33 Facts About James Clavell

James Clavell wrote such screenplays as those for The Fly, based on the short story by George Langelaan, and The Great Escape, based on the personal account of Paul Brickhill.

James Clavell directed the popular 1967 film To Sir, with Love, for which he wrote the script.

In 1940, James Clavell joined the Royal Artillery, and received an emergency Regular Army commission as a second lieutenant on 10 May 1941.

James Clavell believed that if atomic bombs had not been dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki he would not have survived the war.

James Clavell did not talk about his wartime experiences with anyone, even his wife, for 15 years after the war.

James Clavell experienced bad dreams and a nervous stomach kept him awake at night.

James Clavell enrolled with the University of Birmingham, where he met April Stride, an actress, whom he married in February 1949.

James Clavell would visit her on the film sets where she was working and began to be interested in becoming a film director.

James Clavell entered the film industry via distribution and worked at that in England for a number of years.

James Clavell tried to get into producing but had no luck, so he started writing screenplays.

James Clavell wrote Watusi for director Kurt Neumann, who had made The Fly.

James Clavell wrote Five Gates to Hell for Lippert, and when they could not find a suitable director, James Clavell was given the job.

Paramount hired James Clavell to write a film about the Bounty mutineers.

James Clavell did write, produce, and direct a Western at Paramount, Walk Like a Dragon.

In 1960, James Clavell wrote a Broadway show with John Sturges, White Alice, a thriller set in the Arctic.

In 1960, the Writers Guild went on strike, meaning James Clavell was unable to work.

James Clavell decided to write a novel, King Rat, based on his time at Changi.

In 1962, James Clavell signed a multi picture contract with a Canadian company to produce and direct two films there, Circle of Greed and The Sweet and the Bitter.

James Clavell wrote scripts for the war films The Great Escape and 633 Squadron.

James Clavell wrote a short story, "The Children's Story" and the script for The Satan Bug, directed by John Sturges who had made The Great Escape.

James Clavell wrote Richard Sahib for Sturges which was never made.

James Clavell wanted to write a second novel because "that separates the men from the boys".

James Clavell returned to novel writing, which was the focus of the remainder of his career.

James Clavell spent three years researching and writing Shogun, about an Englishman who becomes a samurai in feudal Japan.

James Clavell was heavily involved in the 1980 miniseries which starred Richard Chamberlain and achieved huge ratings.

James Clavell briefly returned to filmmaking and directed a thirty-minute adaptation of his novelette The Children's Story.

James Clavell was meant to do a sequel to Shogun but instead wrote a novel about the 1979 revolution in Iran, Whirlwind.

James Clavell eventually returned to the Shogun sequel, writing Gai-Jin.

James Clavell's first novel, King Rat, was a semi-fictional account of his prison experiences at Changi.

James Clavell's next novel, Tai-Pan, was a fictional account of Jardine Matheson's successful career in Hong Kong, as told via the character who was to become Clavell's heroic archetype, Dirk Struan.

In 1963 James Clavell became a naturalised citizen of the United States.

Between 1970 and 1990, James Clavell lived at Fredley Manor near Mickleham, located in Surrey in South East England.

In 1994, James Clavell died in Switzerland from a stroke while suffering from cancer.