He directed the popular 1967 film To Sir, with Love for which he also wrote the script. ==Biography== ===Early life=== Born in Australia, Clavell was the son of Commander Richard Charles Clavell, a Royal Navy officer who was stationed in Australia with the Royal Australian Navy from 1920 to 1922.
James Clavell (born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell, 10 October 1921 – 7 September 1994), was an Australian (and later naturalized American) novelist, screenwriter, director, and World War II veteran and prisoner of war.
He directed the popular 1967 film To Sir, with Love for which he also wrote the script. ==Biography== ===Early life=== Born in Australia, Clavell was the son of Commander Richard Charles Clavell, a Royal Navy officer who was stationed in Australia with the Royal Australian Navy from 1920 to 1922.
Clavell was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School, after which he returned to Australia. ===World War II=== During 1940, Clavell joined the Royal Artillery.
Though trained for desert warfare, after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941 he was sent to Singapore to fight the Japanese.
The commander, described by Clavell years later as a "total twit", insisted that they be dropped off at the nearest port to fight the war despite having no weapons. ==== Imprisoned in Changi ==== Shot in the face, he was captured in Java in 1942 and sent to a Japanese prisoner of war camp on Java.
He also experienced bad dreams and a nervous stomach kept him awake nights. ===Post-war career=== By 1946 Clavell had become a captain, but a motorcycle accident ended his military career.
He enrolled with the University of Birmingham, where he met April Stride, an actress, whom he married in 1949 (date of marriage sometimes given as 1951).
He enrolled with the University of Birmingham, where he met April Stride, an actress, whom he married in 1949 (date of marriage sometimes given as 1951).
In 1954 he moved to New York, then to Hollywood.
While trying to break into screenwriting he paid the bills working as a carpenter. In 1956, he sold a script about pilots to RKO, Far Alert.
Clavell did write, produce, and direct a Western at Paramount, Walk Like a Dragon (1960). In 1959, Clavell wrote "Moon Landing" and "First Woman in the Moon", two episodes of Men into Space, a "day after tomorrow"-style science fiction drama, which depicted, in realistic terms, the (at the time) near future of space exploration. In 1960, he had written a Broadway show with John Sturges, White Alice, a thriller set in the Arctic.
Braithwaite's semiautobiographical 1959 book.
Clavell did write, produce, and direct a Western at Paramount, Walk Like a Dragon (1960). In 1959, Clavell wrote "Moon Landing" and "First Woman in the Moon", two episodes of Men into Space, a "day after tomorrow"-style science fiction drama, which depicted, in realistic terms, the (at the time) near future of space exploration. In 1960, he had written a Broadway show with John Sturges, White Alice, a thriller set in the Arctic.
It was never produced. ===Early prose and screenplay work=== In 1960, the Writers Guild went on strike, meaning Clavell was unable to work.
It was turned into a film in 1965. In 1961, Clavell announced he had formed his own company, Cee Productions, who would make the films King Rat, White Alice and No Hands on the Clock. In 1962, he signed a multi picture contract with a Canadian company to produce and direct two films there, Circle of Greed and The Sweet and the Bitter.
The book was published in 1962 and sold well.
It was turned into a film in 1965. In 1961, Clavell announced he had formed his own company, Cee Productions, who would make the films King Rat, White Alice and No Hands on the Clock. In 1962, he signed a multi picture contract with a Canadian company to produce and direct two films there, Circle of Greed and The Sweet and the Bitter.
Clavell was heavily involved in the 1980 miniseries which starred Richard Chamberlain and achieved huge ratings. In the late 1970s he spent three years researching and writing his fourth novel, Noble House (1981), set in Hong Kong in 1963.
It was turned into a film in 1965. In 1961, Clavell announced he had formed his own company, Cee Productions, who would make the films King Rat, White Alice and No Hands on the Clock. In 1962, he signed a multi picture contract with a Canadian company to produce and direct two films there, Circle of Greed and The Sweet and the Bitter.
He directed the popular 1967 film To Sir, with Love for which he also wrote the script. ==Biography== ===Early life=== Born in Australia, Clavell was the son of Commander Richard Charles Clavell, a Royal Navy officer who was stationed in Australia with the Royal Australian Navy from 1920 to 1922.
Only the second was made and it was not released until 1967. He wrote scripts for the war films The Great Escape (1963) and 633 Squadron (1964). He wrote a short story, "The Children's Story" (1964) and the script for The Satan Bug (1965), directed by John Sturges who had made The Great Escape.
Clavell was heavily involved in the 1980 miniseries which starred Richard Chamberlain and achieved huge ratings. In the late 1970s he spent three years researching and writing his fourth novel, Noble House (1981), set in Hong Kong in 1963.
James C, New York, 2 September 81." Between 1970 and 1990, Clavell lived at Fredley Manor near Mickleham, located in Surrey in South East England. ==Death== In 1994, Clavell died in Switzerland from a stroke while suffering from cancer.
He was meant to do a sequel to Shogun but instead found himself writing a novel about the 1979 revolution in Iran, Whirlwind (1986). Clavell eventually returned to the Shogun sequel, writing Gai-Jin (1993).
Clavell was heavily involved in the 1980 miniseries which starred Richard Chamberlain and achieved huge ratings. In the late 1970s he spent three years researching and writing his fourth novel, Noble House (1981), set in Hong Kong in 1963.
Later he was transferred to Changi Prison in Singapore, where only 1 in 15 prisoners survived. In 1981, Clavell recounted: "'Changi became my university instead of my prison.
Clavell admired Ayn Rand, founder of the Objectivist school of philosophy, and sent her a copy of Noble House during 1981 inscribed: "This is for Ayn Rand—one of the real, true talents on this earth for which many, many thanks.
It was a huge bestseller, and Clavell sold the film rights for a sizeable amount (although the movie would not be made until 1986). ===Leading film director=== Clavell returned to filmmaking.
It was another best seller and was turned into a miniseries in 1986. Clavell briefly returned to filmmaking and directed a thirty-minute adaptation of his novelette The Children's Story.
Tai-Pan was adapted as a movie in 1986. Clavell's third novel, Shōgun (1975), is set in 17th century Japan, and it tells the story of a shipwrecked English navigator in Japan, based on that of William Adams.
James C, New York, 2 September 81." Between 1970 and 1990, Clavell lived at Fredley Manor near Mickleham, located in Surrey in South East England. ==Death== In 1994, Clavell died in Switzerland from a stroke while suffering from cancer.
James Clavell (born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell, 10 October 1921 – 7 September 1994), was an Australian (and later naturalized American) novelist, screenwriter, director, and World War II veteran and prisoner of war.
James C, New York, 2 September 81." Between 1970 and 1990, Clavell lived at Fredley Manor near Mickleham, located in Surrey in South East England. ==Death== In 1994, Clavell died in Switzerland from a stroke while suffering from cancer.
All text is taken from Wikipedia. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License .
Page generated on 2021-08-05