Dick Clark Goes Home From Hospital
Dick Clark, renowned for his decades-long stint as the host of TV’s American Bandstand, was released from the hospital yesterday and returned to his home in Malibu, California. Clark, 75, had been under observation since suffering a stroke on December 6th.
Publicist Paul Shefrin expressed gratitude, on Clark’s behalf, for the public support. He would not, however, discuss the severity of the stroke or its potential longterm damage to the showman. Last year, Clark revealed that he has been struggling with diabetes since the mid-Nineties.
The stroke occurred just weeks before ABC’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, which Clark has hosted since 1972. “The doctors tell me I should be back in the swing of things before too long,” Clark said in a statement shortly after being hospitalized, “so I’m hopeful to make it to Times Square to help lead the country in bringing in the New Year once again.” However, he was not considered healthy enough to appear on television, and morning talk-show host Regis Philbin became his last-minute substitute.
Clark’s Dick Clark Productions, based in Burbank, California, currently produces television specials such as the American Music Awards and the Golden Globe Awards, for which Clark is normally a backstage correspondent. He also executive-produces NBC’s drama American Dreams, which features recreations of American Bandstand performances, with contemporary artists playing musicians of the Fifties and Sixties.
Last spring, Clark and American Idol creator Simon Fuller announced plans to revive American Bandstand as an Idol-inspired competition for dancers. The show may premiere as early as this summer.
Clark is currently scheduled for several months of physical rehabilitation.