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James Clavell Wikipedia

James Clavell (Charles Edmund DuMaresq de Clavelle) (October 10 1924 – September 7 1994) was a novelist and screenwriter, famous for books such as Shogun (novel)|Shogun and films such as The Great Escape and To Sir, with Love.

Clavell was born in Sydney, Australia in 1924. His father was an officer in the Royal Navy, so Clavell was raised in many different places within the Commonwealth of Nations|British Commonwealth. In 1940 he joined the British Royal Artillery and was sent to Malaysia to fight the Japanese. Wounded by machine gun fire, he was eventually captured and sent to a Japanese POW camp on Java (island)|Java. Later, he was transferred to Changi Prison near Singapore. His experiences there became the basis of his first novel, King Rat (1962 novel)|King Rat, published in 1962.

By 1946 Clavell had risen to the rank of Captain, but a motorcycle accident ended his military career. He enrolled at the University of Birmingham, where he met April Stride, an actress, who he married in 1951. Through her, Clavell was introduced to the movie industry, and developed a desire to be a director. He moved with his family to New York in 1953 where he worked in television, and soon thereafter to Hollywood. Eventually he earned success as a screenwriter with films such as The Fly (1958)|The Fly and Watusi. He co-wrote and produced the classic film The Great Escape, which firmly established his reputation in Hollywood. By 1959 he was producing and directing films of his own.

In 1963, he became a naturalized citizen of the United States. He died of stroke following cancer in Switzerland in 1994.

Last Modified:   2005-04-13