Oral history interview with Clarence Gilyard conducted by Barbara Paige on December 02, 2014 for the African Americans in Las Vegas: a Collaborative Oral History Project. Gilyard begins the interview by discussing his upbringing on United States Air Force bases, his father's career as an Airman, and the advantages he had attending Air Force schools as a child as opposed to attending public schools, where he may have faced discrimination as an African American. He describes his higher education, playing college football, and later pursuing a career in acting after becoming involved in local theatre while attending college at California State University, Long Beach. Gilyard continues, detailing how he gained more acting work and eventually acted alongside actors like Jim Carrey, Andy Griffith, and Chuck Norris, as well as starred in film and television series such as Top Gun, Die Hard, Matlock, and Walker, Texas Ranger. He concludes by discussing his career as an acting teacher and continuing his own education.