Stars & Players · Biography
David Clarke
1908–2004 · Actor
Biography
David Gainey Clarke (30 August 1908 – 18 April 2004) was an American Broadway and motion picture actor. A native of Chicago and graduate of Butler University, Clarke started his career as a stage actor during the 1930s. He made his first film Knockout (1941). The actor remains perhaps best known for his film noir roles as a character actor during the 1940s and 1950s. He also played at the Biltmore Theatre in Los Angeles and was featured on Broadway in the original productions of A View from the Bridge, Orpheus Descending, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, Inquest, and The Visit. On television, Clarke appeared as Abel Bingley on The Waltons and as Tiso Novotny in the soap opera Ryan's Hope.
David Clarke lived in Belmont, Ohio for several years until he sold his house and moved to Arlington, Virginia to be with his daughters. He later died in Virginia from pneumonia in 2004, aged 95 years. He was married to Nora Dunfee, with whom he had two daughters.
Notable Noir Roles
City police surround a building, attempting to capture a suspected murderer. The suspect knows there is no escape but refuses to give in.
A Los Angeles newspaperman seeks a woman's sister and finds a black-market baby ring.
Concentration camp survivor Victoria Kowelska finds herself involved in mystery, greed, and murder when she assumes the identity of a dead friend in order to gain passage to America.
A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster's widow on a train journey from Chicago to Los Angeles.
