I met him once. It was at 95PEN (WPEN) on Walnut Street in Center City, Philadelphia. He once worked there. Me too. He was cordial.
I also did a talkback satellite interview with him one New Years Eve on Channel 8. He was in Times Square. It was promotion for the affiliates. Nothing worth noting.
I’ve watched him all my life. I was a little young to watch Bandstand myself, but I was around when it was on and caught it in passing. There was also the Beech-Nut Show (It’s flavor-ific) on Saturday nights and Where The Action Is weekday afternoons.
What you saw of Dick on-the-air was important, but his professional life was much more complex. A very successful businessman, he owned most of the shows he was on! He also owned a lot he wasn’t on including a few made for TV awards shows.
I’ve heard he was less than happy he was only an employee on Pyramid.
Dick Clark was very interesting as a performer. He was exceptionally consistent. There are no memorable Dick Clark moments because his performance had no highs or lows! He was always the same.
That being said what he did was very good. There are few who came close. And he worked fast! Dick was not a “Take 2” guy. Doing voice tracks or ins-and-outs with few takes saves a lot of money over the long run.
Dick was very wealthy. Very, very wealthy. He watched and earned every penny.
My friend says Dick was really the successor to Gary Moore. Dick’s obvious successor is Ryan Seacrest who possesses the same skillset.
Is it possible? Was Dick Clark the last survivor from the live black and white era?