The actress looked almost unrecognizable during a rare Los Angeles outing earlier this week. Now 83, the Canadian-born film and television star rose to prominence in the 1960s, landing early roles opposite screen icons including Clint Eastwood, Henry Fonda and Burt Reynolds. She went on to appear in several acclaimed films during the 1970s before largely leaving the big screen in the early 1980s. Instead, she turned her attention to television, where she secured one of her best-known parts on a hit sitcom that ran for six seasons. In a surprising Hollywood connection, she portrayed the wife of her real-life husband, who had taken an unexpected route into acting. Can you identify the now-retired star?
The actress is former screen star Susan Clark. The Daily Mail has contacted Clark’s representatives for comment but has not received a response. She was photographed having lunch in Los Angeles before stopping at a grocery store. Clark appeared vibrant in a multicolored floral blouse, which she wore with a black-and-red jacket, and completed the summery outfit with a wide-brimmed hat to shield herself from the strong sun. Born Nora Golding, Clark grew up in Toronto, Ontario. She began performing on stage during her teens before moving to the United Kingdom to study at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.
Clark began her television career in London with small parts on British programs such as The Benny Hill Show and The Sentimental Agent. After returning to Canada in 1965, she signed a contract with Universal Pictures in 1967, giving her career a major boost. That same year, she made her feature-film debut in the sports drama Banning, starring Robert Wagner and Gene Hackman. By 1968, Clark was landing more prominent roles opposite established stars Henry Fonda and Richard Widmark in Madigan, as well as Clint Eastwood in Coogan’s Bluff. By the time she appeared with Eastwood, she had moved beyond minor supporting parts and was playing romantic leads, although she continued to take supporting roles alongside major names, including Robert Redford in 1969’s Tell Them Willie Boy Is Here.
In the early 1970s, Clark worked with Burt Lancaster in the adventure films Skullduggery (1970) and Valdez Is Coming (1971). Her profile grew further after she appeared in the blockbuster disaster movie Airport 1975 (1974) and Disney’s successful comedy The Apple Dumpling Gang (1975). She also reunited with Gene Hackman in the acclaimed mystery thriller Night Moves (1975), by which point both actors had become major box-office draws. Yet just as her film career was reaching new heights, Clark began concentrating on television. Her performance as athlete Babe Didrikson Zaharias in the 1975 television movie Babe earned her an Emmy Award, while her portrayal of aviator Amelia Earhart in the 1976 TV movie brought an Emmy nomination.
Clark later took the title role in a 1978 television adaptation of Hedda Gabler. She returned to films in 1979 after a four-year absence and appeared in several more movies during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Her final film role was in the 1981 sex comedy Porky’s. From that point forward, she focused primarily on television, landing one of her most recognizable parts in 1983 as Katherine Calder-Young Papadopoulos on Webster. The sitcom featured an unusual real-life pairing: Clark’s on-screen husband, George Papadopolis, was played by her husband, Alex Karras, who died in 2012 at age 77. Before becoming an actor, Karras played defensive tackle for the Detroit Lions from 1958 to 1970.
Clark and Karras first met while working together on Babe in 1975, in which he played her character’s husband. They married in 1980 and welcomed their only child, a daughter, that same year. Following the end of Webster in 1989, Clark made occasional appearances in television movies during the 1990s. She concluded her on-screen career with a main cast role on the Canadian series Emily of New Moon, which aired from 1998 to 2000. After leaving the screen, Clark continued performing on stage well into the 2000s.
