He played the part of a former Dallas Cowboys wide receiver on the hit TV series Walker Texas Ranger…Trivette worked with Cordell Walker/Chuck Norris, and there was C.D. Parker, Alex Cahill and other television characters on that TV program…He was Trivette, that was Jimmy Trivette, and was one of the key stars on that hit series Walker Texas Ranger…
Clarence Gilyard Jr. was always talking and showing his former Dallas Cowboys fame on the show…Gilyard Jr. also played the part on a track and field coach in the movie, The Perfect Race…He worked key roles in the Left Behind series with Kirk Cameron, plus early on in his acting career he was Conrad McMasters on the Matlock show, with Andy Griffith…This man was quite the talent, and he will be missed…
A real likeable and identifiable character, you felt like you knew him, and with all of the reruns of the Walker Texas Ranger TV show, we used to see him each and every day, especially back during the pandemic…
Gone at age 66, Clarence Gilyard Jr.
CLICK HERE for a recent photo…
Clarence Gilyard Jr., an actor best known for starring in “Walker, Texas Ranger” and his supporting performance in “Die Hard,” has died. He was 66 years old. No further details about his death are available at this time.
Gilyard’s death was confirmed through a statement by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Gilyard had been working as a film and theatre professor at UNLV College of Fine Arts.
“Professor Gilyard was a beacon of light and strength for everyone around him,” UNLV film chair Heather Addison said. “Whenever we asked him how he was, he would cheerfully declare that he was ‘Blessed!’ But we are truly the ones who were blessed to be his colleagues and students for so many years. We love you and will miss you dearly, Professor G!”
An accomplished film, television and theatre actor, Gilyard made a lasting impression in the 1980’s after a series of guest star TV appearances, making his film debut as Sundown in “Top Gun” and playing the terrorist computer whiz Theo in “Die Hard” with a gleeful menace. In 1989, he scored a regular gig on primetime television with “Matlock,” playing Conrad McMasters, a P.I. for Andy Griffith’s lead criminal defense attorney.
Gilyard appeared on 85 episodes of “Matlock” before departing the series in 1993 for an even bigger role: Jimmy Trivette, the right hand man to Chuck Norris’ tough sergeant on CBS’ Western crime series “Walker, Texas Ranger.” He appeared in all 196 episodes of the series’ eight season. After the finale in 2001, Gilyard continued to act in various films and TV shows.
Born Dec. 24, 1955 in Moses Lake, Wash., Gilyard grew up a military brat, moving across air bases throughout the U.S. during his adolescence before his family settled in California. After spending a year at the Air Force Academy as a cadet, Gilyard attended Sterling College and, later, California State University, Long Beach and California State University, Dominguez Hills, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in acting.
Gilyard returned to academia later in life, joining the department of theatre at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas as an associate professor in 2006. Gilyard also worked as a producer and director, helming an episode of “Walker, Texas Ranger.”
Gilyard was previously married to Catherine Dutko. He married Elena Gilyard in 2001.