# Oliver Clark

Oliver Clark (born Richard Mardirosian; January 4, 1939) is an American character actor.

## Early life

Clark was born in Buffalo, New York, the son of Afro (née Karahos) and Matthew Mardirosian. He is of Armenian heritage. His brother, Tom Mardirosian, is also an actor.

## Career

Clark made numerous appearances in film and television, particularly in the 1970s (notably as Mr. Farcus in the 1970 movie The Landlord, as Mr. Small in the 1971 film They Might Be Giants, and in the 1976 remake of A Star Is Born). Two of his best-known TV characters were John Doe #6 on the NBC drama St. Elsewhere, a likeable and humorous psychiatric patient, and Mr. Herd, a patient of psychologist Bob Hartley on The Bob Newhart Show, a long running CBS situation comedy. He played Mr. Belding in the original pilot of the series Good Morning, Miss Bliss but was subsequently replaced by Dennis Haskins.
Clark also played Roger Barton on an episode of The Golden Girls, and played Joe Carruthers, the man who later becomes Santa Claus, in the holiday comedy film Ernest Saves Christmas. He portrayed his Santa role again in the 1996 animated Christmas in Cartoontown.
Clark also appeared on two episodes of M*A*S*H, once as Hawkeye's college buddy, a Navy doctor on board an aircraft carrier off the Korean coast. Later Clark played another Benjamin Pierce who came to the 4077th to retrieve mail that Hawkeye had received in an Army mixup.
Clark also played roles on Barney Miller, appearing in six episodes. He was a regular on the 1975 situation comedy Karen. In 1977, he appeared in an episode of the ABC crime drama The Feather and Father Gang.
In 1995, he had a guest appearance on the sitcom Full House as DJ Tanner's (Candace Cameron-Bure) high school principal, Mr. Robolard, in the eighth-season episode "Up on the Roof".

## Filmography
### Film

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1970 | End of the Road | Dog Man | |
| 1970 | The Landlord | Mr. Farcus | |
| 1971 | They Might Be Giants | Mr. Small | |
| 1972 | Deadhead Miles | Durazno | |
| 1976 | The Great Texas Dynamite Chase | Officer Andy | |
| 1976 | A Star Is Born | Gary Danziger | |
| 1977 | Billy Jack Goes to Washington | Man with Students | |
| 1977 | Fire Sale | Mr. Blossom | |
| 1977 | Another Man, Another Chance | Evans | |
| 1980 | The Last Married Couple in America | Max Dryden | |
| 1983 | Doctor Detroit | Shaky Alcoholic Lawyer | |
| 1988 | Ernest Saves Christmas | Joe Carruthers | |
| 1996 | Christmas in Cartoontown | Santa Claus | Voice |
| 1999 | Mystery Men | Reverse Psychologist | |
| 1999 | Crazy in Alabama | Endora's Stand-in | |
| 2000 | Lost Souls | Mr. Silberman | |

