NationMaster - Encyclopedia: Clive James

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. Image File history File links Clive_James3. ... is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The former Kogarah Post Office in 1915. ... The Sydney Opera House on Sydney Harbour Sydney (pronounced ) is the most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of 4,119,190, and 151,920 in the City of Sydney, as of the 2006 census. ... Capital Sydney Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Professor Marie Bashir Premier Morris Iemma (ALP) Federal representation - House seats 50 - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05) - Product ($m) $305,437 (1st) - Product per capita $45,153/person (4th) Population (End of March 2006) - Population 6,817,100 (1st) - Density 8. ... For the album by the Kaiser Chiefs see Employment (album) Employment is a contract between two parties, one being the employer and the other being the employee. ... In English usage, nationality is the legal relationship between a person and a country. ... Insignia of a Companion of the Order of Australia. ... is the 280th day of the year (281st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1939 (MCMXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... The former Kogarah Post Office in 1915. ... The Sydney Opera House on Sydney Harbour Sydney (pronounced ) is the most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of 4,119,190, and 151,920 in the City of Sydney, as of the 2006 census. ... Capital Sydney Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Professor Marie Bashir Premier Morris Iemma (ALP) Federal representation - House seats 50 - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05) - Product ($m) $305,437 (1st) - Product per capita $45,153/person (4th) Population (End of March 2006) - Population 6,817,100 (1st) - Density 8. ... This article does not cite its references or sources. ...

Biography

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 spelt it". His father was taken prisoner by the Japanese during the Second World War and, although he survived the POW camp, he 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. An IQ test taken in childhood put his IQ at 140. He was educated at Sydney Technical High School (despite winning a bursary to 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. The Sydney Opera House on Sydney Harbour Sydney (pronounced ) is the most populous city in Australia, with a metropolitan area population of 4,119,190, and 151,920 in the City of Sydney, as of the 2006 census. ... Vivien Leigh, Lady Olivier (November 5, 1913 â€“ July 8, 1967) was a two-time Academy Award winning English actress. ... Scarlett OHara (full name Katie Scarlett OHara Hamilton Kennedy Butler) of French-Irish ancestry is the protagonist in Margaret Mitchells 1936 novel, Gone with the Wind, and in the later film of the same name. ... Mushroom cloud from the nuclear explosion over Nagasaki rising 18 km into the air. ... The former Kogarah Post Office in 1915. ... The development of the Stanford-Binet IQ test initiated the modern field of intelligence testing. ... IQ redirects here; for other uses of that term, see IQ (disambiguation). ... Sydney Technical High School is an academically selective school for boys located in the suburb of Bexley in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. ... Sydney Boys High School is a secondary school in Sydney, Australia. ... The University of Sydney, established in Sydney in 1850, is the oldest university in Australia. ... The Sydney Push was a predominantly left-wing intellectual sub-culture in Sydney from the late 1940s to the early 70s. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Move to London

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 (lightly disguised as Dave Dalziel in the first three volumes of James' memoirs), 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 (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 (known as Romaine Rand in his memoirs) and Eric Idle. Having, he claims, scrupulously avoided reading any of the course material (but having read widely otherwise in English and foreign literatures), James graduated with a 2:1 — better than he expected — and began a PhD on Shelley. Year 1961 (MCMLXI) was a common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Bruce Beresford (born 16 August 1940) is an Australian film director, writer, and producer. ... For other uses, see Brett Whiteley (disambiguation). ... John Barry Humphries, AO, CBE (born 17 February 1934 in Camberwell, Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian comedian, satirist and character actor best known for his on-stage and television alter egos Dame Edna Everage, a Melbourne housewife, and Sir Les Patterson, Australias foul-mouthed cultural attachÃ© to Britain. ... Full name Pembroke College Motto - Named after Countess of Pembroke, Mary de St Pol Previous names Marie Valence Hall (1347), Pembroke Hall (?), Pembroke College (1856) Established 1347 Sister College(s) Queens College Master Sir Richard Dearlove Location Trumpington Street Undergraduates ~420 Postgraduates ~240 Homepage Boatclub Pembroke College is a... The ADC Theatre is the home of the Footlights. ... University Challenge is a long-running British television quiz show, licensed and produced by Granada Television. ... Germaine Greer (born January 29, 1939) is an Australian-born writer, broadcaster and retired academic, widely regarded as one of the most significant feminist voices of the 20th century. ... Eric Idle (born March 29, 1943) is a British comedian, actor, author and writer of comedic songs. ... The British undergraduate degree classification system is a grading scheme for undergraduate degrees (bachelors degrees and some masters degrees) in the United Kingdom. ... PhD usually refers to the academic title Doctor of Philosophy PhD can also refer to the manga Phantasy Degree This is a disambiguation page â€” a list of pages that otherwise might share the same title. ... -1...

