Eugene Clark (born December 3, 1951) is an American-Canadian

character actor A character actor is an actor known for playing unusual, eccentric, or interesting character (arts), characters in supporting roles, rather than leading ones.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrie ...

and former football player.

Early life

Clark was born in

Tampa, Florida Tampa ( ) is a city on the Gulf Coast of the United States, Gulf Coast of the U.S. state of Florida. Tampa's borders include the north shore of Tampa Bay and the east shore of Old Tampa Bay. Tampa is the largest city in the Tampa Bay area and t ...

. He attended Riverside Polytechnic High School.

Career

Football

He was an actor four years before he began playing

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

and he was an all-conference

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive (military), type of military operation * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative (Netherlands), Socialist Alternative * Fighting words, spoken words which would have a tende ...

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school then known as the southern branch of the C ...

. Named to the first All-Star teams for both the Pacific-8 and the West Coast Athletic Conference, Clark also received All Star All American Honorable Mention Laurels, played in the Hula Bowl and was selected by the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. Founded in 1933 P ...

in the ninth round of the

1975 NFL draft The 1975 NFL draft was held January 28–29, 1975, at the New York Hilton at Rockefeller Center in New York City, New York. With the first overall pick of the draft, the Atlanta Falcons selected quarterback Steve Bartkowski. Player selectio ...

. While he did not appear in a

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a Professional gridiron football, professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National ...

game, he did play in the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

for 20 games for the

Toronto Argonauts The Toronto Argonauts (officially the Toronto Argonaut Football Club and colloquially known as the Argos) are a professional Canadian football team based in Toronto, Ontario. The Argonauts compete in the East Division (CFL), East Division of t ...

(in 1977 and 1978).

Acting

Clark had a prominent co-starring role as Sid Gomez in the 1990s

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

show '' William Shatner's Tek War''. He also appeared on '' Night Heat'', '' RoboCop: Prime Directives'', ''

The Twilight Zone ''The Twilight Zone'' is an American media franchise based on the anthology series, anthology television series created by Rod Serling in which characters find themselves dealing with often disturbing or unusual events, an experience described ...

'', ''

Side Effects In medicine, a side effect is an effect of the use of a medicinal drug or other treatment, usually adverse but sometimes beneficial, that is unintended. Herbal and traditional medicines also have side effects. A drug or procedure usually used ...

'', '' Tropical Heat'', '' Sue Thomas: F.B.Eye'', '' The L.A. Complex'', and made a cameo in '' Trailer Park Boys: The Movie''. He also starred in the

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism for Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network that launched on January 1, 1985, and is currently owned by the MTV Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global's networks division based in New Y ...

film '' Man in the Mirror: The Michael Jackson Story'', '' Fighting the Odds: The Marilyn Gambrell Story, and the thriller ''Legend of the Mountain Witch''. Clark played the role of Mufasa in the

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Broadway production of ''

The Lion King ''The Lion King'' is a 1994 American animated musical coming-of-age drama film directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff, produced by Don Hahn, and written by Irene Mecchi, Jonathan Roberts, and Linda Woolverton. Produced by Walt Disney ...

'' for two years. Clark's best-known theatrical film role was in George A. Romero's '' Land of the Dead'' as the head

zombie A zombie (Haitian French: ; ; Kikongo: ''zumbi'') is a mythological undead corporeal revenant created through the reanimation of a corpse. In modern popular culture, zombies appear in horror genre works. The term comes from Haitian folkl ...

, "Big Daddy".

Filmography

Film

* 1981: '' Improper Channels'' – Security Guard #1 * 1984: '' Thrillkill'' – Grissom * 1985: '' Martin's Day'' – Hydro Repairman * 1986: '' Flying'' – Roy Teler * 1987: ''

Three Men and a Baby ''Three Men and a Baby'' is a 1987 American comedy film directed by Leonard Nimoy. It stars Tom Selleck, Steve Guttenberg, and Ted Danson as three bachelors as they attempt to adapt their lives to de facto fatherhood with the arrival of the ...

'' – Man at Party #1 * 1988: '' The Good Mother'' – Arch * 1989: ''The Unknown Mission'' – Craig Ashby * 1989: ''Mindfield'' – Hugh McVeigh * 1992: '' The Swordsman'' – Police Captain * 1995: ''Gladiator Cop'' – Police Captain * 1998: '' Down in the Delta'' – Citizen 1 * 1999: ''One Heart Broken Into Song'' – Hud Jarvis * 2000: ''The Magic of Marciano'' – Del * 2000: '' Turn It Up'' – Marshall * 2000: '' Slow Burn'' – Attorney Marlowe King * 2001: ''Cause of Death'' – Det. Carmine De Luca * 2005: '' Land of the Dead'' – Big Daddy * 2006: '' Trailer Park Boys: The Movie'' – Cadillac * 2007: '' Still Small Voices'' – Sergeant Gillett * 2007: '' Resurrecting the Champ'' – Washburn * 2007: '' Talk to Me'' – Bar Patron 2 * 2009: '' Walled In'' – Burnett * 2009: '' Dolan's Cadillac'' – Tink * 2012: '' Home Again'' – Principle Raye * 2012: '' A Dark Truth'' – Clive Bell * 2011: '' High Chicago'' – Buzz * 2014: ''Bully Fighters'' (short) – Judge Princeton Sanders * 2015: '' Born to Be Blue'' – Henry Azuka * 2015: ''Look Again'' – Clarence * 2017: '' The Recall'' – Eddie Jackson

Television

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Clark, Eugene 1955 births Living people African-American male actors American football offensive guards American male film actors American male television actors American male voice actors Best Supporting Actor in a Drama Series Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian football offensive linemen Canadian male film actors Canadian male television actors Canadian male voice actors Male actors from Los Angeles Players of American football from Los Angeles Players of American football from Tampa, Florida Players of Canadian football from Los Angeles Players of Canadian football from Tampa, Florida Riverside Polytechnic High School alumni Toronto Argonauts players UCLA Bruins football players