David Clarke

Acting

David Clarke

Born 1908-08-30 · Chicago, Illinois, USA

David Gainey Clarke (30 August 1908 – 18 April 2004) was an American Broadway and motion picture actor. A native of Chicago and graduate of Butler University, Clarke started his career as a stage actor during the 1930s. He made his first film Knockout (1941). The actor remains perhaps best known for his film noir roles as a character actor during the 1940s and 1950s. He also played at the Biltmore Theatre in Los Angeles and was featured on Broadway in the original productions of A View from the Bridge, Orpheus Descending, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, Inquest, and The Visit. On television, Clarke appeared as Abel Bingley on The Waltons and as Tiso Novotny in the soap opera Ryan's Hope. David Clarke lived in Belmont, Ohio for several years until he sold his house and moved to Arlington, Virginia to be with his daughters. He later died in Virginia from pneumonia in 2004, aged 95 years. He was married to Nora Dunfee, with whom he had two daughters.

Acting credits

Sands of Iwo Jima poster
6.4

Haunted by personal demons, Marine Sgt. John Stryker is hated and feared by his men, who see him as a cold-hearted sadist. But when their boots hit the beaches, they begin to understand the reason for Stryker's rigid form of discipline.

Sands of Iwo Jima

1950

The Narrow Margin poster
7.3

A tough cop meets his match when he has to guard a gangster's widow on a train journey from Chicago to Los Angeles.

The Narrow Margin

1952

The Gunfighter poster
7.4

The fastest gun in the West tries to escape his reputation.

The Gunfighter

1950

The Asphalt Jungle poster
7.5

Recently paroled from prison, legendary burglar "Doc" Riedenschneider, with funding from Alonzo Emmerich, a crooked lawyer, gathers a small group of veteran criminals together in the Midwest for a big jewel heist.

The Asphalt Jungle

1950

Cutting Class poster
5.1

High school student Paula Carson's affections are being sought after by two of her classmates: Dwight, the "bad boy", and Brian, a disturbed young man who has just been released from a mental hospital where he was committed following the suspicious death of his father. Soon after being released, more murders start happening. Is Brian back to his old tricks, or is Dwight just trying to eliminate the competition?

Cutting Class

1989

The Front poster
7.0

A cashier poses as a writer for blacklisted talents to submit their work through, but the injustice around him pushes him to take a stand.

The Front

1976

Woman in Hiding poster
6.3

As far as the rest of the world is concerned, mill heiress Deborah Chandler Clark is dead, killed in a freak auto accident. But Deborah is alive, if not too well. Having discovered a horrible truth about her new husband, Deborah is now a “woman in hiding,” living in mortal fear that someday her husband will catch up with her again. When a returning GI recognizes Deborah, however, she must decide whether or not she can trust him.

Woman in Hiding

1950

Matilda poster
5.7

A small-time talent agent discovers an amazing boxing kangaroo and figures to use it as his stepping-stone into the big time.

Matilda

1978

Adam's Rib poster
7.1

A woman's attempted murder of her uncaring husband results in everyday quarrels in the lives of Adam and Amanda, a pair of happily married lawyers who end up on opposite sides of the case in court.

Adam's Rib

1949

Reunion in France poster
6.5

Frenchwoman Michele de la Becque, an opponent of the Nazis in German-occupied Paris, hides a downed American flyer, Pat Talbot, and attempts to get him safely out of the country.

Reunion in France

1942

The Company She Keeps poster
6.2

A lady con artist sets out to steal her parole officer's fiance.

The Company She Keeps

1951

The Set-Up poster
7.4

Expecting the usual loss, a boxing manager takes bribes from a betting gangster without telling his fighter.

The Set-Up

1949

Raw Deal poster
6.7

Joe Sullivan is itching to get out of prison. He's taken the rap for his accomplice Rick, a sadistic mobster who owes him $50,000 from the job they pulled. Rick sets up an escape for Joe, assuming that Joe will be killed while fleeing. But with the help of his love-struck girl Pat and his sympathetic legal caseworker Ann, Joe gets further than Rick intended...

Raw Deal

1948

Too Late for Tears poster
6.8

Through a fluke circumstance, a ruthless woman stumbles across a suitcase filled with $60,000, and is determined to hold onto it even if it means murder.

Too Late for Tears

1949

Odds Against Tomorrow poster
6.9

An old-time crook plans a heist. When one of his two partners is found out to be a black man tensions flare.

Odds Against Tomorrow

1959

The Long Night poster
5.8

City police surround a building, attempting to capture a suspected murderer. The suspect knows there is no escape but refuses to give in.

The Long Night

1947

The Boy with Green Hair poster
6.2

Peter, an orphaned boy, is adopted by Gramp Frye after his parents are killed in Europe while doing war relief work. The boy feels safe with his new caretaker, but when he is taunted for being an orphan, he gets demoralized. The next day Peter wakes up with green hair. Embarrassed and further ridiculed, Peter seeks solace in a nearby forest. To his surprise, he finds other orphans in the woods, who encourage him to spread news of the injustices of war.

The Boy with Green Hair

1948

The House on Telegraph Hill poster
6.4

Concentration camp survivor Victoria Kowelska finds herself involved in mystery, greed, and murder when she assumes the identity of a dead friend in order to gain passage to America.

The House on Telegraph Hill

1951

Edge of the City poster
7.2

A male army deserter and a black male dock worker join forces against a corrupt manager, in a corrupt environment, and as their connection blossoms they must face the oppressive and morally decaying city they live in.

Edge of the City

1957

The Red Badge of Courage poster
6.5

Henry Fleming is a young Union soldier in the American Civil War. During his unit's first engagement, Henry flees the battlefield in fear. When he learns that the Union actually won the battle, shame over his cowardice leads him to lie to his friend Tom and the other soldiers, saying that he had been injured in battle. However, when he learns that his unit will be leading a charge against the enemy, Henry takes the opportunity to face his fears and redeem himself.

The Red Badge of Courage

1951

Wake of the Red Witch poster
5.8

Captain Ralls fights Dutch shipping magnate Mayrant Sidneye for the woman he loves, Angelique Desaix, and for a fortune in gold aboard the Red Witch.

Wake of the Red Witch

1948

The Man from Colorado poster
6.9

Two friends return home after their discharge from the army after the Civil War. However, one of them has had deep-rooted psychological damage due to his experiences during the war, and as his behavior becomes more erratic--and violent--his friend desperately tries to find a way to help him.

The Man from Colorado

1948

Thieves' Highway poster
7.3

Nick Garcos comes back from his tour of duty in World War II planning to settle down with his girlfriend, Polly Faber. He learns, however, that his father was recently beaten and burglarized by mob-connected trucker Mike Figlia, and Nick resolves to get even. He partners with prostitute Rica, and together they go after Mike, all the while getting pulled further into the local crime underworld.

Thieves' Highway

1949

The Outriders poster
7.2

Late in the Civil War, three Confederate soldiers escape from a Union prison camp in Missouri. They soon fall into the hands of pro-Confederate raiders, who force them to act as "outriders" (escorts) for a civilian wagon train that will be secretly transporting Union gold from Santa Fe, New Mexico, to St. Louis, Missouri. The three men are to lead the wagons into a raider trap in Missouri, but one of them starts to have misgivings....

The Outriders

1950