Anthony Clark

Anthony Clark died on Tuesday, November 10, 2026, at the age of 62. His death was made public on Wednesday, November 11, when Mike O'Malley wrote on X: "Anthony Clark died yesterday. He was a hilarious guy." O'Malley recalled watching him sell out The Comedy Connection in Boston in the mid-1990s, said they had spoken on the phone three weeks earlier, shared photographs from the final "Yes, Dear" episode and signed off "Rest in peace. Tony." TMZ and other outlets then reported the death citing O'Malley.

The cause and place of his death have not been made public, and no funeral or memorial arrangements had been announced at the time of writing.

Anthony Clark was born on April 4, 1964, in Lynchburg, Virginia, the younger of two sons. His father, who died before Clark became famous, worked on a General Electric assembly line all his life, and his mother was a bookkeeper in a clothing store. His parents divorced when he was five. When he was 12 the family moved about 50 miles south to a tobacco farm in Gladys, Virginia, where his stepfather lived.

He took to performing early. In elementary school he played Li'l Abner in fourth grade, the title role in "The Music Man" in fifth grade and a part in "Calamity Jane" in sixth grade. At high school in Lynchburg he was voted comedian of the year. He later said that he realised that if he stayed he would end up working at a fast food drive-through, and that college in Boston was his ticket out.

Clark arrived in Boston in early 1983 to study at Emerson College, whose alumni include Norman Lear, Jay Leno, Henry Winkler and Steven Wright. He described the city as being like Oz, full of lights, arts, museums, nightclubs and comedy venues. Denis Leary was his comedy writing teacher. He was named College Entertainer of the Year and graduated in 1986 with a degree in mass communications. At Emerson he became best friends with Max Mutchnick, who would later co-create the sitcom built around him.

Clark began in stand-up while still at Emerson and became a headliner on the Boston club scene, where he regularly sold out shows at venues such as The Comedy Connection. He went on to play New York clubs including Catch a Rising Star, The Improv and Caroline's, and was featured in MTV's "5 Funny Guys" special in 1989, followed by appearances on The Comedy Club Network and The Nashville Network.

His first film was "Dogfight" (1991), in which he played a Marine named Oakie alongside River Phoenix. He played a gas station attendant in the Broadway production of "The Grapes of Wrath" starring Gary Sinise and Lois Smith, then Billy in Peter Bogdanovich's "The Thing Called Love" (1993) and Mooney in "Teresa's Tattoo" (1994). In March 1995 his set on HBO's Young Comedians special, hosted by Garry Shandling and featuring Dave Chappelle, Dave Attell and Louis C.K., made him one of the most talked about new comics in the business. He voiced a character on "Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist" and had a recurring role on "Ellen" in 1995 and 1996.

Max Mutchnick and David Kohan then wrote "Boston Common" for him. He starred as Boyd Pritchett, a Virginia farm boy who drives his sister to college in Boston and stays on as a handyman, in 32 episodes on NBC from 1996 to 1997. The same year he played Paul, the hotel barber, in "The Rock." From 1997 to 1998 he played the Rev. Todd Tucker, an eager young divinity graduate, opposite Dan Aykroyd in ABC's "Soul Man." He also appeared on "Sesame Street" as a letter carrier.

From 2000 to 2006 he starred as Greg Warner in all 122 episodes of CBS's "Yes, Dear." In 2006 he hosted season four of NBC's "Last Comic Standing." His later films included "Say Uncle" (2005), "Grad Night" (2006) and "My Uncle Rafael" (2012), and he appeared in an episode of "West of Liberty" in 2019. Throughout, he kept performing stand-up, including the special "Ambiguous."

"Yes, Dear" premiered on CBS on October 2, 2000. Created by Alan Kirschenbaum and Gregory Thomas Garcia, it followed two sisters and their very different husbands. Clark played Greg Warner, a careful, over-thinking film studio executive and new father, married to Kim (Jean Louisa Kelly), while Mike O'Malley played his easygoing brother-in-law Jimmy Hughes and Liza Snyder played Jimmy's wife Christine.

Critics panned the show when it began and predicted it would not last a season, but it became a sleeper hit and ran for six seasons and 122 episodes, ending on February 15, 2006. Clark was nominated for a Young Artist Award, shared with Kelly, for Most Popular Mom and Dad in a Television Series, and for a Prism Award. CBS cancelled the series in March 2006 after Clark was hired to host "Last Comic Standing." Fans remembering him after his death singled out episodes such as the one in which Greg becomes hooked on nasal spray.

Clark kept his private life out of the press. Details of any marriage or children have not been made public. Friends and colleagues described him as warm and polite, and a 1996 Los Angeles Times profile noted that he refused to start his lunch until he was sure his interviewers had eaten. Tributes in November 2026 incorrectly attributing a wife named Lisa to him were based on Mike O'Malley's post, in which Lisa is O'Malley's own wife.

Clark's comedy drew on his upbringing in rural Virginia and his culture shock in the big city. Material about California earthquakes, Oklahoma license plates and his mother putting a microwave in her bathroom found its way into "Boston Common." He defended his character Boyd Pritchett against critics who mocked the Southern accent, saying Boyd was "no simpleton" and that people with Southern accents did not all belong in "The Dukes of Hazzard." Mike O'Malley described him as one of those comics who laughs along with the audience at the absurdity of his own stories and observations. In a Just For Laughs set he talked openly about being diagnosed with attention deficit disorder.

Clark is remembered as one of the defining Boston stand-ups of the late 1980s and 1990s and as the lead of one of CBS's most durable early 2000s family sitcoms. "Yes, Dear" has found a second life in reruns and online, and many of the tributes after his death came from people who grew up watching it after school. His first manager, Barry Katz, called him one of his first clients and one of the funniest people he had ever met, and actors who guest starred on the show remembered his kindness on set.

College Entertainer of the Year, Emerson College. Young Artist Award nomination, Most Popular Mom and Dad in a Television Series, for "Yes, Dear" (shared with Jean Louisa Kelly). Prism Award nomination for "Yes, Dear."

Films: "Dogfight" (1991), "The Thing Called Love" (1993), "Teresa's Tattoo" (1994), "Hourglass" (1995), "The Rock" (1996), "Killing Cinderella" (2000), "Paid in Full" (2002), "Say Uncle" (2005), "Grad Night" (2006), "My Uncle Rafael" (2012).

Television: "Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist" (1995, voice), "Ellen" (1995 to 1996), "Boston Common" (1996 to 1997), "Soul Man" (1997 to 1998), "Sesame Street" (1998), "Murder She Purred: A Mrs. Murphy Mystery" (1998, voice), "Yes, Dear" (2000 to 2006), "Last Comic Standing" (2006, host), "West of Liberty" (2019).

Stage: "The Grapes of Wrath" on Broadway.

Music video: Alan Jackson, "The Talkin' Song Repair Blues" (2005), with Mike O'Malley.