Veteran actor Matt Clark, best known for his role as Chester the bartender in Back to the Future: Part III, has passed away at the age of 89.
Clark died at his home in Austin, Texas, on Sunday due to complications following back surgery, his family confirmed to TMZ.
Clark’s family remembered him as a man who valued working with people who cherished their families and who never sought fame for its own sake. “He felt lucky to work in a career he loved and respected,” they said. “He died the way he lived, on his terms.”
Over his decades-long career, Clark appeared in more than 120 films and television productions. He shared the screen with Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd in the 1990 time-travel adventure, where he played the bartender Chester, crossing paths with Marty McFly in the Old West as the character tried to save Doc Brown from danger.
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Beyond Back to the Future, Clark had notable roles in classics such as Jeremiah Johnson (1972), The Outlaw Josey Wales (1976) with Clint Eastwood, and Brubaker (1980). He also appeared in the 1984 cult favorite The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension. Later in his career, he returned to the Western genre with a role as Old Prospector in Seth MacFarlane’s 2014 comedy A Million Ways to Die in the West, alongside Liam Neeson, Amanda Seyfried, Neil Patrick Harris, and Charlize Theron.
Clark’s work extended to television, with appearances in shows including The Jeff Foxworthy Show and Little House on the Prairie. He also directed, helming the 1988 drama Da and two episodes of the series Midnight Caller.
He is survived by his wife, Sharon Mays, whom he married in 2000, and his daughter, Amiee Clark. Clark had previously been married to Erica Lann from 1958 to 1966 and briefly to Carol Trieste in 1968.
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