Caitlin Clark had so much fun with her various roles on stage, including Broadway, as well as in movies and on television. But the role that brought her the most joy was that of teacher, sharing her knowledge of, and passion for, the acting craft.

"Just loved kids, loved young people," said one of her four younger sisters, Victoria Clarke, of Washington, D.C., who never saw her happier than in recent years when she was teaching at the University of Pittsburgh and at the Pittsburgh Musical Theater.

This despite her 4¹/₂-year fight with ovarian cancer.

Ms. Clarke, of Sewickley, died Thursday. She was 52.

Her passing was mourned on her Internet fan site, which highlighted her teaching in addition to long lists of credits. These include the 1981 cult-favorite fantasy film, "Dragonslayer," in which she starred (opposite the late Sir Ralph Richardson) in the title role of Valerian -- disguised as a man and as a woman.

Victoria "Torie" Clarke, who until last year was spokeswoman for the Pentagon, said it was that role that, during a showing of 1989's less magical "Penn & Teller Get Killed," made one fan turn around in the movie theater and ask, "Oh my God -- are you related to Caitlin Clarke?!"

But Ms. Clarke also was proud of her more serious roles, such as starring in the 1981 American premiere of David Hare's "Plenty" at Chicago's Goodman Theatre. She particularly enjoyed her two years (1998-'99) in the Broadway musical, "Titanic."

She was born Katherine Anne Clarke, but changed her name because that one already was taken by another Actors' Equity member.

Her family -- her father, Charles, is a physician -- moved from Shadyside to Sewickley when she was 10 and "Kate," as they knew her, graduated from Sewickley Academy. She was 16 when she made her acting debut as Marian the Librarian in "The Music Man" at Sewickley's Edgeworth Club.

She went on to Mount Holyoke College and Yale University Drama School, where she received her master's of fine arts degree in 1978.

After moving to New York City, she worked various gigs before making the cut for "Dragonslayer." Over the next two decades, her Broadway roles included "Strange Interlude" with Glenda Jackson and "Arms and the Man" with Kevin Kline and Raul Julia (both in 1985). She appeared in the 1989 U.S. premiere of Timberlake Wertenbaker's play, "Our Country's Good," and was granted special permission by British Equity to appear in the London premiere.

Meanwhile, she had a recurring role on the TV series "Law & Order," and appeared on other shows ranging from "Matlock" to "Sex and the City."

Her former dean and director at Yale, Robert Brustein, lauded her as "certainly in the top ranking" of actors he's helped teach. The founder of the American Repertory Theatre and New Republic drama critic -- himself a Theater Hall of Famer -- said her dark beauty was part of her "special aura. ... She had this extraordinary quality that immediately caught your eye of melancholy and depth."

One of her last roles was in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" a play she'd always wanted to perform. The production at Geva Theatre in Rochester, N.Y., was in 2000, just after she was diagnosed with cancer.

Shortly thereafter she moved back to Sewickley and acted occasionally locally. But she put most of her energies into teaching, something she'd started doing for public school students at the Broadway Theater Institute later in her run as Titanic passenger Charlotte Cardoza.

She was beloved at Pittsburgh Musical Theater, said founding director Ken Gargaro.

"She just had an expansive heart, and was generous with her first-class education," he said. She recently was working on the school's production of "Titanic," which now will be dedicated to her this fall.

Gargaro said she moved students and others with her "passion and honesty" about acting.

"I really believe it is a sacred trust," she told the Sewickley Herald earlier this year before her Edgeworth Club cabaret about her career to benefit the Woman's Club of Sewickley Valley. "When you're onstage imitating life and what the human condition is, that's not something you take lightly."

In addition to her father and mother, Cecelia, of Sewickley, and sister, she is survived by other sisters Anne Ronce, of San Francisco, Cecelia Clarke, of Greensburg, and Constance Clarke, of New York City.

A memorial service and reception will be held from 5 to 8 p.m. Sept. 30 at the Edgeworth Club. The day is to include a dramatic performance by some of her friends.

The family requests contributions for a memorial fund in her honor be sent to Pittsburgh Musical Theater, 327 S. Main St., Pittsburgh 15220.