Clive James

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Clive James

Clive James (1976)
Born: October 7, 1939
Kogarah, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation(s): TV critic, Essayist, Poet, Author
Nationality: Australian
Website: http://www.clivejames.com

Clive James AM (born October 7, 1939) in Kogarah, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, is an expatriate Australian writer, poet, essayist, critic, and commentator on popular culture.

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[edit] Sydney

Born in Sydney, Australia as Vivian James, he was allowed to change his name as a child because "after Vivien Leigh played Scarlett O'Hara the name became irrevocably a girl's name no matter how you spelled it". His father was taken prisoner by the Japanese during World War II and, although he survived the POW camp, died when the plane returning him to Australia crashed. James, who was an only child, was therefore brought up by his mother in the Sydney suburb of Kogarah. He was educated at Sydney Technical High School (despite winning a bursary to the more prestigious Sydney Boys High School) and the University of Sydney, where he became associated with the Sydney Push, a libertarian, intellectual sub-culture. After graduating, James worked for The Sydney Morning Herald.

[edit] London and Cambridge

In late 1961, James moved to England, which he has now made his home. After a number of years spent in London, during which time he shared a flat with the Australian film director Bruce Beresford, was a neighbour of Australian artist Brett Whitely, became acquainted with Barry Humphries, and had a variety of (sometimes disastrous) short term jobs (sheet metal worker, librarian, photo archivist, market researcher), he was able to gain a place at Pembroke College, Cambridge to read English Literature. Whilst there, he was a member — and later President — of the Cambridge Footlights and also appeared on University Challenge as captain of the Pembroke team. His contemporaries at Cambridge included Germaine Greer and Eric Idle. He graduated with a 2:1 (Upper Second class) degree.

[edit] Career

He worked as a television critic for The Observer between 1972 and 1982, and subsequently hosted the ITV show Clive James on Television, in which he showcased unusual or (often unintentionally) amusing television programs from around the world, notably the Japanese TV show Endurance. James hosted one of the early chat shows on Channel 4 and fronted the channel's Review of the Year programmes. For several years in the late 1980s and 1990s, he hosted the BBC's New Year's Eve celebrations.

Unreliable Memoirs, an account of his early life in Australia, was published in 1980. This was followed by three further volumes of autobiography: Falling Towards England (1985), which covered his London years; May Week was in June (1990), which dealt with his time at Cambridge; and North Face of Soho (2006), concerning his subsequent career.

One of his most famous quotations concerning television is: "Anyone afraid of what he thinks television does to the world is probably just afraid of the world."

During the seventies he collaborated on six albums of songs with Pete Atkin:

  • Beware Of The Beautiful Stranger (1970),
  • Driving Through Mythical America (1971),
  • A King At Nightfall (1973),
  • The Road Of Silk (1974),
  • Secret Drinker (1974), and
  • Live Libel (1975).

A revival of interest in the songs in the late 1990s, triggered largely by the creation by Steve Birkill of an internet mailing list "Midnight Voices" in 1997, led to the reissue of the six albums on CD between 1997 and 2001. A double-album of previously-unrecorded songs written in the seventies and entitled The Lakeside Sessions: Volumes 1 and 2 was released in 2002 and "Winter Spring", an album of new material written by James and Atkin was released in 2003.

James has acknowledged the importance of the "Midnight Voices" group in bringing to wider attention the lyric-writing aspect of his career. He wrote in November 1997 that "one of the midnight voices of my own fate should be [that] the music of Pete Atkin continues to rank high among the blessings of my life, and on my behalf as well as his I bless you all for your attention."

The Book of My Enemy, a collection of poems published in 2003, includes the lyrics to 53 Atkin/James songs.

In the mid-1980s, James featured in a travel programme called Clive James in... (beginning with Clive James in Las Vegas) for LWT (now ITV) and later switched to BBC, where he continued producing travel programmes, this time called Clive James' Postcard from... (beginning with Clive James' Postcard from Miami). The 1980s also witnessed James presenting a number of the official Formula One season review videos. A keen motorsport enthusiast, his style of witty narration was popular with fans.

He is married to Prue Shaw, and they have two daughters, Claerwen and Lucinda. In 1992, he was made a Member of the Order of Australia, in 1999 an honorary Doctor of Letters of Sydney University, and in 2003 he was awarded the Philip Hodgins memorial medal for literature.

[edit] Bibliography

  • Biography
    • Unreliable Memoirs (1980)
    • Falling Towards England (1985)
    • May Week Was in June (1990)
    • North Face of Soho (2006)
  • Fiction
    • Brilliant Creatures (1983)
    • The Remake (1987)
    • Brmm! Brmm! (1991), released in the United States as The Man From Japan (1993)
    • The Silver Castle (1996)
  • Poetry
    • The Fate of Felicity Fark in the Land of the Media: a moral poem (1975)
    • Peregrine Prykke's Pilgrimage Through the London Literary World (1976)
    • Britannia Bright's Bewilderment in the Wilderness of Westminster (1976)
    • Fan-mail: seven verse letters (1977)
    • Charles Charming's Challenges on the Pathway to the Throne (1981)
    • Poem of the Year (1983)
    • Other Passports: poems 1958-1985 (1986)
    • The Book of My Enemy (2003)
  • Non-Fiction
    • The Metropolitan Critic (1974)
    • Visions Before Midnight: television criticism from the Observer 1972-76 (1977)
    • At the Pillars of Hercules (1979)
    • The Crystal Bucket: television criticism from the Observer 1976-79 (1981)
    • From the Land of Shadows (1982)
    • Glued to the Box: television criticism from the Observer 1979-82 (1983)
    • Flying Visits: Postcards from the Observer, 1976-83 (1984)
    • Snakecharmers in Texas: essays 1980-87 (1988)
    • The Dreaming Swimmer: non-fiction, 1987-1992 (1992)
    • Fame in the 20th Century (1993)
    • Even as We Speak (2004)
    • The Meaning of Recognition: New Essays 2001-2005 (2005)

[edit] Trivia

  • He was occasional co-presenter with Tony Wilson on the first series of So It Goes, the Granada Television pop music show, on which the Sex Pistols made their TV debut. "During the recording, the task of keeping the little bastards under control was given to me" said James. "With the aid of a radio microphone, I was able to shout them down, but it was a near thing...they attacked everything around them and had difficulty in being polite even to each other" 1

[edit] See also

Preceded by
Andrew Mayer		 Footlights President
1966–1967		 Succeeded by
Jonathon James-Moore

[edit] External links

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