Matt Clark, Character Actor in a Barnful of Movie Westerns, Dies at 89

Share on Facebook Share on X Google Preferred Share to Flipboard Show additional share options Share on LinkedIn Share on Pinterest Share on Reddit Share on Tumblr Share on Whats App Send an Email Print the Article Post a Comment Matt Clark, the familiar character actor who like sagebrush found his way into Westerns including Paul Newman ’s The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean , John Wayne ’s The Cowboys and Clint Eastwood ’s The Outlaw Josey Wales , has died. He was 89. Clark died Sunday in Austin, Texas, his daughter, producer Amiee Clark, told The Hollywood Reporter . He broke his back a few months ago, she said. Clark also acted alongside Robert Redford in Sydney Pollack’s Jeremiah Johnson (1972) and Brubaker (1980) — in the latter, he portrayed Purcell, the former warden’s clerk, in one of his best known roles — and opposite Eastwood in Don Siegel’s The Beguiled (1971), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) and Honkytonk Man (1982). Related Stories Movies Billy Crystal Pays Tribute to Rob Reiner at Oscars: "His Movies Will Last for Lifetimes" Movies Judy Pace, Actress in 'Peyton Place' and 'Cotton Comes to Harlem', Dies at 83 And he did four films for director Stuart Rosenberg: Pocket Money (1972), The Laughing Policeman (1973), Brubaker and Let’s Get Harry (1986). As a director himself, Clark helmed the 1988 feature Da (1988), starring Bernard Hughes, Martin Sheen and his onetime acting teacher, William Hickey. The film is about a New York playwright summoned to Ireland to bury his father. Clark’s work in Westerns also included Will Penny (1967), Monte Walsh (1970), Macho Callahan (1970), The Culpepper Cattle Co. (1972), The Great Northfield Minnesota Raid (1972), Sam Peckinpaugh’s Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid (1973), Howard Zieff ’s Hearts of the West (1975), Kid Vengeance (1976), The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981) and A Million Ways to Die in the West (2014). “I just loved ’em!” Clark said in a 1991 interview. “Just like you always wanted to do as a little kid, y...