Career

He worked as a television critic for The Observer between 1972 and 1982. Wikipedia does not yet have an article with this exact name. ... Year 1972 (MCMLXXII) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1982 (MCMLXXXII) was a common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar). ...

He developed his television career as a guest commentator on various shows, including as an occasional co-presenter with Tony Wilson on the first series of So It Goes, the Granada Television pop music show. On the show when the Sex Pistols made their TV debut, James commented: "During the recording, the task of keeping the little bastards under control was given to me. 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]. Tony Wilson presents So It Goes in 1976 Anthony (Tony) Howard Wilson is an English record label owner, radio presenter, TV show host, nightclub manager, impresario and journalist for Granada Television and the BBC. // Wilson was (born February 20, 1950, in Salford, Greater Manchester. ... Tony Wilson presents So It Goes in 1976 So It Goes was a British TV music show presented by Tony Wilson on Granada Television between 1976 and 1977. ... This article or section does not adequately cite its references or sources. ... The Sex Pistols were an iconic and highly influential English punk rock band, formed in London in 1975. ...

James 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. After his defection to the BBC in 1989, he hosted a similarly-formatted programme called Saturday Night Clive which later became Sunday Night Clive. In 1995 he set up Watchmaker Productions to produce The Clive James Show for ITV, and a subsequent series of this launched the British career of singer/comedienne Margarita Pracatan. 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. Independent Television (generally known as ITV but also as ITV Network or Channel 3) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990... ...on Television or , is a long running late-night television programme on ITV (now ITV1). ... Za Gaman ) The Endurance (sic) was a Japanese television show from the 1980s. ... Margarita Pracatan is a Cuban novelty singer, who got success in the 1990s when Clive James got her to perform live on his TV show on numerous occasions. ... Channel 4 is a public-service British television station, broadcast to all areas of the United Kingdom (and also the Republic of Ireland), which began transmissions in 1982. ... The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GBÂ£4 billion. ... New Years Eve is December 31, the final day of the Gregorian year, and the day before New Years Day. ...

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. Year 1980 (MCMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Tuesday (link displays the 1980 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1985 (MCMLXXXV) was a common year starting on Tuesday (link displays 1985 Gregorian calendar). ... Year 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1990 Gregorian calendar). ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ...

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: This article needs cleanup. ...

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. London Weekend Television logo, 1978-1996 London Weekend Television Limited (LWT) is the ITV contractor for London, Friday 5:15pm to Monday, 5:59am. ... Independent Television (generally known as ITV but also as ITV Network or Channel 3) is a public service network of British commercial television broadcasters, set up under the Independent Television Authority (ITA) to provide competition to the BBC. ITV is the oldest commercial television network in the UK. Since 1990... The British Broadcasting Corporation, which is usually known as the BBC, is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world in terms of audience numbers, employing 26,000 staff in the United Kingdom alone and with a budget of more than GBÂ£4 billion. ... Formula One - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ...

In 2007, James started presenting the BBC Radio Show "Point of View", with transcripts appearing in the "Magazine" section of BBC News Online. In this show James discusses various issues with a slightly humorous slant, not dissimilar to a newspaper Op-ed. Topics covered included media portrayal of torture. BBC News Online logo The BBC News Website in February 2006. ... An Op-Ed is a piece of writing expressing an opinion. ...

In July 2007, James presented a short documentary piece on BBC Radio 4 about Wikipedia, its benefits and shortcomings. [1], young black role models [2] and corporate rebranding [3]. This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...

Personal life

Clive James is married to Prue Shaw; the couple 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. Claerwen James (b. ... Insignia of a Companion of the Order of Australia. ... Philip Hodgins (1959-1995) was an Australian poet. ...

Political economics

While a detractor of communism and socialism for their tendency towards totalitarianism, James still identifies himself with the left, accepting socialism's planned economy and state-owned media and eschewing capitalism's free market and privatization. In a 2006 interview in The Sunday Times, James states of himself: “I was brought up on the proletarian left, and I remain there. The fair go for the workers is fundamental, and I don’t believe the free market has a mind.” In a speech given 1991, he criticizes privatization: “The idea that Britain’s broadcasting system — for all its drawbacks one of the country’s greatest institutions — was bound to be improved by being subjected to the conditions of a free market: there was no difficulty in recognising that notion as politically illiterate. But for some reason people did have difficulty in realising that it was economically illiterate too.”

Bibliography

Cultural Amnesia is a book of biographical essays by Clive James, first published in 2007. ...

Contents

Biography

Move to London

Career

Personal life

Political economics

Bibliography

See also

References

External links

Trivia

Contents

Biography GA_googleFillSlot("encyclopedia_square");

Move to London

Career

Personal life

Political economics

Bibliography

See also

References

External links

Trivia

Biography