Dick Clark

Former local boy Dick Clark will be honored Sept. 14 by the Guinness Book of World Records at the first Guinness Supreme Achievement Award ceremony in Beverly Hills. No, it's not for looking forever young but for keeping TV's American Bandstand spinning for 35 years. Since its 1952 debut in WFIL-TV's old studios at 46th and Market Streets, with the late Bob Horn hosting, the show has played more than 65,000 records, greeted more than 10,000 musical guests and featured more than 600,000 dancing teens.

WEST PHILLY native Dotty Bradley's first memory of when "Bandstand" was filmed in Philadelphia is stuffing her bra with socks when she was 11 to make herself look older so that she could sneak into the show with her cousin. That was when Bob Horn hosted the show. But the personality whom Bradley, 68, and her cousin Barbara Marcen, 72, remember rocking with best is Dick Clark. "I used to dance right under the podium," Bradley said, beaming, as she swayed to the beat at SugarHouse Casino, where local music icon Jerry Blavat dedicated his weekly dance party to the late "American Bandstand" host on Wednesday night.

Dick Clark, who took a Philadelphia dance show nationwide and brought rock-and-roll into America's living rooms every weekday afternoon for decades, shaping tastes and making careers, died of a massive heart attack Wednesday morning in Los Angeles. "The world's oldest teenager" was 82. Mr. Clark, who had Type 2 diabetes, died at St. John's Hospital in Santa Monica, Calif., where he had gone Tuesday night for an outpatient procedure, according to a statement by his publicist.

Regis Philbin, blessed with the privilege of being perhaps the most beloved personality on TV, is giving a hand to ailing bud Dick Clark (no less beloved). Even though Clark, who suffered a minor stroke last week, said he'd be fit and ready to host ABC's annual Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve 2005 on Dec. 31, he will sit out the show to continue recuperating. ABC has tapped Reege to fill in for his pal. "It'll feel strange watching it on TV, but my doctors felt it was too soon," Clark, 75, said yesterday from a hospital in Burbank, Calif.

For 25 straight years, America's Oldest Teenager has been our man in Times Square, marking time's passage with his improbably ageless look. But Dick Clark will tell you that his sandy hair is speckled with gray, his face does show the wear, and he is eligible for Social Security, though whether he collects is one of the few details of his business that someone else handles. At midnight tonight on Channel 6, Clark will count down to 1997, bobbing in a sea of noisemakers and revelers.

The news hit hard. Bunny Gibson was a kid when Dick Clark came into her life - or, rather, when she entered his world in Studio B at 46th and Market Streets in West Philadelphia. "When I walked through those doors, that was the only place I wanted to be," said Gibson, 66, an actress who now lives in Los Angeles. She was 13 but lied about her age. American Bandstand only allowed dancers from 14 to 18. "I put a lot of my mom's makeup on and stuffed my bra," said Gibson.

HE WAS VOTED "Most likely to sell the Brooklyn Bridge" by his high-school classmates. But Dick Clark did much more than that. He sold America on a kit bag of rowdy trouble and seductive pleasures. And he did so fordecades —from those lurid "Great Balls of Fire" goosed by Jerry Lee Lewis and the hip, grinding come-ons to do "The Twist" evoked by Chubby Checker, to the coded drug-'n'-revolution messages he let fly on national TV from the Jefferson Airplane, and the totally tarty aura of Madonna that became America's obsession.

The news hit hard. Bunny Gibson was a kid when Dick Clark came into her life - or, rather, when she entered his world in Studio B at 46th and Market Streets in West Philadelphia. "When I walked through those doors, that was the only place I wanted to be," said Gibson, 66, an actress who now lives in Los Angeles. She was 13, but lied about her age. American Bandstand only allowed dancers from 14 to 18. "I put a lot of my mom's makeup on and stuffed my bra," said Gibson.

The event organizer says she has lined up Dick Clark, Gov. Ridge, Mayor Rendell and several other celebrities for the dedication of a historical marker in front of the former West Philadelphia TV studio where "American Bandstand" was born. The problem is the state highway marker contained an error and was hustled back to the foundry by Federal Express Monday in hopes that it can be corrected and put in place for the big event scheduled for noon Aug. 5. The marker will stand in front of the former WFIL-TV Channel 6 studio at 4548 Market St. It lauds "American Bandstand" for its "major impact on the music, dance and lifestyles of American teen-agers.

‘Prison Break' star arrested Lane Garrison spent Sunday night in jail after his arrest on felony domestic violence charges, accused of assaulting his ex-gf Ashley Mattingly at her Beverly Hills apartment building. Harland Braun, Garrison's lawyer, told TMZ Sunday the Prison Break star was visiting a friend in the same building and ran into Ashley by chance. Braun said Garrison admits there was an argument but denies hitting his ex-gf. But security camera footage posted Monday by TMZ shows Garrison grabbing Ashley's arm with one hand and slapping her face with the other.

