Clarence Darnell Gilyard Jr. was an American university professor, actor, and author who lived from December 24, 1955, to November 28, 2022. He performed in stage, film, and television plays and was occasionally given the name Clarence A. Gilyard.
Gilyard was best known for his roles as Conrad McMasters, Ben Matlock’s (Andy Griffith) right-hand man, on the legal drama series Matlock from 1989 to 1993; Pastor Bruce Barnes in the Left Behind film trilogy; Cordell Walker’s (Chuck Norris) Texas Ranger partner, James “Jimmy” Trivette, in the 1990s crime drama Walker, Texas Ranger; Theo, the terrorist computer expert in Die Hard; and Lieutenant (junior grade) Marcus “Sund.
Gilyard moved to Los Angeles in 1979 to pursue a career as an actor. Before moving on to television, he had a role in the play Bleacher Bums, which made him “the first black actor to play a cheerleader,” according to one magazine. Gilyard has appeared as a character actor on TV shows such as Diff’rent Strokes, The Facts of Life, 227, Simon & Simon, and Riptide. Gilyard was cast as Officer Benjamin Webster in the final season of the NBC TV series CHiPs in 1982-1983, opposite Erik Estrada. In the 1984 NBC sitcom The Duck Factory, he co-starred with Jim Carrey.
In 1987, he appeared in a McDonald’s commercial. Gilyard made his film debut in Top Gun in 1986 as Lt. Marcus “Sundown” Williams, an F-14 Tomcat radar intercept officer. In the 1986 film The Karate Kid Part II, he played a military officer. He played Theo, a criminal computer expert, in the 1988 action film Die Hard. He also played Reverend Bruce Barnes in the films Left Behind: The Movie and Left Behind II: Tribulation Force.
From 1989 to 1993, Gilyard portrayed Ben Matlock’s private investigator, Conrad McMasters, on Matlock, alongside Andy Griffith. He took over for Kene Holliday, who was fired for his drug and alcohol addiction. Gilyard appeared in almost every episode of Matlock beginning with season three. When the show switched from NBC to ABC for the seventh season, production moved from Los Angeles to Wilmington, North Carolina. Andy Griffith suggested to Gilyard that he move there as well, which he did before leaving to work on a pilot for another series at CBS the following year. In 1993, he began another long-running co-starring role on Walker, Texas Ranger, opposite Chuck Norris. James “Jimmy” Trivette, a fellow Texas Ranger and Walker’s best friend, was played by Gilyard. Norris’ character married his longtime girlfriend, an assistant district attorney, near the end of the series, while Gilyard’s character was given a girlfriend. Gilyard made a cameo appearance in Walker, Texas Ranger: Trial by Fire, a 2005 television movie. After taking a break to teach, Gilyard returned to the screen in 2012, mostly in independent projects. He appeared in the 2014 religious film A Matter of Faith.
Who is Clarence Gilyard’s son Peter Gilyard?
Gilyard had five children with two different women. For reasons that are not entirely clear, Peter Gilyard, his 15-year-old son, is the most notable of his children.
