"Christmas Story" Director Bob Clark Dies In Crash

by | April 4, 2007 | Comments

Bob Clark, director of "A Christmas Story," "Porky’s," and many other works in a career that spanned four decades died in a car crash early this morning in Los Angeles.

The LA Times reports that Clark was driving along the Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades when he was hit head-on by a drunk driver at 2:20am. Clark’s 22 year-old son Ariel was also in the car and died.

Clark was a prolific filmmaker whose works spanned four decades; he wrote, produced, and directed films from a wide variety of genres, including "Porky’s" (1982), "A Christmas Story" (1983), the Dolly PartonSylvester Stallone comedy "Rhinestone" (1984), and the more recent "Baby Geniuses" (1999) and "SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2" (2004).

Though his more recent projects tended towards family-oriented comedy and drama, Clark started out in the 1960s and ’70s making independent and horror films like the transvestite dramedy "She-Man" (1967), "Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things" (1972), zombie pic "Deathdream" (1974), and the original "Black Christmas" (1974).

Clark had several projects in the works, including a remake of his "Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things," the spring break-themed comedy "Spring Broke," and the dark comedy "There Goes the Neighborhood."

Clark was 67.

Source: LA Times