Clarence Gilyard Death Cause: Clarence Gilyard, whose full name was Clarence Darnell Gilyard Jr., was an actor, author, and college professor from the United States.
He was born in Moses Lake, Washington, on December 24, 1955, to Barbara Stanwyck Gilyard and Clarence Gilyard, Sr. Clarence Gilyard has been in movies, on TV, and on the stage.
Gilyard was known for playing Conrad McMasters, the right-hand man of Andy Griffith’s character Ben Matlock on the court drama series Matlock from 1989 to 1993.
Clarence Gilyard Jr.’s Cause of Death
Even though the reason of Clarence’s death hasn’t been revealed, the Las Vegas Review-Journal says he had been sick for a long time. The College of Fine Arts at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, told the public that Clarence had died in a press statement.
In the statement, UNLV College of Fine Arts Dean Nancy J. Uscher said, “It is with great sadness that I share this news.” “His students were deeply inspired by him, as were all who knew him. He had many extraordinary talents and was extremely well-known in the university through his dedication to teaching and his professional accomplishments.”
Uscher stated that “His generosity of spirit was boundless — he was always ready to contribute to projects and performances however possible. We remember Clarence with joy and gratitude for all he contributed to the College of Fine Arts, the UNLV community, and, through his impressive personal achievements, to the world.”
Clarence Gilyard Early Life and Education
Gilyard was born in Moses Lake, Washington, on Christmas Eve 1955. His parents, Barbara and Clarence Alfred Gilyard Sr. were both officers in the U.S. Air Force. Gilyard was the second child out of a total of six. Gilyard’s family came from New Orleans, Louisiana, but he spent most of his childhood on Air Force bases in Hawaii, Texas, and Florida. He was mostly raised as a Lutheran, but in the 1990s he became a Catholic.
Gilyard was a young adult when he lived in Rialto, California, a neighborhood of San Bernardino, and went to Eisenhower High School. He did well in school and graduated in 1974. After that, he spent a year as a cadet at the Air Force Academy before moving to go to Sterling College. In college, he played football and joined Sigma Chi, which is a group of men who do things together. He also got a tennis grant, but he stopped going to school before he finished.
During his college years, Gilyard lived with his parents and was interested in women, drinking, and sometimes drugs. His folks told him he had to move out, so he and a friend moved to Long Beach, California. He went to California State University, Long Beach, where he studied acting. While he was looking for acting jobs, he worked as a waitress. At California State University, Dominguez Hills, he got his bachelor’s degree.
Gilyard worked at a clothes store with his roommate, where he was soon made manager. He left this to sell industrial chemicals for a short time. Gilyard went back to school in 2003 and got a master’s degree in theater acting from Southern Methodist University.
His Career as a Professor
Gilyard took a break from acting in 2006 and became an associate professor in the College of Fine Arts – Department of Theatre at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. There, he taught stage and movie acting. He taught for many years after that. After his death, the head of the school’s film department said, “Professor Gilyard was a light and a source of strength for everyone at UNLV.”