File photo dated 21/06/96 of Liza Minnelli with interviewer Clive James for the recording of the Clive James Show. Photo credit: Neil Munns/PA Wire
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF CLIVE JAMES, WHO DIED ON NOVEMBER 24:
EARLY LIFE
* Born October 7, 1939, named Vivien Leopold James. He later changed his name to Clive.
* Father died in a plane crash on the way home from a WW2 Japanese internment camp.
* Attended Sydney Technical High School and the University of Sydney, studying English and Psychology.
* Upon graduating worked as an assistant editor at the Sydney Morning Herald for a year.
MOVE TO ENGLAND AND CAMBRIDGE
* Shared London flat with Australian film director Bruce Beresford, neighboured artist Brett Whiteley and befriended comedian Barry Humphries.
We are deeply saddened to hear about the passing of Australian author and broadcaster Clive James. #CliveJamesRIP
— State Library of NSW (@statelibrarynsw) November 27, 2019
Image: Bruce Beresford, Clive James at Clive's Christmas Party, 1980, courtesy of William Yang. pic.twitter.com/ymfoZGFRmZ
* Accepted into Cambridge University reading English Literature, eventually beginning a PhD thesis on the poet Percy Shelley.
WRITING CAREER
* Television critic for The Observer in 1972.
* Wrote literary criticism extensively for newspapers and magazines in Australia, Great Britain and the US.
* Released his first book The Metropolitan Critic in 1974, followed by another five books including a biography that charted his early life in Australia.
* Began publishing books of poetry in 1975, his final collection was released in 2017.
RADIO AND TELEVISION
* Frequented British TV music show 'So It Goes' in the mid-70s.
* Hosted Clive on Television talk show series (1982 - 1984) and Saturday Night Clive (1988 - 1990).
* Presented the 1982, 84, and 86 Formula One season review videos & The Clive James Formula 1 Show.
* Turned his hand to documentary making in 1993 with Fame in the 20th Century.
* In 2007 began presenting BBC Radio show A Point of View, discussing contemporary issues with a comedic slant.
PERSONAL LIFE
* Married fellow Australian Prue Shaw an emeritus reader in Italian studies.
* In the early 2000s had an affair with Sydney socialite Leanne Edelsten.
* In 2011 he revealed he had leukemia and had been in treatment for 15 months.
* But in 2015 survived his battle with cancer through an experimental drug treatment.
I am so, so sad to hear about #CliveJames. Nine years ago, when we were both seriously ill, he invited me for "a lunch before dying". He lasted nearly another decade and I'm still here. Wonderful man, wonderful writer, and truly wonderful poet. RIP, brilliant, glittering Clive.
— Christina Patterson (@queenchristina_) November 27, 2019
Saying goodbye is so shocking. Makes you quiet rewinding the memories. So many. Years and years of that intelligence and the talent and beautiful way of living, always to do excellence. Thank you, #CliveJames from the bottom of my heart. You live forever with us. #CliveJamesRIP pic.twitter.com/Pz56nwt61x
— Margarita Pracatan (@PracatanBaby) November 27, 2019
Japanese Maple
— Jane Westwell (@JaneWestwell) November 27, 2019
'A final flood of colors will live on as my mind dies,
Burned by my vision of a world that shone
So brightly at the last, and then was gone.'
RIP #CliveJames pic.twitter.com/LmsdjYZX7j
© AAP 2019