### Television

| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
| 1968 | N.Y.P.D. | Novik | Episode: "Naked in the Streets" |
| 1972 | Emergency! | Homer Breedlove | Episode: "Musical Mania" |
| 1973 | The Delphi Bureau | Roly Poly | Episode: "The Face That Never Was Project" |
| 1973 | Ghost Story | Marks | Episode: "Earth, Air, Fire and Water" |
| 1973 | Tenafly | Sam | Episode: "Joyride to Nowhere" |
| 1973 | Love, American Style | Josef | Episode: "Love and the Generation Gasp" |
| 1974–1977 | The Bob Newhart Show | Mr. Ed Herd | 9 episodes |
| 1975 | The Court Martial of Lieutenant William Calley | Mr. Stover | Television film |
| 1975 | The ABC Afternoon Playbreak | Judd Moore | Episode: "The Girl Who Couldn't Lose" |
| 1975 | Khan! | Lincoln | Episode: "A Game of Terror" |
| 1975 | The Rockford Files | K. Julian Krubm | Episode: "Just by Accident" |
| 1975 | Tony Orlando and Dawn | Mate-O-Matic Date #1 | Episode: "Ted Knight/Georgia Engel/Henry Aaron" |
| 1975 | Karen | Jerry Siegel | 2 episodes |
| 1975 | The Orphan and the Dude | Oliver 'The Orphan' Smith | Television film |
| 1975 | Cannon | Various roles | 2 episodes |
| 1975–1982 | Barney Miller | Various roles | 6 episodes |
| 1976 | The Blue Knight | Charlie | Episode: "The Creeper" |
| 1976 | Family | T-Shirt Salesman | Episode: "Monday Is Forever" |
| 1976 | Arthur Hailey's the Moneychangers | Salesman | Episode: "Part IV" |
| 1976–1977 | Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman | Dr. Fermin | 30 episodes |
| 1977–1978 | We've Got Each Other | Stuart Hibbard | 13 episodes |
| 1977, 1978 | M*A*S*H | Ben Pierce / Tippy Brooks | 2 episodes |
| 1978 | Operating Room | Dr Charles Webner | Television film |
| 1978 | Fame | Billy Dorfman | Television film |
| 1979 | Hanging by a Thread | Eddie Minton | Television film |
| 1981–1982 | The Two of Us | Cubby Royce | 20 episodes |
| 1982 | Hart to Hart | Dr. Oliver Jackson | Episode: "Harts on Campus" |
| 1982, 1989 | Knots Landing | Dr. McGee / Carl Berman | 2 episodes |
| 1983 | I Take These Men | Dr. Norman Krevoy | Television film |
| 1983 | Voyagers! | Sam Winthrop | Episode: "Destiny's Choice" |
| 1983 | It Takes Two | Ethan | Episode: "Instinct" |
| 1983 | Small & Frye | Oliver | Episode: "The Case of the Concerned Husband" |
| 1983 | One Cooks, the Other Doesn't | Danny | Television film |
| 1983 | Happy Endings | Murray Cramer | Television film |
| 1983 | Sawyer and Finn | Railroad man | Television film |
| 1983, 1984 | Trapper John, M.D. | Various roles | 2 episodes |
| 1984 | Legmen | Louis Dantley | Episode: "Still Alive at Five" |
| 1984 | The Master | Kendal | Episode: "The Good, the Bad, and the Priceless" |
| 1985 | Night Court | Nick Wilson | Episode: "The Birthday Visitor" |
| 1985 | The Jeffersons | Whitney Emmett | Episode: "The Truth Hurts" |
| 1985 | Rockhopper | Carl Seldon | Television film |
| 1985 | Growing Pains | Mr. Ellis | Episode: "Standardized Test" |
| 1985–1987 | St. Elsewhere | John Doe #6 | 8 episodes |
| 1986 | Shadow Chasers | Oliver Wendell Holmes | Episode: "Let's Make a Deal" |
| 1986 | The Twilight Zone | Dr. Walter Pinkham | Episode: "Tooth and Consequences" |
| 1987 | Good Morning, Miss Bliss | Mr. Gerald Belding | Episode: "Pilot" |
| 1987, 1988 | Mr. Belvedere | Lloyd / Burt Bilinski | 2 episodes |
| 1988–1989 | Santa Barbara | Mario Tagliatti | 7 episodes |
| 1989 | Nightlife | Bill | Television film |
| 1989 | Dear John | Arthur Prescott | Episode: "The Secret of Success" |
| 1989 | The Golden Girls | Roger | Episode: "Comedy of Errors" |
| 1989–1990 | Life Goes On | Mr. Leighton | 3 episodes |
| 1993 | Civil Wars | Gerald Snyder | Episode: "A Liver Runs Through It" |
| 1995 | Full House | Principal Robolard | Episode: "Up on the Roof" |
| 1995 | Land's End | Mr. Green | Episode: "The Curse of Willis" |
| 1995–1997 | Murder One | Judge Douglas Harrigan | 3 episodes |
| 1997 | George and Leo | Oliver | Episode: "The Cameo Episode" |
| 1997 | Murder One: Diary of a Serial Killer | Judge Douglas Harrigan | 6 episodes |
| 2000 | Walker, Texas Ranger | Dr. Lamarr | Episode: "Thunderhawk" |
| 2003 | Ed | Mr. Walsh | Episode: "Business as Usual" |