Dick Clark Dies

Dick Clark, 82, died from a massive heart attack April 18.

Clark suffered a stroke in 2004 but returned to the airwaves.

The eternal teenager was the longtime host of “American Bandstand, and his “Rockin’ Eve” became a New Year’s Eve alternative to Guy Lombardo’s longtime annual television show.

Clark began his career in the mailroom of New York radio station WRUN, and as a teenager was already filling in for the weatherman and announcer. He eventually spun discs at WFIL in Philadelphia, creating a show called “Dick Clark’s Caravan of Music,” then hosted “Bandstand,” an afternoon dance show for teenagers.

Five years later, the whole nation was watching.

He began Dick Clark Productions in 1963, and his name was on shows like “The $25,000 Pyramid” and “”TV’s Bloopers & Practical Jokes.” He began his New Year’s Eve show in 1972.

He returned to Times Square in 2005, his speech still slurred from his stroke, saying, “I had to teach myself how to walk and talk again. It’s been a long, hard fight. My speech is not perfect but I’m getting there.”