Paul Hartman

Paul Hartman was a dance and stage performer and later a character actor known especially for his role as the handyman Emmett Clark on the classic sitcom "The Andy Griffith Show" and its spin-off, "Mayberry R.F.D. ." Hartman first began working with his eventual wife, Grace Hartman, in a dance and comedy vaudeville act in the 1920s. By the '30s, the two hit Broadway and became successful enough to venture for the coast and television. In 1949, they landed their own sitcom, "The Hartmans," a very short-lived affair that left them back-pedaling to Broadway. Just before his wife's death in 1955, Hartman began making more successful inroads in Hollywood. In 1953, he co-starred, alongside Fay Wray, the legendary "King Kong" heroine, and Natalie Wood in the TV comedy "The Pride of the Family." He also had a supporting part in the Elia Kazan drama "Man on a Tightrope." In 1960, Hartman worked with dance legend Gene Kelly, Spencer Tracy, and "Man on a Tightrope" star Fredric March in the historical drama "Inherit the Wind." Hartman made several more films until 1967, the year that his career took off on television. In 1967 and 1968, he made frequent appearances as Emmett Clark on "Andy Griffith" and then reprised the role as a lead character on "Mayberry R.F.D. ," which starred Ken Berry. Hartman's Clark stuck around for all three seasons of the series, ending in 1971. Hartman passed away from a heart attack at age 69