theater. it is a memorial to his life and career. clark starting out as a local radio dj before bursting out on the national scene taking over a local show called bandstand. it was clark who catapulted the show to icon status shaping countless careers and introducing america to that scary rock and roll. the nation s number one song at the hop. anybody who is anybody appeared on the show with the exception of elvis presley the eagles and rolling stones. they saw blacks and whites dance on the dance floor didn t kill each other, didn t hurt each other. that was amazing. dick said one of his greatest achievements was eliminating the all white policy on his show american bandstand. his influence didn t stop there. he became a media titan producing game shows award shows even movies. his face was on every tv network. remember the pyramids. dick clark s new year s rocking eve. he hosted it for nearly 30 years before suffering a stroke. that s when yryan seacrest took over