Earl L. Clark
Born on February 12,1941 an only child to Melba (nee Cooper) and Alec Clark in Los Angeles, Earl was raised in the Sherman Oaks area of the San Fernando Valley. He fondly remembered the Valley at the dawn of LA’s population boom – dirt roads, orange groves, and plenty of places to explore. He was raised at the Valley Park Country Club, which his parents owned, and had the run of the place.
After graduating from Van Nuys High School, Earl dabbled in community college before joining the US Navy as a SEABEE. After his honorable discharge from the Navy, like many kids raised in a company town like Los Angeles in that era, he ended up on a camera crew for a few days work. From there an unexpected 40-year career was born. Filming across the world on movies including Deliverance, Hell in the Pacific (where he discovered his favorite place on Earth, Palau), Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Marathon Man, Rocky II, Grease, and more, Earl loved to travel and experience different places. He settled down in Santa Barbara in the early 1970s and after starting a family with his wife, Pati, in the 1980s and welcoming daughters Ashlyn and Kate, he turned to television work for a more regular schedule until his retirement on the Life with Bonnie sitcom show in 2004.
Eager to instill a love of the outdoors and his own hobbies in his daughters, the family spent a lot of time camping, hiking, and fishing. There were also momentous visits to Italy (never forget the Lancia that revved uncontrollably!), photo safaris in Kenya, and collecting what felt like every coconut on the island in Fiji. A proud dad, you would have thought he was a Cate School graduate himself with all the gear he wore from the time his girls started high school until he passed nearly 30 years later.
Earl was never a man defined by his work – it was merely his job. The other parts of his life were what provided his joy. His family, his hobbies, and his friends were his focus. He made friends everywhere he went. Always with a ‘side hustle’ before it had a name, Earl also imported rare English cars, bought real estate, dealt in Navy servingware and other military paraphernalia, and even started a t-shirt business when he wasn’t behind the film camera. He truly lived so many lives and so many adventures within his 83 years.
At the end of 2020, he chose a new life in Santa Fe that was cut short by a cancer diagnosis. While the last two years of his life were dominated by doctors and treatments, he always found happiness reminiscing stories and memories.
He will be remembered by those who loved him dearly: his daughters Ashlyn (Justin) McCague and Kate (Dale) Robson; grandchildren Jonah, Eliza, and Charlie; wife Jane Salmons and her son Matt (Erica) Salmons; first wife Patricia Clark; and friends from throughout his life.