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writer James Clavell
USINFO | 2013-06-09 15:41
James Clavell
James Clavell (10 October 1924 – 6 September 1994), born Charles Edmund DuMaresq Clavell, was an Australian-born British (later naturalized American) novelist, screenwriter, director and World War II veteran and prisoner of war. Clavell is best known for his epic Asian Saga series of novels and their televised adaptations, along with such films as The Great Escape and To Sir, with Love.
Born in Australia, Clavell was the son of Commander Richard Clavell, a British Royal Navy officer who was stationed in Australia on secondment from the Royal Navy to the Royal Australian Navy. In 1940, when Clavell finished his secondary schooling at Portsmouth Grammar School, he joined the Royal Artillery to follow his family tradition. Following the outbreak of World War II, at the age of 16 (or 19) he joined the Royal Artillery in 1940, and was sent to Malaya to fight the Japanese. Wounded by machine-gun fire, he was eventually captured and sent to a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp on Java. Later he was transferred to Changi Prison in Singapore.
Clavell suffered greatly at the hands of his Japanese captors. According to the introduction to King Rat, written by Clavell, over 90% of the prisoners who entered Changi never walked out. Clavell was reportedly saved, along with an entire battalion, by an American prisoner of war who later became the model for The King in Clavell's King Rat. By 1946, Clavell had risen to the rank of Captain, but a motorcycle accident ended his military career. He enrolled at the University of Birmingham, where he met April Stride, an actress, whom he married in 1949.
Peter Marlowe
Peter Marlowe is a character in the Clavell novels King Rat and Noble House, although he is also mentioned once (as a friend of Andrew Gavallan) in the novel Whirlwind. Featured much more prominently in King Rat, he is an English FEPOW in Changi prison during World War II. In Noble House, set two decades later, he is a novelist researching a book about Hong Kong. Ancestors of the character Peter Marlowe are also mentioned in other Clavell novels. The character of Marlowe as a novelist is a clear reference to Clavell; in Noble House he is mentioned as having written a novel about Changi which, although fictionalized, is based on real events (like Clavell and King Rat). When asked which character was based on him, Marlowe answers Perhaps I'm not there at all, although in a later scene admits that he was the hero of course.
Film industry
In 1953, Clavell and his wife emigrated to the United States and settled down in Hollywood. Clavell scripted the grisly science-fiction horror film The Fly and wrote a war film, Five Gates to Hell. Clavell won a Writers Guild Best Screenplay Award for the 1963 film The Great Escape. He also screenwrote, directed and produced a 1967 box office hit, To Sir, With Love, based on the book by E. R. Braithwaite and starring Sidney Poitier.
Clavell's daughter Michaela appeared briefly as Penelope Smallbone, Moneypenny's would-be successor, in the James Bond 007 movie Octopussy. The character, however, did not catch on and was dropped after the film.
Films
The Fly (1958) (writer)
Watusi (1959) (writer)
Five Gates to Hell (1959) (writer and director)
Walk Like a Dragon (1960) (writer and director)
The Great Escape (1963) (co-writer)
633 Squadron (1964) (co-writer)
The Satan Bug (1965) (co-writer)
King Rat (1965) author of the novel (only)
To Sir, with Love (1966) (writer and director)
The Sweet and the Bitter (1967) (writer and director)
Where's Jack (1968) (director)
The Last Valley (1970) (writer and director)
Shōgun—miniseries (1980)
Tai-Pan (1986) author of the novel (only)
Noble House—miniseries (1988)
Tai-Pan and King Rat were adapted as feature films, but Clavell was not directly involved in their writing.
Novelist
Clavell's first novel, King Rat, was a semi-fictional account of his prison experiences at Changi. When the book was published in 1962, it became an immediate best-seller and three years later, it was adapted for film. His next novel, Tai-Pan, was a fictional account of Jardine-Matheson's rise to prominence in Hong Kong, as told through the character who was to become Clavell's heroic archetype, Dirk Struan. Struan's descendants would inhabit almost all of his forthcoming books.
This was followed by Shōgun in 1975, the story of an English navigator set in 17th century Japan, based on that of William Adams. When the story was made into a TV series in 1980, produced by Clavell, it became the second highest rated mini-series in history with an audience of over 120 million. In 1981, Clavell published his fourth novel, Noble House, which became a number one best seller during that year and was also made into a miniseries. Following the success of Noble House, Clavell wrote Whirlwind (1986) and Gai-Jin (1993) along with The Children's Story (1981) and Thrump-o-moto (1985).
Novels
The Asian Saga consisting of six novels
King Rat (1962) Set in a Japanese POW camp in Singapore, 1945
Tai-Pan (1966) Set in Hong Kong, 1841
Shōgun (1975) Set in feudal Japan, 1600
Noble House (1981) Set in Hong Kong, 1963
Whirlwind (1986) Set in Iran, 1979
Gai-Jin (1993) Set in Japan, 1862
Several of Clavell's books have been adapted as films or miniseries; Shōgun was also adapted into interactive fiction.
