Richard Augustus Wagstaff "Dick" Clark Jr.
(November 30, 1929 – April 18, 2012)

In 1952, WFIL-TV in Philadelphia began airing a show called Bob Horn’s
Bandstand. Dick Clark had a similar show on the company’s radio station
(WFIL) and served as a regular substitute host when Bob Horn went on
vacation. After a drunk driving arrest in 1956, Horn was dismissed and
a 26-year-old Clark then became Bandstand’s permanent host. The
show was picked up by the ABC television network, renamed American
Bandstand, and debuted nationally on August 5, 1957.

The Bandstand podium (above) was donated
to the Smithsonian Institution in 1981.