Dick Clair

Dick Clair
Born	Richard Jones November 12, 1931(1931-11-12) San Francisco, California, United States
Died	December 12, 1988(1988-12-12) (aged 57) Los Angeles, California, United States
Years active	1972–1987

Dick Clair (November 12, 1931 – December 12, 1988) was an American television producer, actor and television and film writer, best known for the television sitcoms It's a Living, The Facts of Life, and Mama's Family.

Early life

Clair was born Richard Jones in San Francisco, California. He served in the military for two years (1955–1957). He never married and never had children.^[1]

Career

In the early 1970s, Clair performed husband-and-wife comedy routines for The Ed Sullivan Show with his partner Jenna McMahon.^[1] Clair was a screenwriter for episodes of The Mary Tyler Moore Show and The Bob Newhart Show^[2] in addition to his Emmy Award winning writing for the comedy-variety TV program The Carol Burnett Show.^[3] With Jenna McMahon he wrote and produced the television sitcoms It's a Living, The Facts of Life, and Mama's Family.

Cryonics involvement

Clair was active as an early member of the Cryonics Society of California in the 1960s. In 1982 he contributed $20,000 to the cryonics organization Trans Time so that a husband and wife could remain cryopreserved in liquid nitrogen. He was diagnosed with AIDS in 1986. When he was hospitalized in 1988 he faced opposition from the hospital and the State of California concerning his desire for cryonics treatment.^[1] The ensuing court battle (Roe v. Mitchell, with Clair as "John Roe") ended victoriously, establishing the legal right of persons to be cryonically preserved in the state of California.^[4][5][6]

Death

Clair died on December 12, 1988, of multiple AIDS-related infections at the age of fifty-seven.^[7] He was cryopreserved at the Alcor Life Extension Foundation.^[8]

References

1. ^ ^{a b c} Perry, PhD, Michael (1999). "Dick Jones" (PDF). Cryonics (Alcor Life Extension Foundation) 20 (2): 33–35. http://www.alcor.org/cryonics/cryonics1999-2.pdf. 
2. ^ "Dick Clair:Overview". MSN Movies. http://www.tv.msn.com/celebrities/celebrity/dick-clair/. Retrieved 2008-08-21. 
3. ^ "Awards for Dick Clair". Emmy Awards. The Internet Movie Database. http://uk.imdb.com/name/nm0163199/awards. Retrieved 2008-08-21. 
4. ^ Aurelio Munoz, Superior Court Judge (October 25, 1990). "Case No. C 697 147" (PDF). Library. Alcor Life Extension Foundation. http://www.alcor.org/Library/pdfs/RoeVMitchellOrder25Oct1990.pdf. Retrieved 2008-08-22. 
5. ^ Mondragon, Carlos (November, 1990). "A Stunning Legal Victory for Alcor". Library. Alcor Life Extension Foundation. http://www.alcor.org/Library/html/LegalVictory.html. Retrieved 2008-08-22. 
6. ^ Justice Gates (June 10, 1992). "Mitchell v. Roe Decision". Library. Alcor Life Extension Foundation. http://www.alcor.org/Library/html/CaliforniaAppellateCourtDecison.html. Retrieved 2008-08-22. 
7. ^ Kunen, James S.; Moneysmith, Marie (1989-07-17). "Reruns Will Keep Sitcom Writer Dick Clair on Ice—indefinitely". People. http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20120770,00.html. Retrieved 2009-02-28. 
8. ^ Appel, Ted (1988-12-12). "Body Frozen at a Cryonics Laboratory...". Prevention News Update. United Press International. http://www.aegis.com/news/ads/1988/AD880345.html. Retrieved 2008-08-21. 

External links

Biography portal

• Dick Clair at the Internet Movie Database
• Dick Clair at Find a Grave
• Dick Jones Enters Biostasis

Persondata
Name	Clair, Dick
Alternative names	Jones, Richard
Short description	Actor, comedian, writer
Date of birth	November 11, 1931
Place of birth	San Francisco, California, United States
Date of death	December 12, 1988
Place of death	Los Angeles, California, United States