Dane Clark

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Dane Clark
from the trailer for Whiplash (1948)
Born	Bernard Zanville February 26, 1912(1912-02-26) Brooklyn, New York, U.S.
Died	September 11, 1998 (aged 86) Santa Monica, California, U.S.

Dane Clark (February 26, 1912 - September 11, 1998) was an American film actor who was known for playing, as he labeled himself, "Joe Average".^[1]

Born Bernard Zanville in Brooklyn, New York, he graduated from Cornell University and earned a law degree at St. John's University School of Law in Queens, New York. During the Great Depression, he worked as a boxer, baseball player, construction worker, and model.^[1] Modeling brought him in contact with people in the arts. He gradually perceived them to be snobbish, with their talk of the "theatah", and "I decided it [sic] give it a try myself, just to show them anyone could do it."^[1]

He progressed from small Broadway parts to larger ones, eventually taking over the role of George from Wallace Ford in the 1937 production of Of Mice and Men.^[1] Clark got his big break when he was signed by Warner Bros. in 1943. He worked alongside some of his era's biggest stars, often in war movies such as Action in the North Atlantic (1943), his breakthrough part, opposite Humphrey Bogart, Destination Tokyo (1943) with Cary Grant, and Pride of the Marines (1945) with friend and fellow New Yorker John Garfield. According to Clark, Bogart gave him his stage name.^[1] Clark also guest starred on a number of television shows, including The Twilight Zone, in the episode "The Prime Mover". He played Lieutenant Tragg in the short-lived revival of the Perry Mason television series in 1973.