I read today that the director/writer of A Christmas Story, Bob Clark, was killed in a car crash. He was driving down Pacific Coast Highway early Wednesday morning with his 22-year-old son Ariel when their car was hit head on by a drunk driver. Both Clark and his son were pronounced dead at the scene. The report is that an SUV swerved over into Clark’s lane around 2:30 am. The driver of the SUV was not only driving drunk, he was also driving without a license. He has been booked under gross vehicular manslaughter. I realize we all die, whether it is on a long stretch of road at the hands of a drunk driver or in our sleep at the ripe old age of 100. But, when someone chooses to drink, gets in a car, and kills innocent people, it just ticks me off.
Anyhow, let’s celebrate the career of Bob Clark rather than focus on the loser that killed him. A Christmas Story has become a Christmas classic, thanks in part to TBS. Each year, there is a 24-hour A Christmas Story marathon shown on TBS. The funny story is of young Ralphie, who longs to get a Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas.
Oddly enough, Clark is probably best known for A Christmas Story but he also did a cult horror film in 1974 called Black Christmas. He was also the director/writer of Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things (1972). I never saw that one, but I remember just hearing the title of it creeped me out as a child.
In a completely different direction from the nostalgic A Christmas Story and the terrifying Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things, Clark had a great run with the early 80s teen series Porkys, Porky’s II: The Next Day, and Porky’s Revenge. He also directed one of my most favorite bad movies ever – Rhinestone with Dolly Parton and Sylvester Stallone. If you ever wanted to see Rocky sing country, check that one out.
Clark had started development on a remake of Children Shouldn’t Play with Dead Things at the time of his death. Please keep his grieving family in your thoughts.