Anthony Clark, the stand-up comedian who starred as Greg Warner on the CBS sitcom “Yes, Dear,” died Tuesday at 62. His former co-star Mike O’Malley announced the death on social media Wednesday. TheWrap reported that no cause was shared. Other outlets, citing Deadline, reported that Clark died of complications from pneumonia, and I could not confirm that with his family or representatives.
O’Malley remembered Clark as a hilarious and singular performer. He said he and his wife first saw him perform at The Comedy Connection in Boston in the mid-1990s, when Clark was already selling out shows there. “I was a fan before I was a friend,” O’Malley wrote. The two last spoke by phone three weeks ago, he said, and Clark had him laughing again. His longtime manager, Barry Katz, told TVLine that Clark ranked among the funniest and most talented comedian-actors he had watched.
Born April 4, 1964, in Lynchburg, Virginia, Clark graduated from Emerson College in Boston in 1986. He won a top college comedian award while he was a student there. He made his screen debut in a 1991 episode of “American Playhouse” and landed his first lead role in 1996 on the NBC comedy “Boston Common,” which lasted two seasons.
“Yes, Dear” made him a familiar face. The sitcom, created by Greg Garcia and Alan Kirschenbaum, followed two couples sharing a household. Clark starred alongside O’Malley, Jean Louisa Kelly and Liza Snyder. It ran for six seasons and 122 episodes between 2000 and 2006. Clark later starred in “Soul Man” and hosted the fourth season of NBC’s “Last Comic Standing.”
His credits also include the 1993 film “The Thing Called Love,” a recurring role on Ellen DeGeneres’s 1990s sitcom and the 2012 film “My Uncle Rafael.” Before television, he performed on HBO’s “1995 Young Comedians” special alongside Garry Shandling, Dave Chappelle and Dave Attell. Fellow comedians and fans posted tributes online. One comic who opened for Clark for years called him among the best live acts he had ever seen.
