Clarence Gilyard

Clarence Darnell Gilyard Jr. (December 24, 1955 – November 28, 2022) was an American actor. On television, he played private investigator Conrad McMasters on the legal drama series Matlock (1986–95) and Texas Ranger Jimmy Trivette on Walker, Texas Ranger (1993–2001).

Gilyard also had supporting roles in the 1980s action films Top Gun, as Radar Intercept Officer "Sundown", and Die Hard, as terrorist computer expert Theo.

Gilyard was an associate professor of acting at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas from 2006 until his death in 2022.

Early life

Gilyard was born into a military family in Moses Lake, Washington, on Christmas Eve, in 1955, the son of Barbara and Clarence Alfred Gilyard Sr., a U.S. Air Force officer. Gilyard was the second of six children. His family was originally from New Orleans, Louisiana, but Gilyard grew up on Air Force bases in Hawaii, Texas, and Florida. Raised primarily as a Lutheran, he became Catholic in the 1990s.

During his young adulthood, Gilyard lived in the San Bernardino suburb of Rialto, California, and attended Eisenhower High School. He was an excellent student, graduating in 1974, and afterward spent a year as an Air Force Academy cadet before leaving the service to attend Sterling College. In college, he played football, and became a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity. He also received a tennis scholarship, but dropped out of school before completing his studies.