Wilson as his son, Lamont Sanford. Fred worked as a junk dealer, and Lamont was dedicated to helping his father.
The show marked the beginning of many black cast shows to follow including The Jeffersons, Good Times and What’s Happening. You can catch old episodes of the show on the TVLand cable channel.
Below is a clip of Fred meeting one of his all-time favorites,...
The sitcom starred Redd Foxx (whose real name was John Sanford) as Fred Sanford and Demond Wilson as his son, Lamont Sanford. Fred worked as a junk dealer, and Lamont was dedicated to helping his father.
The show marked the beginning of many black cast shows to follow including The Jeffersons, Good Times and What’s Happening. You can catch old episodes of the show on the TVLand cable channel.
Below is a clip of Fred meeting one of his all-time favorites,...
- 1/14/2011
- by Cynthia
- ShadowAndAct
The concept behind Mission: Impossible had never been attempted on television before and the CBS series about a covert government operation taking on; well, impossible, cases became a smash hit. Guided by the steady Peter Graves, Greg Morris and Peter Lupis, the series received awards, acclaim and most importantly, ratings. Early on, the show was also headlined by Martin Landau and Barbara Bain, but they left after three seasons. In stepped Leonard Nimoy, Lesley Ann Warren, and Sam Elliot for the next two seasons but by spring 1971, the show was beginning to feel tired.
Season six, airing 1971-1972, was the season that should not have been. Paramount Pictures wanted the show canceled and placed into profitable reruns but CBS saw ratings upticks at the end of season five and wanted the series back. Nimoy wanted out, saying he was bored. It was time to change everything up.
The penultimate season,...
Season six, airing 1971-1972, was the season that should not have been. Paramount Pictures wanted the show canceled and placed into profitable reruns but CBS saw ratings upticks at the end of season five and wanted the series back. Nimoy wanted out, saying he was bored. It was time to change everything up.
The penultimate season,...
- 4/26/2009
- by Robert Greenberger
- Comicmix.com
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