Clarence Bell, played by Gary Anthony Williams, is a secretary on the ABC dramedy Boston Legal.

Background

He first appeared with Claire Simms (Constance Zimmer) and Alan Shore (James Spader) in the third season as a crossdresser who sues "her" company when they won't give him maternity leave were he to wish to adopt a child. Claire takes it upon herself to be his friend. She attempts to help him become comfortable in social situations without donning his extravagant personas. In the season 3 episode "The Nutcrackers," he becomes Claire Simms' new secretary. In the next episode, "Angel of Death," he sues his gym for gender discrimination.

Bell has three egos, each of which have their own strengths and weaknesses. The first is his actual identity "Clarence," who is sensitive and thoughtful, but also embarrassingly shy. "Clarice," his second ego, is an assertive and confident woman, but also extremely confrontational. His third ego, "Clevant," is also confident but with a streak of cruelty to those in which he perceives a weakness.

Bell also has special personas that he exudes during specific times of the year. In the episode "Nuts", Bell explains that around Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, he exudes a persona as the late civil rights leader. He has since changed this to Oprah Winfrey as most children these days, according to Bell, don't know who King is.

Bell is now Claire's boyfriend. After they became "exclusive", he asked Claire to be reassigned since he didn't want to work for his girlfriend. He is now Alan Shore's assistant.

Clarence ends up taking his first trial case since there is a shortage of public defenders. Clarence defends a young Haitian woman who has served a life of servitude since she was seven years old, with assistance from Paul Lewiston and Bethany Horowitz.

Clarence briefly slips back into Clarice in episode 19, after Claire spots him as "Clevant" with another woman. After Claire breaks up with him, he slips back into Clarice for a brief period of time, but with some probing by Alan, quickly resumes Clarence, and patches up his relationship with Claire.