fiction.wikisort.org - Actor

Clarence Darnell Gilyard Jr.[1] (born December 24, 1955)[1] is an American university professor, actor, and author who has been featured in movies, television programs and regional theatre since 1980. He is sometimes credited as Clarence A. Gilyard.

Clarence Gilyard
Gilyard in 2018
Born	Clarence Darnell Gilyard Jr. (1955-12-24) December 24, 1955 (age 66) Moses Lake, Washington, U.S.
Other names	Clarence A. Gilyard
Education	California State University, Dominguez Hills (BA) Southern Methodist University (MFA)
Occupation	University professor, actor, author
Years active	1981–2005 2012–present
Spouse(s)	Elena (second wife; 2001–present)
Children	6

Gilyard is known for his roles as second private investigator and right-hand man Conrad McMasters to Ben Matlock (played by Andy Griffith) on the legal drama series Matlock from 1989 to 1993; Pastor Bruce Barnes in the Left Behind movie trilogy; Cordell Walker's (played by Chuck Norris) Texas Ranger partner, James "Jimmy" Trivette, in the 1990s crime drama Walker, Texas Ranger; Theo, the terrorist computer expert in Die Hard; and Lieutenant (junior grade) Marcus "Sundown" Williams in Top Gun.

Early life and education

Gilyard was born into a military family in Moses Lake, Washington, on Christmas Eve, in 1955, the son of Barbara and Clarence Gilyard, Sr., a U.S. Air Force officer. Gilyard is the second of six children.[1] His family was originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, but Gilyard grew up on Air Force bases in Hawaii, Texas, and Florida. Raised primarily as a Lutheran, he became Catholic in the 1990s.[1][2][3]

During his young adulthood, Gilyard lived in the San Bernardino suburb of Rialto, California, and attended Eisenhower High School. He was an excellent student, graduating in 1974, and afterward spent a year as an Air Force Academy cadet before leaving the service to attend Sterling College.[4] In college, he played football, and became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He also received a tennis scholarship, but dropped out of school before completing his studies.

While living with his parents in high school, Gilyard was preoccupied with women, alcohol, and occasionally, drugs.[1] His parents urged him to move out, so he relocated to Long Beach, California, with a friend. He attended California State University, Long Beach, majoring in acting, and worked as a waiter while seeking acting opportunities. He completed his bachelor's degree at California State University, Dominguez Hills.[5][6]

Gilyard worked with a housemate at a clothing store, where he was promoted to manager. He left this to work briefly selling industrial chemicals.[1] In 2003, Gilyard returned to school, receiving a master of fine arts in theatre performance at Southern Methodist University.

Career

In 1979, Gilyard moved to Los Angeles to become an actor. Among other work, a role in the play Bleacher Bums made him what one magazine called "the first black actor to play a cheerleader",[1] before he segued into television roles. As a character actor, Gilyard has made guest appearances on TV shows such as Diff'rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, 227, Simon & Simon, and Riptide. In 1982–1983, Gilyard was cast in the final season of the NBC TV series CHiPs as Officer Benjamin Webster, opposite Erik Estrada. He co-starred with Jim Carrey in the 1984 NBC sitcom The Duck Factory. He appeared in a commercial for McDonald's in 1987.^{[citation needed]}

Gilyard's movie debut in 1986 was as an F-14 Tomcat radar intercept officer, Lt. (jg) Marcus "Sundown" Williams, in Top Gun. He was also a military man in the 1986 film The Karate Kid Part II. He appeared in the 1988 action film Die Hard as Theo, a criminal computer expert who is the film's only surviving villain. He also appeared as Reverend Bruce Barnes Left Behind: The Movie and its sequel, Left Behind II: Tribulation Force.

He played the role of Ben Matlock's private investigator, Conrad McMasters, on Matlock, opposite Andy Griffith, from 1989 to 1993. He replaced Kene Holliday, who was fired for his dependency on drugs and alcohol. Gilyard appeared in almost every Matlock episode during his first three seasons on the show. When the show moved from NBC to ABC for the series' seventh season, production moved from Los Angeles to Wilmington, North Carolina. Andy Griffith suggested to Gilyard that he move there, too, which he did, before departing to work on a pilot for another series at CBS the following year.

