Actor / Director Profile

Lovely, sultry, and charismatic actress Marlene Clark was born on December 19, 1949 in Los Angeles, California. Her father was a bus driver and her mother worked in a factory. Marlene grew up in Harlem in New York City. Clark went to junior college in Tennessee and was a speech major at the City College of New York. She first started acting in plays in college. Marlene worked as a fashion model before making her film debut with a small part in "For Love of Ivy." Clark has minor uncredited bit roles in "Midnight Cowboy" and "Putney Swope." She gave an outstanding performance as the enticing, but dangerous Ganja in "Ganja & Hess." Other memorable parts include pesky government agent Kim in "Slaughter," the ill-fated Mariane Hargis in "Beware! The Blob;" very sexy as the titular reptilian demonic seductress in "Night of the Cobra Woman," the foxy Caroline in "The Beast Must Die," tough black revolutionary gang leader Muff in Jack Hill's outrageous "Switchblade Sisters," and the affluent Caroline in "The Baron." Marlene had a recurring role as Lamont Sanford's fiancé Janet Lawson on the hit sitcom "Sanford and Son." Moreover, Clark made guest appearances on episodes of such TV shows as "Marcus Welby, M.D.," "Bonanza," "The Mod Squad," "Highway to Heaven," and "Head of the Class." Clark was married to Billy Dee Williams from 1968 to 1971. More recently Marlene has done interviews or commentaries on DVD releases of the films "Ganja & Hess" and "The Baron."