Tulsan Roy Clark In Country Music Hall Of Fame

Associated Press

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- Longtime Tulsa resident Roy Clark will join Barbara Mandrell and Charlie McCoy as the newest members of the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Clark, 75, who's probably best known for co-hosting the long-running TV show "Hee Haw," said the idea of one day becoming a member of the Hall of Fame was in the back of his mind, "but I didn't dwell on it because I didn't want to be disappointed."

"This is just about the top of your rewards for the years you've put in entertaining," Clark said backstage before his introduction. "You get to thinking about all of your friends, and now you're going to get to become part of the fraternity. That's mind-boggling, to hear your name mentioned in the same breath as Eddy Arnold, Grandpa Jones, Buck Owens, Roy Acuff, Jimmy Rodgers."

An ace picker, Clark got his start on Jimmy Dean's TV show "Town and Country Time" and took over the show when Dean left. He moved to Las Vegas in 1960 and became a regular at the Golden Nugget. Later, he toured and recorded with Wanda Jackson and was a regular at the Frontier Hotel in Vegas.

In the '60s he had top 10 hits with "Tips of My Fingers" and "Yesterday When I Was Young." He also broke into TV, appearing on "The Tonight Show" and "The Jackie Gleason Show" and playing recurring characters on the "Beverly Hillbillies."

But Clark's biggest break came when CBS developed a country version of the comedy series "Laugh In" and picked him and Buck Owens to co-host.