Photo: AP (AP)
Joe Louis Clark, the no-nonsense disciplinary high school principal who inspired the classic 1989 film
Lean On Me, has died at the age of 89. According to an official press release, Clark succumbed after a long battle with an undisclosed illness on Tuesday at his Gainesville, Fla., home, surrounded by family.
Advertisement
Clark was born in Rochelle, Ga., on May 8, 1938, and his family later moved to Newark, N.J., in 1938. Ever the proponent of education, Clark earned a bachelor’s degree (then William Paterson College, now William Paterson University), a master’s degree (Seton Hall University), and an honorary doctorate from the U.S. Sports Academy. After concluding his collegiate career, Clark served in the U.S. Army as a Reserve Sergeant and Drill Instructor.