‘He Died the Way He Lived, On His Terms’

Matt Clark, an actor whose career spanned six decades, died at his Austin Texas, home from complications after back surgery, TMZ reported on Monday, March 16.

The Army vet’s second movie was the 1967 Sidney Poitier classic In the Heat of the Night. He followed by a string of Westerns, including 1972’s The Cowboys with John Wayne, Jeremiah Johnson with Robert Redford, and The Life and Times of Judge Roy Bean with Paul Newman. Clark also starred in Sam Peckinpah’s Pat Garrett and Billy the Kid in 1973, The Outlaw Josey Wales opposite Clint Eastwood in 1976 — and even 2014’s Western spoof A Million Ways to Die in the West.

Clark may be most well-known for playing the bartender in Back to the Future III and also had guest-starring gigs on Bonanza, Kung Fu and Dynasty.

“Clark was an ‘actor’s actor’ who loved and respected the job, but was not concerned with stars and fame. He was impressed when working with good people who loved their families. He felt ‘lucky’ about his career … and ‘he died the way he lived, on his terms,’” his family told TMZ.

He was 89.

This story ‘Back to the Future’ Star Dead at 89: ‘He Died the Way He Lived, On His Terms’ first appeared on National Examiner. Add National Examiner as a Preferred Source by clicking here.