In 1993, he began another long-time co-starring role opposite Chuck Norris on Walker, Texas Ranger. Gilyard portrayed fellow Texas Ranger and best friend of Walker, James "Jimmy" Trivette. Near the end of the series, Norris' character married his longtime girlfriend, an assistant district attorney, while Gilyard's character was given a girlfriend. Gilyard had a cameo appearance in the 2005 television movie, Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire.

In 2012, after taking time off to teach, Gilyard began appearing onscreen again, mostly in independent projects. In 2014, he appeared in the religious film A Matter of Faith.

On January 17, 2016, Gilyard performed the role of Hoak Colburn onstage at the University of New Mexico's Popejoy Hall in the Neil Simon Festival's Driving Miss Daisy, opposite his former Walker, Texas Ranger co-star, Sheree J. Wilson.[7]

In the 2018 edition of the football video game Madden NFL, Gilyard plays high-school coach Devin Wade in the "Longshot" section of the game. Two years later, Gilyard reprised his role as criminal gang-member Theo from Die Hard, alongside star Bruce Willis, in a commercial for Advance Auto Parts' DieHard brand of car batteries.[8]

He is an associate professor in the College of Fine Arts – Department of Theatre at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.[5]

Personal life

Gilyard serves as the consultant of the communications committee of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

He has been married twice and has six children. His second wife, Elena, and he have been married since 2001.[1]

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1986	Top Gun	Lieutenant Junior Grade Marcus 'Sundown' Williams
	The Karate Kid Part II	G.I. #1
1987	Off the Mark	James B. White
1988	Die Hard	Theo
2000	Left Behind: The Movie	Bruce Barnes
2002	Left Behind II: Tribulation Force
2012	Little Monsters	Ben Foreman
2013	From Above	Jeremiah Ward
2014	A Matter of Faith	Professor Portland
2015	The Track	Psychiatrist
2016	The Beast	Auguste Porter
	The Sector	Reverend Raines
2019	The Perfect Race	Coach Michaels
TBA	The Driver	Lee Staples	Filming

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1981	Diff'rent Strokes	Frank Simpson / The Student	2 episodes
1982	Making the Grade	Unknown	Episode: Teach Me Tonight
1982–1983	CHiPs	Officer Benjamin Webster	20 episodes
1983	The Kid with the 200 I.Q.	Unknown	TV Movie
1984	Things Are Looking Up	Clement McCallister
	The Duck Factory	Roland Culp	13 episodes
	Riptide	William Collins	Episode: It's a Vial Sort of Business
1985	Solomon's Universe	Casey	TV Movie
1986	Simon & Simon	Wally Stokes	Episode: A.W.O.L.
1987	227	Harold Bailey	Episode: Matchmakers
	The Facts of Life	Matt	Episode: The More the Marrier
1989	L.A. Takedown	Mustafa Jackson	TV Movie
1989–1993	Matlock	Conrad McMasters	85 episodes
1990	The Great Los Angeles Earthquake	Roy Bryant	TV Movie
1993-2001	Walker, Texas Ranger	Ranger James Trivette	196 episodes
1994	Walker Texas Ranger 3: Deadly Reunion		TV Movie
1999	Sons of Thunder		Episode: Flighting Back
2005	Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire		TV Movie
2018	Christmas on the Coast	Fletcher Reese	TV Movie
TBA	Eleanor's Bench	Reginald	TV Movie; Filming

Bibliography

• The Dance of the Star (1990)
• Instructors and Students (1992)
• Eagle in a Cage (1996)
• Perfume at Night (1997)
• Melancholy in the Mirror (2002)
• Past and Present: My Story (2005)
• The Game of Venus (2006)
• Memories of a Stranger Wanderer (2008)
• Cry of the Cat (2010)
• Red Lights (2011)^{[ISBN missing]}

References

External links

• Clarence Gilyard Jr. at IMDb

На других языках

---

- [en] Clarence Gilyard

---

[es] Clarence Gilyard

Clarence Alfred Gilyard Jr. (Moses Lake, 24 de diciembre de 1955) es un actor y escritor estadounidense, reconocido por su trabajo en las series de televisión Matlock (entre 1989 y 1993) y Walker, Texas Ranger,[1][2] y en los largometrajes Die Hard[3] y Top Gun.[4]

---

---