Posted on 12/31/2005 9:15:55 PM PST by beyond the sea
NEW YORK -- There was more to celebrate than the ball dropping in Times Square for Dick Clark _ the personality who's been ringing in the New Year for decades made his first television appearance since a stroke in late 2004.
Clark, sitting behind a desk with the street scene in the background, sounded hoarse and occasionally was hard to understand, but he said, "I wouldn't have missed this for the world."
"Last year I had a stroke," he explained. "It left me in bad shape. I had to teach myself how to walk and talk again. It's been a long, hard fight. My speech is not perfect but I'm getting there."
(Excerpt) Read more at nynewsday.com ...
I didn't get to see him when he was talking about his struggle to come back..
I was on the Happy New Year's thread..wondering if I could do what he did...
I don't know...but, he is a very brave man, and I applaud him.
I didn't catch this part. Perhaps some of your "sense" came from this episode, W_K.
It was a really quick cut, then cut-away...
He was a little hard to understand at times, but he showed the love of life and enthusiasm that makes us all better people. It was a triumph for the good fellow.
Happy New Year Dick Clark....an to all.
Yep, it was heart warming.
I remember Bob Prince of the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight.
"Hi! I'm Dick Clark's head!" Gawd, I miss Futurama...
Danke, and here's wishing you and yours a healthy and pleasant New Year.
I'm glad to see him tonight, but I have to agree that he probably won't be doing this much longer...
This is a picture from December 2004.
LOL.
I remember when Vivian Vance (Ethel on "I Love Lucy") was hot.
****
http://www.geocities.com/viv_vance/pictures.html
People can have different takes on it, but your report is basically accurate. He was doing good for a guy who had a stroke, but under normal conditions his speech was so slurred you would not pick him to do the show. There was a nostalgic factor here, but it was also sad.
Scrawny with makeup.
Dick Clark is a little over the hill. I like Don Shula, Weeb Eubanks, Gerry Ford, and Strom Thurmond. Any of those people still ready to get going? I say when your button pops, you're done. There is nothing wrong with knowing when it is time to reflect and enjoy your past victories.
It was time to pass the torch 15 yeas ago. He should have read the chapter that talks about not putting your boss in an embarrassing position.
I know some of those guys are dead. That is the point.
When I get that old, I hope I still have some respect for those who may have to make tough decisions.
He was bad. It's a shame. With some more time to recover he might end up sounding somewhat crisp again, but he probably shouldn't have come back this year. His speech was pretty slurred.
At least he was doing something to make people happy on New Years. You on the other hand were watching TV and complaining about it. Pitiful.
Keep it up Mr. Clark, you are an inspiration for all of us who can only hope to achieve a small part of what you have. It takes tremendous effort to overcome a stroke.
It was sad. He should have said a few words ands then turned it over to someone else.
Bravo on Dick's return, if only for a minute or two. He sounded determined but visibly weakened. Reminded me a lot of Kirk Douglas in his speech. Happy New Year, Dick!
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