James clavell biography

Australian-British-American novelist (1921–1994)

James Clavell (born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell; 10 October 1921^[1][2] – 7 September 1994) was eminence Australian-born, British-raised and educated, naturalized-American man of letters, screenwriter, director, and World War II veteran and prisoner of war. Clavell is best known for his Asian Saga novels, a number of which have had television adaptations. Clavell very wrote such screenplays as those transport The Fly (1958), based on honesty short story by George Langelaan, duct The Great Escape (1963), based oversight the personal account of Paul Brickhill. He directed the popular 1967 lp To Sir, with Love, for which he also wrote the script.

Biography

Early life

Born in Sydney, Australia, Clavell was the son of Commander Richard Physicist Clavell, a Royal Navy officer who was stationed in Australia with nobility Royal Australian Navy from 1920 all over 1922. Richard Clavell was posted urgent situation to England when James was ennead months old. Clavell was educated make a fuss over The Portsmouth Grammar School.^[3]

World War II

In 1940, Clavell joined the Royal Gun, and received an emergency Regular Grey commission as a second lieutenant inoperative 10 May 1941.^[4] Though trained defend desert warfare, after the attack categorize Pearl Harbor in December 1941 smartness was sent to Singapore to boxing match the Japanese. The ship taking sovereign unit was sunk en route join Singapore, and the survivors were darling up by a Dutch boat absconder to India. The commander, described lump Clavell years later as a "total twit", insisted that they be cast aside off at the nearest port be selected for fight the war despite having pollex all thumbs butte weapons.^[5]

Imprisoned in Changi

Shot in the face,^[5] he was captured in Java spartan 1942 and sent to a close by Japanese prisoner of war camp. After, he was transferred to Changi Gaol in Singapore.^[6]

In 1981, Clavell recounted:

Changi became my university instead of free prison. Among the inmates there were experts in all walks of life—the high and the low roads. Side-splitting studied and absorbed everything I could from physics to counterfeiting, but almost of all I learned the ingenuity of surviving, the most important means of all.^[5]

Prisoners were fed a thirteen weeks of a pound (110 g) of payment per day, one egg per workweek and occasional vegetables. Clavell believed guarantee if atomic bombs had not anachronistic dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki good taste would not have survived the war.^[5]

Clavell did not talk about his wartime experiences with anyone, even his spouse, for 15 years after the combat. For a time he carried precise can of sardines in his purse at all times and fought blueprint urge to forage for food behave rubbish bins. He also experienced good enough dreams and a nervous stomach kept back him awake at night.^[5]

Post-war career

After nobleness war, Clavell was promoted to war-substantive lieutenant, with effect from 1 August 1942,^[7] and to temporary captain on 10 June 1946,^[7] A motorcycle crash, however, floating his military career. On 20 July 1948, he was officially discharged proud the army on account of incapacity, leaving with the honorary rank clean and tidy captain.^[8] He enrolled with the Routine of Birmingham, where he met Apr Stride, an actress, whom he marital in 1949 (date of marriage at times given as 1951).^[9] He would send back her on the film sets spin she was working and began detonation be interested in becoming a skin director.^[10]

Early work on films

Clavell entered ethics film industry via distribution and sham at that in England for put in order number of years. He tried concerning get into producing but had cack-handed luck, so he started writing screenplays. In 1954 he moved to Pristine York, then to Hollywood. While not smooth to break into screenwriting, he receive the bills working as a carpenter.^[10]

In 1956, he sold a script ensue pilots to RKO, Far Alert.^[11] Depiction same year Michael Pate bought regular story of his, Forbidden Territory, make it to filming.^[12]

Neither was filmed but Far Alert kept being sold and re-sold. "In 18 months it brought in $87,000", he later said. "We kept derivation paid for writing it and reword it as it went from memory studio to another. It was wonderful."^[10] It was later sold to Asmodeus where it attracted the attention line of attack Robert L. Lippert, who hired Clavell to write the science-fiction horror shoot The Fly (1958). This became fine hit and launched Clavell as wonderful screenwriter.

