James Clavell facts for kids

Quick facts for kids James Clavell
Born	Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell (1921-10-10)10 October 1921 Sydney, Australia
Died	7 September 1994(1994-09-07) (aged 72) Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland
Occupation	Novelist screenwriter director
Nationality	British, United States
Period	1958–1993
Spouse	April Stride ​ (m. 1949)​
Children	2 (with April) 1 (with Caroline Fischer)

James Clavell (born Charles Edmund Dumaresq Clavell; October 10, 1921 – September 7, 1994) was a famous writer, screenwriter, and director. He was born in Australia but later became an American citizen. Clavell was also a soldier in World War II and was held as a prisoner of war. He is best known for his exciting adventure novels, called "The Asian Saga." Many of these books were made into popular TV shows. James Clavell also wrote movie scripts like The Fly (1958) and The Great Escape (1963). He directed the well-known movie To Sir, with Love in 1967.

James Clavell's Life Story

Early Years and Education

James Clavell was born in Sydney, Australia. His father, Richard Charles Clavell, was an officer in the Royal Navy. When James was just nine months old, his family moved back to England. He attended Portsmouth Grammar School as a young student.

World War II Experiences

In 1940, James Clavell joined the Royal Artillery, a part of the British Army. He was trained to fight in the desert. However, after the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941, he was sent to Singapore to fight against the Japanese. His ship was sunk on the way, but he survived.

Life as a Prisoner of War

In 1942, Clavell was shot in the face and captured in Java. He was sent to a Japanese prisoner of war camp. Later, he was moved to Changi Prison in Singapore. Life in the prison camp was very hard. Prisoners received very little food.

Clavell later said that Changi Prison became his "university." He learned many things from the other prisoners, including how to survive. He believed that if the atomic bombs had not ended the war, he might not have lived. After the war, he found it hard to talk about his experiences for many years.

Starting a Career in Film

After the war, in 1946, Clavell was a captain in the army. But a motorcycle accident ended his military career. He then went to the University of Birmingham. There, he met April Stride, an actress, and they married in 1949. Watching her on film sets made him interested in becoming a film director.

Clavell started working in the film industry in England. He moved to New York and then Hollywood in 1954. He worked as a carpenter while trying to become a screenwriter. In 1956, he sold his first script, Far Alert, to RKO Pictures.

His big break came when he wrote the science-fiction horror movie The Fly (1958). This movie was a huge success and helped him become a well-known screenwriter. He also wrote and directed other films like Five Gates to Hell (1959) and Walk Like a Dragon (1960).

Becoming a Novelist

In 1960, a writers' strike meant Clavell could not work on films. He decided to write a novel instead. This book, King Rat, was based on his time as a prisoner in Changi. It took him three months to write. The book was published in 1962 and became a best-seller. It was later made into a movie in 1965.

After the success of King Rat, Clavell spent two years researching and writing his next novel, Tai-Pan (1966). This book was also a huge best-seller. He sold the film rights for a lot of money, though the movie was not made until 1986.

Directing Popular Films

Clavell returned to filmmaking and had a big success with To Sir, With Love (1967). He wrote, produced, and directed this film, which starred Sidney Poitier. It was a very popular movie and received great reviews.

After this success, he directed Where's Jack? (1969) and The Last Valley (1971).

Focus on Novel Writing

James Clavell then focused mainly on writing novels for the rest of his career. He spent three years researching and writing Shōgun (1975). This book was about an Englishman who becomes a samurai in Japan in the 17th century. It became another massive best-seller. Clavell was also very involved in the Shōgun TV miniseries in 1980, which was watched by over 120 million people.

In the late 1970s, he wrote his fourth novel, Noble House (1981). This story was set in Hong Kong in 1963 and also became a best-seller. It was later made into a TV miniseries in 1986.

Clavell wrote other novels, including Whirlwind (1986) and Gai-Jin (1993), which was his last completed novel.

James Clavell's Works

Films James Clavell Worked On

• The Fly (1958) (writer)
• Watusi (1959) (writer)
• Five Gates to Hell (1959) (writer, director and producer)
• Walk Like a Dragon (1960) (writer, director and producer)
• The Great Escape (1963) (co-writer)
• 633 Squadron (1964) (co-writer)
• The Satan Bug (1965) (co-writer)
• King Rat (1965) (based on his novel)
• To Sir, with Love (1967) (writer, director and co-producer)
• The Sweet and the Bitter (1967) (writer and director)
• Where's Jack? (1968) (director and co-producer)
• The Last Valley (1970) (writer, director and producer)
• Shōgun TV miniseries (1980) (executive producer, based on his novel)
• Tai-Pan (1986) (based on his novel)
• Noble House TV miniseries (1988) (executive producer, based on his novel)

His Famous Novels

The New York Times newspaper once said that James Clavell was a natural storyteller. He wrote in a grand, old style of fiction. His first novel, King Rat (1962), was a story based on his own experiences in a prison camp. It quickly became a best-seller.

His next novel, Tai-Pan (1966), was about a powerful trading company in Hong Kong in 1841. The main character, Dirk Struan, became a hero in many of Clavell's later books.

Clavell's third novel, Shōgun (1975), is set in Japan in the 1600s. It tells the story of an English sailor who ends up in Japan. When this book was made into a TV miniseries in 1980, it was one of the most-watched TV shows ever.

His fourth novel, Noble House (1981), was set in Hong Kong in 1963. It also became a best-seller and was made into a TV miniseries. After this, Clavell wrote Whirlwind (1986) and Gai-Jin (1993).

Peter Marlowe Character

Peter Marlowe is a character in Clavell's novels King Rat and Noble House. He is like a stand-in for Clavell himself. In King Rat, Marlowe is an English prisoner of war in Changi Prison. In Noble House, set twenty years later, he is a novelist researching a book about Hong Kong.

The Asian Saga Novels

The Asian Saga is a series of seven novels by James Clavell:

• King Rat (1962), set in a Japanese prisoner of war camp in Singapore in 1945.
• Tai-Pan (1966), set in Hong Kong in 1841.
• Shōgun (1975), set in Japan from 1600 onwards.
• Noble House (1981), set in Hong Kong in 1963.
• Whirlwind (1986), set in Iran in 1979.
• Gai-Jin (1993), set in Japan in 1862.
• Escape: The Love Story from Whirlwind (1994), a shorter version of Whirlwind.

Other Writings

• "The Children's Story" (1964) – a short story later made into a book and movie.
• Thrump-O-Moto (1986) – a children's story.
• The Art of War (1983) – a translation of an ancient Chinese book by Sun Tzu.

Interactive Stories

• Shōgun (1988) – a computer game where you play as the English sailor John Blackthorne in Japan.
• Shōgun (1986) – another computer game based on the novel.
• Taipan! (1979) – a computer game inspired by Clavell's novel Tai-Pan.

Political Views and Later Life

In 1963, James Clavell became an American citizen. He believed strongly in individualism and laissez-faire capitalism. This means he thought people should be free to make their own choices and that the government should not control businesses too much. Many of the heroes in his books show these ideas. He admired the philosopher Ayn Rand, who had similar beliefs.

From 1970 to 1990, Clavell lived in Fredley Manor in England.

Death and Legacy

James Clavell passed away in Switzerland in 1994 from a stroke. He was 72 years old.

After his death, his wife helped to sponsor the library and archive of the Royal Artillery Museum in London. It was named the James Clavell Library in his honor. There is also a place called James Clavell Square in London.

See also

In Spanish: James Clavell para niños