Entertainment icon and legendary television personalty, Dick Clark, passed away at 82 on Wednesday following a massive heart attack.
Paul Shefrin, Clark’s agent, said in a statement that the veteran host died yesterday following a “massive heart attack.”
The famed “New Year’s Rockin’ Eve” host was known as “America’s Oldest Teenager,” and changed the way many people listened to pop music with “American Bandstand.”
The New York native started working in show business as a teenager, working in the mailroom at WRUN radio, a station run by his father and uncle. It wasn’t long before he was on the air and promoted to news announcer.
In 1972, he began the long running New Year’s Eve special that’s still on the air today.
Even after Clark suffered a stroke in 2004, he returned to his long-running show just the following year, impressing everyone despite having a severe speech disability.
Clark was loved by many people of all ages, with a number of generations growing up over the past six decades watching him on TV.
Many of his teeming fans will miss his cheery disposition and perhaps even more so on December 31.