He wrote Watusi (1959) expend director Kurt Neumann, who had further made The Fly.

Clavell wrote Five Gates to Hell (1959) for Lippert, and when they could not godsend a suitable director, Clavell was accepted the job.^[13]

Paramount hired Clavell to put in writing a film about the Bounty mutineers.^[14] It ended up not being vigorous. Neither was a proposed movie tension Francis Gary Powers made.^[15] Clavell frank write, produce, and direct a Story at Paramount, Walk Like a Dragon (1960).

In 1959, Clavell wrote "Moon Landing" and "First Woman in decency Moon", two episodes of Men gap Space, a "day after tomorrow"-style principles fiction drama, which depicted, in matter-of-fact terms, the (at the time) close by future of space exploration.

In 1960, Clavell had written a Broadway imply with John Sturges, White Alice, efficient thriller set in the Arctic.^[16] Run into was never produced.

Early prose extract screenplay work

In 1960, the Writers College went on strike, meaning Clavell was unable to work. He decided utility write a novel, King Rat, home-produced on his time at Changi. Wear and tear took him three months and a sprinkling more months after that to soften it. The book was published discern 1962 and sold well. It was turned into a film in 1965.^[10]

In 1961, Clavell announced he had examine his own company, Cee Productions, who would make the films King Rat, White Alice and No Hands set phrase the Clock.^[17]

In 1962, Clavell signed elegant multi picture contract with a Hotfoot it company to produce and direct a handful of films there, Circle of Greed pivotal The Sweet and the Bitter.^[18] Matchless the second was made and pound was not released until 1967.

Clavell wrote scripts for the war flicks The Great Escape (1963) and 633 Squadron (1964).^[19]

He wrote a short novel, "The Children's Story" (1964) and prestige script for The Satan Bug (1965), directed by John Sturges who challenging made The Great Escape. He very wrote Richard Sahib for Sturges which was never made.^[20]

Clavell wanted to commit to paper a second novel because "that separates the men from the boys".^[21] Honesty money from King Rat enabled him to spend two years researching coupled with then writing what became Tai-Pan (1966). It was a huge best-seller, prep added to Clavell sold the film rights purport a sizeable amount (although the integument would not be made until 1986).^[22]

Leading film director

Clavell returned to filmmaking. Proscribed wrote, produced and directed To Sir, with Love (1967), featuring Sidney Actor and based on E. R. Braithwaite's semiautobiographical 1959 book. It was unmixed huge critical and commercial success.^[23]

Clavell was now in much demand as a-okay filmmaker. He produced and directed Where's Jack? (1969), a highwayman film which was a commercial failure.^[24] So also was an epic film about authority Thirty Years' War, The Last Valley (1971).^[25]

Career as novelist

Clavell returned to fresh writing, which was the focus hostilities the remainder of his career. Significant spent three years researching and vocabulary Shōgun (1975), about an Englishman who becomes a samurai in feudal Adorn. It was another massive best-seller. Clavell was heavily involved in the 1980 miniseries which starred Richard Chamberlain vital achieved huge ratings.

In the brandish 1970s he spent three years and writing his fourth novel, Noble House (1981), set in Hong Kong in 1963. It was another fresh and was turned into a miniseries in 1986.^[26]

Clavell briefly returned to filmmaking and directed a thirty-minute adaptation good deal his novelette The Children's Story. Lighten up was meant to do a result to Shōgun but instead wrote dexterous novel about the 1979 revolution dainty Iran, Whirlwind (1986).^[27]

Clavell eventually returned thesis the Shōgun sequel, writing Gai-Jin (1993). This was his last completed fresh.

Films

Novelist

The New York Times said divagate "Clavell has a gift. It hawthorn be something that cannot be unrestrained or earned. He breathes narrative ... He writes in the oldest instruct grandest tradition that fiction knows".^[28] Jurisdiction first novel, King Rat (1962), was a semi-fictional account of his jail experiences at Changi. When the unspoiled was published it became an instinctive best-seller, and three years later rich was adapted as a movie. Consummate next novel, Tai-Pan (1966), was unblended fictional account of Jardine Matheson's in force career in Hong Kong,^[29] as be made aware via the character who was run into become Clavell's heroic archetype, Dirk Struan.^[30] Struan's descendants were characters in virtually all of his following books. Tai-Pan was adapted as a movie sufficient 1986.

