Clarence Gilyard is a well known actor author and college professor who hails from the country of the United States of America. Clarence Gilyard is frequently featured in numerous television series, theatre plays in various regions and he has even featured in many movies right since the year 1980. Clarence Gilyard is often given credit as Clarence A. Gilyard.

Personal Life

Clarence Gilyard was born as Clarence Alfred Gilyard Jr. on the 24th of December in the year 1955 at Moses Lake in the state of Washington In the country of the United States of America.

Clarence Gilyard was born to a family of military personnel, he is the son of an officer from the U.S Air Force named Clarence Gilyard Sr., though his family was from the city of New Orleans in the state of Louisiana, originally. However, the entire family was raised in different locations due to his father’s postings at various Air Force bases, such as bases in Texas, Hawaii and Florida.

In his younger days, Gilyard resided in the suburb of San Bernardino in Rialto, in the state of California. He was a student at the Eisenhower High School and was often regarded as an excellent student who graduated in the year 1974. Later he spent a year serving in the position of a cadet of the Air Force Academy prior to quitting the service in a bid to attend Sterling College.

As a student in college, Clarence was a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity and played football. Clarence also received scholarship for tennis however he dropped out of school without completing his education.

Clarence is the 2nd of 6 children. In the year 1985, Gilyard’s younger brother graduated from the prestigious Air Force Academy. His other brother named Milton has a moderate developmental disability and hence has to opt for an assisted living home.

Career

While he lived with his family during his high school, Clarence was busy with alcohol, the occasional drugs and scores of women. At this point his parents wanted him to shift out and relocate to Long Beach in the state of California along with a buddy of his. Gilyard was a student at the California State University in Long Beach while got a major in acting and he worked as a waiter while looking for opportunities in the field of acting.

Later he completed his bachelor's degree in Dominguez Hills at the California State University. In the year 1979, Clarence shifted to the city of Los Angeles with the dream to become an actor. From the year 1989 to 1993, he is known for portraying the roles of the right-hand man and second private investigator named Conrad McMasters to the character of Ben Matlock portrayed by fellow actor Andy Griffith in the legal drama television series called Matlock.

Clarence also portrayed Pastor Bruce Barnes in the movie trilogy called Left Behind. He also portrayed the role of James "Jimmy" Trivette in Walker, Texas Ranger which was the crime drama of 1990s. Some of his other notable roles were that of the terrorist computer expert named Theo, in the 1988 movie called,Die Hard. and Clarence portrayed the role of Lieutenant Marcus Williams in the 1986 movie named Top Gun.