A movie-crazy kid in his native Oklahoma City, Robert Clarke decided at an early age that he wanted to be an actor, but nevertheless suffered from stage fright in his first school productions. He acted in University of Oklahoma radio plays and on stage at the University of Wisconsin before hitching a ride to California to try to break into the picture business. After screen tests at 20th Century-Fox and Columbia, Clarke landed a berth as a contract player at RKO. When RKO dropped his option three years later, he began freelancing. Clarke married Alyce King of the singing The King Sisters in 1956 and, a decade later, began appearing on TV and on tour with The King Family. His autobiography, To "B" or Not to "B": A Film Actor's Odyssey, was published in 1996.