Editing Roy Clark (section)

==Early life==
Clark was born April 15, 1933, in [[Meherrin, Virginia]],{{sfn|''Current Biography Yearbook''|1979|page=83}} one of five children<ref name=Thanki>{{cite news| url=https://www.tennessean.com/story/entertainment/music/2018/11/15/roy-clark-dead-85/1978910002/| title=Roy Clark, 'Hee Haw' co-host, Country Music Hall of Fame member, dies at 85| last=Thanki| first=Juli| newspaper=[[The Tennessean]]| location=Nashville| access-date=June 9, 2020}}</ref> born to Hester Linwood Clark and Lillian Clark (Oliver).{{sfn|Flint|Nelson|1993|page=57}} His father was a tobacco farmer.{{sfn|Flint|Nelson|1993|page=57}} He spent his childhood in Meherrin and New York City, where his father moved the family to take jobs during the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]].{{sfn|Kingsbury|2004|page=95}} When Clark was 11 years old, his family moved to a home on 1st Street SE in the [[Washington Highlands, Washington, D.C.|Washington Highlands]] neighborhood of Washington, D.C.,{{sfn|Clark|Eliot|1994|page=84}} after his father found work at the [[Washington Navy Yard]].{{sfn|Lornell|2012|page=369}}

Clark's father was a semi-professional musician who played [[banjo]], [[violin|fiddle]], and guitar,{{sfn|Kingsbury|2004|page=95}} and his mother played piano.{{sfn|Flint|Nelson|1993|page=57}} The first musical instrument Clark ever played was a four-string cigar box with a [[ukulele]] neck attached to it,{{sfn|Flint|Nelson|1993|page=57}} which he picked up in elementary school.<ref name=rcinterview>{{cite magazine| title=The Roy Clark Interview| magazine=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]| date=December 28, 1985| pages=RC-4, RC-12| access-date=November 15, 2018| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=uyQEAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Roy%20Clark%22%20%22National%20Banjo%20Championship%22&pg=PT77}}</ref> His father taught Clark to play guitar{{sfn|Flint|Nelson|1993|page=57}} when Roy was 14 years old, and soon Clark was playing banjo, guitar, and [[mandolin]].{{sfn|Lornell|2012|page=369}} "Guitar was my real love, though," Clark later said. "I never copied anyone, but I was certainly influenced by them; especially by [[George Barnes (musician)|George Barnes]]. I just loved his swing style and tone."{{sfn|Ferguson|1979|page=68}}

Clark also found inspiration in other local D.C. musicians. "One of the things that influenced me growing up around Washington, D.C., in the '50s was that it had an awful lot of good musicians. And I used to go in and just steal them blind. I stole all their licks. It wasn't until years later that I found out that a lot of them used to cringe and say 'Oh, no! Here comes that kid again'<ref name=rcinterview /> when I'd come in.  As for his banjo style, Clark said in 1985, "When I started playing, you didn't have many choices to follow, and [[Earl Scruggs]] was both of them."<ref name=rcinterview />  Clark won the National Banjo Championship in 1947 and 1948,{{sfn|Ferguson|1979|page=68}} and briefly toured with a band when he was 15.{{sfn|Ferguson|1979|page=68}}

Clark was very shy, and turned to humor as a way of easing his timidity. [[Country-western]] music was widely derided by Clark's schoolmates, leaving him socially isolated. Clowning around, he felt, helped him to fit in again. Clark used humor as a musician as well, and it was not until the mid-1960s that he felt confident enough to perform in public without using humor in his act.<ref name=rcinterview />

The D.C. area had a number of country-western music venues at the time. Duet acts were in favor, and for his public performance debut Clark teamed up with Carl Lukat. Lukat was the lead guitarist, and Clark supported him on rhythm guitar.<ref name=rcinterview /> In 1949, at the age of 16, Clark made his television debut on [[WTTG]], the [[DuMont Television Network]] affiliate in Washington, D.C.{{sfn|Kingsbury|2004|page=95}} At 17, he made his first appearance on the [[Grand Ole Opry]]{{sfn|Lornell|2012|page=369}} in recognition for winning his second national banjo title.{{sfn|Ferguson|1979|page=68}} By this time, he had begun to play fiddle and [[twelve-string guitar]].{{sfn|Stambler|Landon|2000|page=88}} He toured the country for the next 18 months playing backup guitar during the week for [[David "Stringbean" Akeman]], [[Danny Dill|Annie Lou and Danny]], [[Lonzo and Oscar]], and [[Velma Williams Smith|Hal and Velma Smith]], working [[Agricultural show|county fairs]] and small town theaters. On weekends, these acts usually teamed up with country music superstars like [[Red Foley]] or [[Ernest Tubb]] and played large venues in big cities. He earned $150 a week (${{formatnum:{{inflation|US|150|1950}}}} in {{Inflation/year|US}} dollars).<ref name=rcinterview /> After the tour, Clark returned to performing at local country-music venues. He recorded singles for [[Coral Records]] and [[4 Star Records]].<ref name=rcinterview />

At the age of 23, Clark obtained his pilot's certificate and then bought a 1953 [[Piper PA-20 Pacer|Piper Tri-Pacer]] (N1132C), which he flew for many years. This plane was raffled off on December 17, 2012, to benefit the charity [[Wings of Hope (charity)|Wings of Hope]].<ref>{{cite journal| title=Winner of Roy Clark's Tripacer named| journal=General Aviation News| url=http://www.generalaviationnews.com/2012/01/winner-of-roy-clarks-tripacer-named/| last=Wood| first=Janice| date=January 26, 2012| access-date=June 9, 2020}}</ref> He owned other planes, including a [[Mitsubishi MU-2]], [[Boeing-Stearman Model 75|Stearman PT-17]]<ref>{{cite magazine| url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20069138,00.html |title=Hanging Loose at 1,500 Feet, Upside-Down Roy Clark Prays, 'Seat Belt, Do Your Stuff'| magazine=[[People (magazine)|People]] |date=September 26, 1977 |access-date=June 9, 2020}}</ref> and [[Hawker 400|Mitsubishi MU-300 Diamond]] 1A [[business jet]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.great-music.net/rclark.html| title=Roy Clark biodata| publisher=Great-music.net| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161001140722/http://www.great-music.net/rclark.html | archive-date=October 1, 2016 | url-status=dead | access-date=April 25, 2015}}</ref>