Bobby Darin & Dick Clark

(l-r) Dick and Loretta Clark, Johnny Mathis, Sandra and Bobby in the early 1960's
"Ive always admired Bobby Darin tremendously," Dick Clark has said of his good friend.
"Bobby was one of the most complicated and interesting people I have ever known ...
he was a true, one of a kind."
When Bobby premired "Splish Splash" at Clark's "Caravan Of the Stars" in 1958, Clark said,
"Bobby moved and danced like it was opening night at the Copa. He was a terrific performer
and always knocked kids out with his stage moves, even in the days before
he had his first hit record."

Clark and Darin's friendship became very close. Dick attended Bobby's mother's (now as we
know it, his grandmother's) funeral. Bobby was there to offer moral and emotional
support to Clark throughout the years.
As in every friendship, there were some disagreements. Clark told Bobby that "Mack the Knife"
would never make it as a hit. ("I told him if he wanted to turn his career into chopped liver,
so be it.") Of course Clark was wrong, and admitted it.

Dick tried to help Bobby through his identity crisis in the late 1960s. ("You're a latter day hippie,"
Clark scolded him, "Go back and put on your tuxedo ... do what people expect of you.") Soon
Bobby took Dick's advice and added "Mack the Knife" back into his nightclub act.
The last time Dick Clark talked to Bobby was shortly before his death. "I always thought that
Bobby had a fear that he wasn't going to grow old, that he wouldn't live long ... I miss him a lot,
because he was a total full-out pro and real friend."
(Thanks to Jimmy Scalia for this picture)

SOURCES:

"Borrowed Time: The 37 Years of Bobby Darin" By Al DiOrio, Running Press, 1981.

Thats All: Bobby Darin on Record, Stage and Screen" Rock and Roll, PC INK, 1993

"Rock, Roll and Remember" by Dick Clark, Popular Library 1978.

For more about Dick Clark visit: DICK CLARK PRODUCTIONS

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