As comfortable in the role of Miss Claire on the Romper Room children's television show as she was mingling with presidents as the wife of U.S. Sen. Richard S. Schweiker of Pennsylvania, Claire Coleman Schweiker gracefully embraced the dual roles of broadcast pioneer for women and traditional Washington hostess. Mrs. Schweiker, 81, died Sunday, April 28, in McLean, Va., of respiratory complications after she was hospitalized for a broken arm. The daughter of John C. and Claire Binder Coleman, Mrs. Schweiker grew up in Glenside and was valedictorian of Springfield High School in Montgomery County.

IN THE MID-1950S, Bobby Palese and Joe Giglio graduated from Camden Catholic High School with one conviction: They weren't going to take 9-to-5 jobs. They wanted to be entertainers. Lots of kids start out with fanciful notions of what they want to do with their lives: cop, fireman, pilot, professional athlete. Most come to their senses when confronted with the realities of the world. Not Bobby and Joe. They went on to pursue and fulfill their dreams, eventually as two of the four members of the Echoes doo-wop group, which performed widely and cut some records that got airplay in the Philadelphia region.

COMPETING FOR attention with Dick Clark could not have been an easy experience. But Leroy Smith was not to be discouraged. He had a message to deliver, and the crowds of young people who gathered outside the Philadelphia Arena for Dick Clark's American Bandstand were going to hear it. The Rev. Leroy Smith started his religious service as a street preacher, and the venue he chose to try to sell his message of faith was outside the Philadelphia Arena...

Our losses remind us of all we've had, all the wonderful people who have moved, are moving, and will move among us. So here's a review of our human blessings, lives completed in 2012, lives that will stay with us for thankful years to come. We can't mention all - such are the riches. A local moment. This town and state lost huge names that cast much light. Longtime Penn State football coach Joe Paterno , 85, passed in the midst of scandal. Dick Clark , 82, host of American Bandstand , will see the ball descend this year - but a long way off from Times Square.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY Wednesday to South Philly's own Chubby Checker. Checker, born Ernest Evans, was discovered singing in the Italian Market, which led to recording for Dick Clark, which led to . . . well, you know the tune. He's 71 this week. His stars twist (couldn't resist!) a new career path, adventures and expansions in the New Year. On Tuesday, South Jersey's own Kelly Ripa hosts 42. Wednesday, GFS grad Garrett "G. Love" Dutton sings the I'm-turning-40 blues, The Roots' Black Thought celebrates a lyrical 41 and Allyson Schwartz reps 64. Saturday, Flyer Danny Briere captains 35, and "Majors and Minors" winner Michael Woodward croons 15. - Lauren McCutcheon

‘Prison Break' star arrested Lane Garrison spent Sunday night in jail after his arrest on felony domestic violence charges, accused of assaulting his ex-gf Ashley Mattingly at her Beverly Hills apartment building. Harland Braun, Garrison's lawyer, told TMZ Sunday the Prison Break star was visiting a friend in the same building and ran into Ashley by chance. Braun said Garrison admits there was an argument but denies hitting his ex-gf. But security camera footage posted Monday by TMZ shows Garrison grabbing Ashley's arm with one hand and slapping her face with the other.

The Bandstand studio at 46th and Market Streets was old, dreary, and dark — that is, until Dick Clark appeared. Then the lights punched on like a bolt of sunshine, and the gym-like bleacher seats were rolled out with businesslike authority. A certain buzz circulated among the teenagers: Bandstand was about to begin. I went to the studio several times and, on one occasion, took part in one of Clark's famous spotlight dances with a girl I didn't even know. I was able to waltz past the guards at the entrance because I knew one of the regulars.

  Former American Bandstand dancer Tommy "Crazy Legs" Davis leaned in to examine the enlarged pictures on the walls in Studio B, looking for himself in the photos that captured the Philadelphia heyday of the rock-and-roll dance party hosted by Dick Clark. Back then, Davis was a thin, 129-pound teenager from Roxborough with curly blond hair. On Saturday, he was an older version of himself with less hair and a few more pounds but the same love for the TV show and Clark, who died Wednesday in Los Angeles at 82. "My biggest thrill was dancing with Patti Page," said Davis, 70, of Jenkintown, who was a regular on the show from 1955 to 1957.

Dick Clark, who died Wednesday at 82 of a heart attack, has been cremated, rep Paul Shefrin tells USA Today. Entertainment Tonight reports the ashes will be scattered in the Pacific Ocean, but Shefrin says Clark's family had not yet decided what to do with them. Plans for a public memorial hadn't been finalized. Simon Cowell: Not gay Simon Cowell, whose sexuality has been the subject of not a few gossip items, tells biographer Tom Bower in a new book he is straight.