(born October 20, 1926 in Decatur, Illinois) is an American acting teacher, director and actor.
A graduate of the Northwestern University school of speech under Alvina Krause, Clay taught at Oberlin College (1956 - 1957), the University of Miami (1957 - 1961), and the University of South Florida (1961 - 1966). He also headed the Professional Actors Training Programs at Southern Methodist University (1966 - 1986) and the University of Washington
(1986 - 1991.) While in Dallas, He founded "Stage #1," a professional
acting company, and served as its artistic director for eight years.
Clay's teachers included Lee Strasberg, Martha Graham and Eric Hawkins. Among his best known students are Kathy Bates, Powers Boothe, Patricia Richardson, Stephen Tobolowsky, Beth Henley and Hugh O'Gorman (of Remember WENN).
Clay is also a distinguished member of the College of Fellows of the American Theatre.
Jack Clay plays the role of Ogilvy in War of the Worlds The True Story, (2012). The movie played in theaters across the United States and qualified as a 2012 Oscar contender. Gary Goldstein, in the Los Angeles Times said of the movie, " 'War of the Worlds: The True Story' is clever like Wells. 'War of the Worlds: The True Story' is an inventive mock sci-fi docudrama with the conceit that H.G. Wells' 'The War of the Worlds' is a true story.