Other books include
The Children's Story (1980)
The Art of War, a translation of Sun Tzu's famous book (1983)
Thrump-O-Moto Illustrated by George Sharp (1986)
Escape (1994) – shorter novel adapted from Whirlwind
Born in Australia, Clavell was the son of Commander Richard Clavell, a British Royal Navy officer who was stationed in Australia on secondment from the Royal Navy to the Royal Australian Navy. In 1940, when Clavell finished his secondary schooling at Portsmouth Grammar School, he joined the Royal Artillery to follow his family tradition. Following the outbreak of World War II, at the age of 16 (or 19) he joined the Royal Artillery in 1940, and was sent to Malaya to fight the Japanese. Wounded by machine-gun fire, he was eventually captured and sent to a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp on Java. Later he was transferred to Changi Prison in Singapore.
Clavell suffered greatly at the hands of his Japanese captors. According to the introduction to King Rat, written by Clavell, over 90% of the prisoners who entered Changi never walked out. Clavell was reportedly saved, along with an entire battalion, by an American prisoner of war who later became the model for The King in Clavell's King Rat. By 1946, Clavell had risen to the rank of Captain, but a motorcycle accident ended his military career. He enrolled at the University of Birmingham, where he met April Stride, an actress, whom he married in 1949.
Peter Marlowe
Peter Marlowe is a character in the Clavell novels King Rat and Noble House, although he is also mentioned once (as a friend of Andrew Gavallan) in the novel Whirlwind. Featured much more prominently in King Rat, he is an English FEPOW in Changi prison during World War II. In Noble House, set two decades later, he is a novelist researching a book about Hong Kong. Ancestors of the character Peter Marlowe are also mentioned in other Clavell novels. The character of Marlowe as a novelist is a clear reference to Clavell; in Noble House he is mentioned as having written a novel about Changi which, although fictionalized, is based on real events (like Clavell and King Rat). When asked which character was based on him, Marlowe answers Perhaps I'm not there at all, although in a later scene admits that he was the hero of course.
Film industry
In 1953, Clavell and his wife emigrated to the United States and settled down in Hollywood. Clavell scripted the grisly science-fiction horror film The Fly and wrote a war film, Five Gates to Hell. Clavell won a Writers Guild Best Screenplay Award for the 1963 film The Great Escape. He also screenwrote, directed and produced a 1967 box office hit, To Sir, With Love, based on the book by E. R. Braithwaite and starring Sidney Poitier.
Clavell's daughter Michaela appeared briefly as Penelope Smallbone, Moneypenny's would-be successor, in the James Bond 007 movie Octopussy. The character, however, did not catch on and was dropped after the film.
Films
The Fly (1958) (writer)
Watusi (1959) (writer)
Five Gates to Hell (1959) (writer and director)
Walk Like a Dragon (1960) (writer and director)
The Great Escape (1963) (co-writer)
633 Squadron (1964) (co-writer)
The Satan Bug (1965) (co-writer)
King Rat (1965) author of the novel (only)
To Sir, with Love (1966) (writer and director)
The Sweet and the Bitter (1967) (writer and director)
Where's Jack (1968) (director)
The Last Valley (1970) (writer and director)
Shōgun—miniseries (1980)
Tai-Pan (1986) author of the novel (only)
Noble House—miniseries (1988)
Tai-Pan and King Rat were adapted as feature films, but Clavell was not directly involved in their writing.
Novelist
Clavell's first novel, King Rat, was a semi-fictional account of his prison experiences at Changi. When the book was published in 1962, it became an immediate best-seller and three years later, it was adapted for film. His next novel, Tai-Pan, was a fictional account of Jardine-Matheson's rise to prominence in Hong Kong, as told through the character who was to become Clavell's heroic archetype, Dirk Struan. Struan's descendants would inhabit almost all of his forthcoming books.
This was followed by Shōgun in 1975, the story of an English navigator set in 17th century Japan, based on that of William Adams. When the story was made into a TV series in 1980, produced by Clavell, it became the second highest rated mini-series in history with an audience of over 120 million. In 1981, Clavell published his fourth novel, Noble House, which became a number one best seller during that year and was also made into a miniseries. Following the success of Noble House, Clavell wrote Whirlwind (1986) and Gai-Jin (1993) along with The Children's Story (1981) and Thrump-o-moto (1985).
Novels
The Asian Saga consisting of six novels
King Rat (1962) Set in a Japanese POW camp in Singapore, 1945
Tai-Pan (1966) Set in Hong Kong, 1841
Shōgun (1975) Set in feudal Japan, 1600
Noble House (1981) Set in Hong Kong, 1963
Whirlwind (1986) Set in Iran, 1979
Gai-Jin (1993) Set in Japan, 1862
Several of Clavell's books have been adapted as films or miniseries; Shōgun was also adapted into interactive fiction.
Other books include
The Children's Story (1980)
The Art of War, a translation of Sun Tzu's famous book (1983)
Thrump-O-Moto Illustrated by George Sharp (1986)
Escape (1994) – shorter novel adapted from Whirlwind
