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IN LOVING MEMORY
 
JOHN CLARKE
 
APRIL 14, 1931-OCTOBER 16, 2019
 
(Mickey Horton, 1965-2004)
 

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Original "Days of Our Lives" cast member John Clarke, who played Mickey Horton from the show's pilot episode in 1965 until his retirement in 2004, has passed away at the age of 88. Clarke died from complications of pneumonia in Laguna Beach, California on October 16, 2019. Clarke appeared in 3,085 episodes during his 39-year "Days" career. His daughter, Melinda, appeared as Faith Taylor on "Days" from 1989-1990. Clarke was predeceased by a daughter, Heidi, in 1994. He is survived by his wife Patty, his children Joshua and Melinda and his grandchildren, Catherine Grace, Natasha and Jacob. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to the Heidi Clarke Scholarship Fund at California Institute of the Arts, 24700 McBean Parkway, Valencia, CA 91355-2340.
 

Entertainment Weekly reports that John's daughter, Melinda. sang Ave Maria to him as he passed away peacefully.

https://ew.com/celebrity/2019/10/22/days-of-our-lives-actor-john-clarke-died-88/

 
Edited by JAS0N47
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Sad to see another DAYS vet pass, so many of them in the last couple of years. As someone who started watching the show in the mid-90s, I thought characters like Mickey, Alice, Caroline, Shawn played vital roles in keeping that family feel that's lacking these days. And Mickey was one of my favorite of the senior characters. But only when John Clarke portrayed him. 

 

I always thought it was classy of him to beg the show to kill Mickey off instead of Maggie during the Salem Stalker storyline since he wanted to retire anyway.

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One of DAYS' finest actors. An underrated legend and stalwart of the show. Mickey was so much more than the lawyer who always lost as he would come to be known as in the latter years of the character's life. I've always missed him on the show since he left. The recasts never should have happened. RIP John Clarke.

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Hopefully Days will incorporate some sort of tribute.

Of course, being so far ahead presents a problem.

They need to have Maggie remember Mickey on some anniversary( maybe say it's Mickey's birthday) and show some flashbacks before a tribute card.

Edit it into an episode soon.

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Pictured: John Clarke as a young boy; on his wedding day in 1964; and more recently with his wife, Patty.

 
JOHN CLARKE: IN HIS OWN WORDS...
 
Here's some quotes from an interview John Clarke (who passed away last week) did with Soap Opera Digest in 1998 discussing his life:
 
On his early years: "I was born in South Bend, Indiana, but I was an Army brat...I grew up with a father who was re-stationed about every year, so I was in a new school every year making new friends...It was a great way to grow up...By the time I was in junior high school, I had been voted class president all through...I went to UCLA and got acting awards there. All during my master's, I had an agent and did the nighttime episodic westerns."
 
On appearing in the classic film "Judgment at Nuremberg" in 1961: "I was the MP who takes Spencer Tracy down to see Burt Lancaster in the last scene. I had one line. I was there the day Spencer Tracy did his summation to the jury, and he did it in one take. It was eight pages of dialogue, but that's the way he worked. He's kind of my hero and my inspiration."
 
On joining the cast of "Days of Our Lives" in 1965: "I had just finished The New Breed and I had saved up enough cash to get married. After I had been married for awhile, my agent said 'How about this soap opera that's coming up? Mac Carey is going to head up the cast.' I told him no. He called me back and said 'Think about it, they're asking for you by name.' But I had a bad taste in my mouth from other daytime shows like Day in Court. My agent talked me into giving it a shot, so I agreed to do the pilot. We did it and they liked me and tried to sign me to do more. I said 'Okay, I handle it for a year' thinking it was going to be a temporary sort of thing, and here we are 32 years later. I look back and think 'Why did I stay' but the Cordays were super people and the show was so well organized and Mac Carey and I hit it off, we were very close. I really enjoyed playing his son. That was the sort of family he engendered among us with Frances Reid and Ed Mallory. It grew and became an extension of reality. To us, it wasn't acting, it was a real experience, and that kind of working is very rare in this business."
 
On his favorite "Days" storyline: "It has to be the farm business...It was such a pastoral thing. I think there's part of me that would love to live in the country and live off the land, and I think a lot of people identified with that too. We enjoyed it so much, and I think the audience did as well, It was a fresh approach to daytime."
 
On meeting and marrying the love of his life, Patricia Lewis, in 1964: "[At a wedding reception, this girl] turned around...and I thought 'Wow, I have to meet this girl.' All of a sudden I lost sight of her. I looked for her for half an hour, but couldn't find her. I then found my table where I was supposed to sit, and she was sitting right next to me! I was nonplussed for the first time in my life. Finally, I got her up to dance, and we found out we were both from Pomona, California. We had a great time at the wedding reception and I said 'I'm going to call you.'...I was getting crazy for her, and I had just met her. I called her three days later and she said 'I was expecting you to call me sooner than this' and I said 'I didn't have the guts to call you.' So we went out for an ice cream...[We got married] about three months after we met. We love each other to death."
 

On his three children: "We had three kids, two daughters and a son....The son is married...Our second child, Heidi, was studying...as a scenic designer. She had a very rare heart tumor that took her from us....She had a very wonderful and happy life, doing exactly what she loved to do...My other daughter, Melinda, is going to be a bigger star than I am. She started out when she was 8 years old saying 'Daddy, Daddy, get me an agent.' I told her when she was 18, we'll talk. She got all the leads in the high school plays, and when she turned 18, she got an agent. Next thing I know, she's working on "Days of Our Lives" playing Faith....We thought maybe we would get some lines together, but it didn't happen."

 

Edited by JAS0N47
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As said above I wish that his most prominent years in the role were available. Clarke represented much of the integrity of DAYS and of soaps in general - an integrity and strength that they could use much more of today. And he and Suzanne Rogers had such a special chemistry. 

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Sad news.  I only knew him as Uncle Mickey, although I did watch the show when his daughters were getting story too.

 

I would love to see some of his work when Bill Bell was writing the show.

 

I always thought he was a good actor, and even when they gave him nothing he commanded attention and you could tell he cared about doing good work.

 

Like a lot of longtime vets.  I never saw John Beradino when he was a lead on GH- but I also never saw him phone in a performance. Even a minor one.

Edited by titan1978
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I am sorry to hear this news. He really was a talented actor and an integral part of the cast for several years. Someone on Twitter posted some classic clips of him in the role as Mickey including one from 1965:

 

 

 

 

 

Edited by xtr
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Condolences to his family, friends and fans. John was never flashy or showy in his role, but he displayed a quiet strength and dignity that used to be prized in soap leading men. Mickey's initial courtship of Maggie was a great story -- nobody who watched it will ever forget the red dancing shoes. 

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