Joe Louis Clark, the baseball bat and bullhorn-wielding principal who inspired the 1989 film “Lean on Me,” starring Morgan Freeman, has died.
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He died at his Florida home on Tuesday December 29, after a long battle with an unspecified illness, his family said in a statement. He was 82.
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Born in Rochelle, Georgia, on May 8, 1938, Clark’s family moved north to Newark New Jersey, when he was 6 years old.
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After graduating from Newark Central High School, Clark received his bachelor’s degree from William Paterson College (now William Paterson University), a master’s degree from Seton Hall University, and an honorary doctorate from the U.S. Sports Academy.
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Clark started teaching at a Paterson grade school in Essex County, N.J., before becoming principal of PS 6 Grammar School.
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In one day, he expelled 300 students for fighting, vandalism, abusing teachers, and drug possession, and lifted the expectations of those who remained, continually challenging them to perform better.
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Roaming the hallways with a bullhorn and a baseball bat, Clark’s disciplinary methods won him both admirers and critics nationwide.
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President Ronald Reagan offered Clark a White House policy advisor position after his success at the high school.
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Morgan Freeman starred as Clark in the 1989 film “Lean on Me” which was loosely based on Clark's tenure at Eastside.
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After he retired from Eastside in 1989, Clark worked for six years as the director of Essex County Detention House, a juvenile detention center in Newark. He also served as a U.S. Army Reserve sergeant and a drill instructor.
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He retired to Gainesville, Florida.
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Clark is survived by his children, Joetta, Hazel and JJ, and grandchildren, Talitha, Jorell and Hazel.
