John Clarke (actor)

John Clarke (April 14, 1931 – October 16, 2019) was an American television 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 his retirement in 2004. 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 on the television series, The O.C. Clarke died on October 16, 2019, from complications of pneumonia at the age of 88.