Buddy Clark

Buddy Clark
Clark in a 1942 advertisement
Background information
Birth name	Samuel Goldberg
Born	(1912-07-26)July 26, 1912 Dorchester, Massachusetts, United States
Died	October 1, 1949(1949-10-01) (aged 37) Los Angeles, California, United States
Genres	Traditional pop
Years active	1934–1949
Labels	Columbia
Website	Buddy Clark biography on the Interlude Era site

Buddy Clark (July 26, 1912 - October 1, 1949) was an American popular singer of the 1930s and 1940s. In the late 1940s, after his return from service in World War II, his career blossomed and he became one of the nation's top crooners. He died in a plane crash in 1949.

Clark was born Samuel Goldberg to Jewish parents in Dorchester, Massachusetts. He made his Big Band singing debut in 1932 as a tenor, with Gus Arnheim's orchestra, but was not successful. Singing baritone, he gained wider notice in 1934, with Benny Goodman on the Let's Dance radio program. In 1936 he began performing on the show Your Hit Parade, and remained until 1938. In the mid-1930s he signed with Vocalion Records, having a top-20 hit with "Spring Is Here". He continued recording, appearing in movies, and dubbing other actors' voices until he entered the military, but did not have another hit until the late 1940s.

In 1946 he signed with Columbia Records and scored his biggest hit with the song "Linda" recorded in November of that year, but hitting its peak in the following spring. "Linda" was written especially for the six-year-old daughter of a show business lawyer named Lee Eastman, whose client, songwriter Jack Lawrence, wrote the song at Lee’s request. Upon reaching adulthood, Linda became famous as a photographer, a musician (as a member of Wings, the 1970s band headed by her husband, former Beatle Paul McCartney), and a prominent spokeswoman for animal rights.