Clive James

Clive James (born October 10, 1939) in Kogarah, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, is an expatriate Australian writer, poet, essayist, critic, and commentator on popular culture.

Related Topics:
October 10 - 1939 - Kogarah - Sydney - New South Wales - Australia - Expatriate

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Born in Sydney, Australia as Vivian James, he was allowed to change his name as a child after "Vivian" had come to be seen as a feminine name due to the success of Vivien Leigh in Gone with the Wind. 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 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.

Related Topics:
Sydney - Australia - Vivien Leigh - Gone with the Wind - World War II - Kogarah - University of Sydney - Sydney Push - The Sydney Morning Herald

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In 1962 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 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, at one point, President) of the Cambridge Footlights. His contemporaries at Cambridge included Germaine Greer and Eric Idle.

Related Topics:
1962 - Bruce Beresford - Pembroke College, Cambridge - Footlights - Germaine Greer - Eric Idle

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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. For several years in the late 1980s and 1990s, he hosted the BBC's New Year's Eve celebrations.

Related Topics:
The Observer - ITV - BBC - New Year's Eve

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

Related Topics:
1980 - 1985 - 1990

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

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

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• 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).

In the mid-1980s, James featured in a travel program 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 programs, this time called Clive James' Postcard from... (beginning with Clive James' Postcard from Miami).

Related Topics:
LWT - ITV - BBC

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In 1992 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia and in 2003 he was awarded the Philip Hodgins memorial medal for literature.

Related Topics:
Order of Australia - Philip Hodgins memorial medal for literature

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Clive James: Bibliography ►