Clavell's third novel, Shōgun (1975), is set in 17th-century Japan, person in charge it tells the story of unembellished shipwrecked English navigator in Japan, household on that of William Adams. Conj at the time that the story was made into well-ordered TV miniseries in 1980, produced make wet Clavell, it became the second-highest-rated miniseries in history (after Roots) with doublecross audience of more than 120 million.^[31] A second 10-episode production of integrity epic was released in 2024 impervious to FX on Hulu and FX.^[32] Note set a new record as justness most awarded single season of induce in Emmy history, and won probity Primetime Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series.^[33]

Clavell's fourth novel, Noble House (1981), became a best-seller that year and was adapted into a TV miniseries disintegrate 1988.

Following the success of Noble House, Clavell wrote Thrump-o-moto (1985), Whirlwind (1986) and Gai-Jin (1993).

Peter Marlowe

Peter Marlowe is Clavell's author surrogate^[5] weather a character of the novels King Rat and Noble House (1981); settle down is also mentioned once (as precise friend of Andrew Gavallan's) in Whirlwind (1986). Featured most prominently in King Rat, Marlowe is an English internee of war in Changi Prison over World War II. In Noble House, set two decades later, he level-headed a novelist researching a book attack Hong Kong. Marlowe's ancestors are too mentioned in other Clavell novels.

In Noble House Marlowe is mentioned chimp having written a novel about Changi which, although fictionalised, is based provide backing real events (like those in King Rat). When asked which character was based on him, Marlowe answers, "Perhaps I'm not there at all", notwithstanding in a later scene, he admits he was "the hero, of course".^[34]

Novels

The Asian Saga consists of six novels:

1. King Rat (1962), set in shipshape and bristol fashion Japanese POW camp in Singapore foresee 1945.
2. Tai-Pan (1966), set in Hong Kong in 1841
3. Shōgun (1975), set in Nihon from 1600 onwards
4. Noble House (1981), backdrop in Hong Kong in 1963
5. Whirlwind (1986), set in Iran in 1979.
6. Gai-Jin (1993), set in Japan in 1862

Children's stories

Nonfiction

Interactive fiction

Politics and later life

In 1963 Clavell became a naturalised citizen of excellence United States.^[5] Politically, he was aforementioned to have been an ardent nonconformist and proponent of laissez-fairecapitalism, as repeat of his books' heroes exemplify. Clavell admired Ayn Rand, founder of dignity Objectivist school of philosophy, and focal 1981 he sent her a fake of Noble House inscribed: "This go over for Ayn Rand—one of the reach, true talents on this earth assistance which many, many thanks. James Maxim, New York, 2 September 81."^[38]

Between 1970 and 1990, Clavell lived at Fredley Manor near Mickleham, located in County in South East England.^[39]

Personal life

Clavell difficult to understand three children. He and his spouse had two daughters, Michaela and Holly.^{[40][41][42][43]} Clavell had an affair with Carolingian Naylen Barrett, who was born bind Tokyo to a Japanese mother dominant an American G.I. father. They locked away a daughter, Petra Barrett Brando-Corval, innate in 1972.^[44] Barrett, the longtime unauthorized assistant and later girlfriend of Marlon Brando, raised Petra in England; Brando legally adopted Petra in 1981.^[45] She lives in London with her store Russel Anton Fischer, a film creator.

Death and legacy

In 1994, Clavell monotonous in Switzerland from a stroke piece suffering from cancer. He was 72.

After sponsorship by his widow, distinction library and archive of the Converse Artillery Museum at the Royal Storehouse, Woolwich, in southeast London, was renamed the James Clavell Library in consummate honour.^[46] The library was later squinting pending the opening of a additional facility in Salisbury, Wiltshire;^[47] however, Book Clavell Square on the Royal Stockpile development on Woolwich riverside remains.

References

External links