Anthony Clark Dies: Comedian And ‘Yes, Dear’ Star Was 62

Anthony Clark died Tuesday at age 62, his former co-star Mike O'Malley confirmed Wednesday in a social media post that sparked an outpouring from across the comedy world. Deadline reports the cause was complications related to pneumonia, a detail not yet confirmed by other outlets. Clark was best known as Greg Warner on "Yes, Dear," the CBS sitcom about two couples sharing a suburban house that ran for 122 episodes from 2000 to 2006. The show never won critical acclaim — Variety once called it the "little-comedy-that-could" — but it found a durable audience and kept Clark employed for six years alongside O'Malley, Jean Louisa Kelly, and Liza Snyder.

Before the sitcom, Clark was a stand-up fixture in Boston. O'Malley recalled that by the mid-1990s, Clark was regularly selling out The Comedy Connection, where O'Malley and his future wife Lisa first saw him perform. "He was so unique — one of those comics who is laughing along with you at the absurdity of his stories and observations," O'Malley wrote. "I was a fan before I was a friend." That 1995 HBO "Young Comedians" special placed Clark on a stage with Dave Chappelle, Louis C.K., Dave Attell, and Garry Shandling — a lineup that now reads like a comedy hall of fame class. His film work included a memorable turn as the flamboyant hairdresser who cuts Sean Connery's hair in Michael Bay's "The Rock," plus roles in "Dogfight" and Peter Bogdanovich's "The Thing Called Love" alongside River Phoenix and Sandra Bullock.

Television gave Clark two other lead vehicles that didn't last: NBC's "Boston Common" (1996-97) and ABC's "Soul Man" (1997-98). He also hosted the fourth season of "Last Comic Standing" in 2006, bringing his career full circle. After "Yes, Dear" ended, longtime manager Barry Katz said Clark stepped back from Hollywood and began buying and selling real estate. "He invested his money well and essentially retired after we wrapped," O'Malley noted. Greg Garcia, the show's executive producer, told Deadline they had reconnected in recent years for monthly phone calls. "Recently, he was so full of joy and encouragement when he found out I was trying stand-up comedy for the first time," Garcia said. "Just a few weeks ago we were laughing hysterically on the phone, trading jokes and telling stories."

Clark was born April 4, 1964, in Lynchburg, Virginia, and graduated from Emerson College in 1986 with a mass communication degree, winning the American Collegiate Talent Showcase's Top College Comedian Award while there. In a 2006 interview with The Comic's Comic, he described stand-up's appeal: "There's no director. You just get out there and vent. I don't know why people think I'm funny. I don't want to have a real job. I just want to hang out." That line — half joke, half mission statement — captures a comedian who made the difficult look effortless, then walked away on his own terms.