Dick Clair (November 12, 1931 – December 12, 1988) was an American television producer, actor and television and film writer, best known for the television sitcoms It's a Living, The Facts of Life, and Mama's Family.
Early life
Clair was born Richard Jones in
San Francisco, California.
He served in the military for two years from 1955 to 1957. He never married or had children.[1]
Clair was active as an early member of the Cryonics Society of California in the 1960s. In 1982 he contributed $20,000 to the
cryonics organization Trans Time so that a husband and wife could remain
cryopreserved in
liquid nitrogen. He was diagnosed with
AIDS in 1986. When he was hospitalized in 1988, he faced opposition from the hospital and the
State of California concerning his desire for cryonics treatment.[1] The ensuing court battle (Roe v. Mitchell, with Clair as "John Roe") ended victoriously, establishing the legal right of persons to be cryonically preserved in the state of California.[4][5][6]
Death
Clair died on December 12, 1988, of multiple AIDS-related infections at the age of 57.[7] He was cryopreserved at the
Alcor Life Extension Foundation.[8]