Who was Clive James, why was he famous and was he married?
VETERAN broadcaster Clive James had died aged 80.
But why was he famous, and who was he married to? Here's our lowdown...
Who is Clive James?
Clive was born Vivian Leopold James in Kogarah, a suburb of Sydney, Australia on October 7 1939.
He changed his name as a child after Vivien Leigh starred as Scarlett O’Hara in Gone with the Wind and “the name became irrevocably a girl's name no matter how you spelled it".
He settled for the name Clive after Tyrone Power’s character in the 1942 film This Above All.
James is an only child and was raised by his mother after his father, having survived being a Japanese prisoner of war, died during the Second World War when the plane he was returning to Australia in crashed in Manila Bay.
He was educated at Sydney Technical College and then at the University of Sydney where he studied English and Psychology. He edited the student newspaper and after he graduated, worked as an assistant editor for the Sydney Morning Herald.
When did he come to the UK?
Clive moved to England in 1962 and during his first few years worked as a library assistant, market researcher and sheet metal worker, and made friends with fellow Australian Barry Humphries.
He then landed a place at Cambridge University to read English Literature, where his contemporaries included Germaine Greer and Eric Idle.
He became president of Cambridge Footlights and even appeared on BBC’s University Challenge.
When did he get into journalism?
In 1972, he became the television critic for The Observer and stayed for 10 years.
He went on to write for various newspapers and magazines in the UK, Australia and the United States and until mid-2014 wrote the weekly television critique page for the Review section of the Saturday edition of the Daily Telegraph.
Has he had anything else published?
From the Seventies through to the Noughties, he had a series of essays published as well as Flying Visits, a collection of travel writing for the Observer.
He has also published several books of poetry and collaborated on six albums with radio producer Pete Atkin.
In 1980, he wrote his first autobiography called Unreliable Memoirs, which recounted his early days in Australia.
This was followed by Falling Towards London, which recalled his years in London, May Week Was In June about his time at Cambridge and The Blaze of Obscurity, which was about his career as a TV presenter. He also wrote four novels.
How did Clive launch his television career?
He started as a commentator on various shows including the Granada pop music show So It Goes between 1976 and 1977.
Then, in 1982, he hosted Clive James on Television, on which he showcased weird and funny TV shows from around the world.
He then joined the BBC in 1988 and fronted Saturday Night Clive which ran for two years and returned as Saturday Night Clive on Sunday and then Sunday Night Clive.
In 1995 he set up his own production company to produce The Clive James Show for ITV.
In the mid-Eighties he featured in a travel programme called Clive James In… for LWT and when he joined the BBC he had a similar show, this time called Clive James’ Postcard from…
A huge motor racing fan, he presented the 1982, 1984 and 1986 official Formula One season review and in 1997 presented The Clive James Formula 1 Show for ITV to coincide with their coverage.
How did Clive start on the radio?
In 2007, he started to present A Point of View for BBC Radio 4 on which he discussed various topics with a humorous take.
Three of the shows were shortlisted for the 2008 Orwell Prize for political writing of outstanding quality.
Does he have any honours or awards?
Clive was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 1992 which was upgraded to officer level in 2013.
He was appointed a CBE in 2012 for services to literature and the media and has honorary doctorates from both the University of Sydney and University of East Anglia.
He is an Honorary Fellow of Pembroke College, Cambridge and was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature in 2010.
He was also awarded a special Bafta in 2015 to honour his 50-year career.
Is Clive married?
In 1968 he married Prudence Shaw and they had two daughters, Claerwen and Lucinda.
In 2012, Shaw threw Clive out of the family home after his affair with former model Leanne Edelsten was exposed.
When was he diagnosed with cancer?
In 2011, after heavy speculation he had suffered kidney failure, he confirmed that he was suffering from B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
In 2012 he said the disease had beaten him and his time was nearly up having also been diagnosed with emphysema and kidney failure in 2010.
In October 2015, he said he felt “embarrassed” that he was still alive thanks to experimental drug treatment and on 21 January 2017, he wrote a piece for the Guardian in which he spoke about being booked in for an operation and if it was a success, readers would “see my name in this space next week”.
He died aged 80 in November 2019.