John Clarke is an American actor. Clarke is recognized for originating and portraying Mickey Horton on the NBC soap opera Days of Our Lives for 39 years, beginning with the debut of the program in 1965, until he retired early in 2004 because of health concerns. He was replaced in the role by John Ingle, who left the program in 2006.
In 1959, Clarke acted with Ida Lupino in an episode of CBS's The Twilight Zone titled The Sixteen-Millimeter Shrine. In the 1961-1962 television season, he was cast in 27 episodes as Patrolman Joe Huddleston in Leslie Nielsen's ABC crime drama series, The New Breed.
His daughter is actress Melinda Clarke, who started out on Days of our Lives and later played Julie Cooper-Nichol on the television series, The O.C..
Clarke passed away from complications of pneumonia on October 16, 2019, in Laguna Beach. Clarke previously suffered a stroke in 2007 and had been in declining health in the last few years.
