Clarence Gilyard family, wife, children, parents, siblings

Clarence Darnell Gilyard Jr. (December 24, 1955 – November 28, 2022) was a university professor, actor, and author from the United States. As a performer, he appeared in films, television shows, and stage productions under the name Clarence A. Gilyard. Gilyard relocated to Los Angeles in 1979 to pursue a career as an actor.

Before moving on to television, he played a cheerleader in the play Bleacher Bums, making him the “first black actor to play a cheerleader,” according to one magazine. Gilyard has appeared as a character actor on television shows such as Diff’rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, 227, Simon & Simon, and Riptide.

Gilyard appeared as Officer Benjamin Webster in the final season of the NBC TV series CHiPs, opposite Erik Estrada, from 1982 to 1983. He co-starred with Jim Carrey in the 1984 NBC sitcom The Duck Factory. In 1987, he starred in a McDonald’s commercial.

In 1986’s Top Gun, Gilyard made his acting debut as Lt. (JG) Marcus “Sundown” Williams, an F-14 Tomcat radar intercept officer. In The Karate Kid Part II from 1986, he also played a soldier. He played Theo, a criminal computer expert, in the 1988 action movie Die Hard. Additionally, he played Reverend Bruce Barnes in the films Left Behind: The Movie and Left Behind II: Tribulation Force. From 1989 to 1993, Gilyard portrayed Ben Matlock’s private investigator, Conrad McMasters, on Matlock, opposite Andy Griffith.

He took over for Kene Holliday, who was fired for his drug and alcohol addiction. Gilyard appeared in almost every episode of Matlock beginning with season three. When the show switched from NBC to ABC for the seventh season, production moved from Los Angeles to Wilmington, North Carolina. Andy Griffith suggested to Gilyard that he move there as well, which he did before leaving to work on a pilot for another series at CBS the following year.

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Clarence Gilyard wife

Clarence and Elena married in 2001 and remained together until Clarence’s death in November 2022.

Clarence Gilyard children

Clarence Gilyard Jr.’s surviving children include Peter Gilyard. He is a celebrity child.

Clarence Gilyard parents

Clarence Gilyard Sr., Gilyard’s father, served in the United States Air Force, and his mother, Barbara Stanwyck, is an actress.

Clarence Gilyard siblings

He is one of several siblings in his family. His birth order is second out of a total of six children. Milton Gilyard, his older brother, was diagnosed with a mild form of developmental impairment.

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