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James Clavell Biography (1925-1994)

Born October 10, 1925, in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; raised in England; immigrated to United States, 1953; naturalized citizen, 1963; died of complications from cancer, September 6, 1994, in Vevey, Switzerland; son of Richard Charles (a captain in the British Royal Navy) and Eileen (Collis) Clavell; married April Stride, February 20, 1951; children: Michaela Fleur, Holly Jane.

Nationality

Australian

Gender

Male

Birth Details

October 10, 1925

Sydney, Australia

Death Details

September 6, 1994

Vevey, Switzerland

Famous Works

• Credits; Film Work; Producer
• Five Gates to Hell, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1959.
• Walk Like a Dragon, Paramount, 1960.
• The Great Escape, United Artists, 1963.
• To Sir with Love, Columbia, 1967.
• Where's Jack? (also known as Run, Rebel, Run), Paramount, 1969.
• The Last Valley, Cinerama, 1970.
• Credits; Film Work; Director
• Five Gates to Hell, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1959.
• Walk Like a Dragon, Paramount, 1960.
• To Sir with Love, Columbia, 1967.
• Where's Jack? (also known as Run, Rebel, Run), Paramount, 1969.
• The Last Valley, Cinerama, 1970.
• Credits; Television Work; Executive Producer; Miniseries
• Shogun (also known as James Clavell's Shogun), NBC, 1980.
• Noble House (also known as James Clavell's Noble House), NBC, 1988.
• Writings;Screenplays
• The Fly, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1958.
• Watusi, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1959.
• (With Geoffrey Homes) Five Gates to Hell, Twentieth Century-Fox, 1959.
• Walk Like a Dragon, Paramount, 1960.
• (With W. R. Burnett) The Great Escape, United Artists, 1963.
• (With Howard Koch) 633 Squadron, United Artists, 1964.
• (With Edward Anholt) The Satan Bug, United Artists, 1965.
• To Sir with Love, Columbia, 1967.
• The Last Valley, Cinerama, 1970.
• Writings; Teleplays; Miniseries
• (With Eric Bercovici) Shogun (also known as James Clavell's Shogun), NBC,1980.
• (With Eric Bercovici) Noble House (also known as James Clavell's Noble House), NBC, 1988.
• Writings; Stage
• Countdown to Armageddon: E=mc2, produced at Vancouver Playhouse Theatre,Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, 1966.
• Writings; Novels
• King Rat, Brown (Boston, MA), 1962, reprinted as James Clavell's King Rat, Delacorte (New York City), 1983.
• Tai-Pan: A Novel of Hong Kong, Atheneum (New York City), 1966, reprinted,Delacorte, 1983.
• Shogun: A Novel of Japan, Atheneum, 1975.
• Nobel House: A Novel of Contemporary Hong Kong, Delacorte, 1981.
• The Children's Story, Delacorte, 1981.
• James Clavell's Whirlwind, Morrow (New York City), 1986.
• James Clavell's Thrump-o-Moto, illustrated by George Sharp, Delacorte, 1986.
• James Clavell's Gai-Jin: A Novel of Japan, Delacorte, 1993.
• Writings; Other
• (Author of introduction) The Making of James Clavell's Shogun, Dell (NewYork City), 1980.
• (Editor and author of foreword) Sun Tzu, The Art of War, Hodder and Stoughton (London), 1981, Delacorte, 1983.
• Also a writer of poetry.
• Other Works
• Adaptations: King Rat was adapted by Bryan Forbes and released as King Rat, Columbia, 1965; Tai-Pan was adapted by John Briley and Stanley Mann and released as Tai-Pan, produced by DeLaurentiis Entertainment Group, 1986. The Children's Story was produced as a Mobile Showcase television special, 1982; Shogun was produced for the stage as a musical at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and at the Marquis Theatre, New York City, 1990.

Further Reference

Books:

• Contemporary Authors, Volume 146, Gale (Detroit, MI), 1995.
• Contemporary Authors, New Revision Series, Volume 48, Gale, 1995.
• The Writers Directory: 1992-1994, St. James Press (London), 1991.

Periodicals:

• Entertainment Weekly, December 30, 1994, pp. 90-94.
• National Review, October 10, 1994, p. 23.
• New York Times, September 8, 1994.
• Time, September 19, 1994, p. 27.