the director of Essex County Detention House, a juvenile detention center in Newark. He also wrote “Laying Down the Law: Joe Clark’s Strategy for Saving Our Schools,” detailing his methods for turning around Eastside High.
In a 1989 interview, Freeman, who played Clark in the movie, called the principal a “charismatic magician” and noted that during the making of the film, the educator “got up in front of the students and said, ‘You know, they’re going to be making the picture, and we are the stars. So let’s give them every help we can.’ And by George, that’s what they did.”
Clark appeared on 60 Minutes and The Arsenio Hall Show and was featured on the cover of Time magazine as Lean on Me hit theaters. The 1989 Warner Bros. release was made for about $10 million and grossed just under $32 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
Clark is survived by his children, Joetta, Hazel and JJ, and grandchildren, Talitha, Jorell and Hazel. His wife, Gloria, preceded him in death.