Clive James AM (born Vivian James, on 7 October 1939 in Kogarah, New South Wales) is an expatriate Australian author, poet, critic, memoirist, talk show host, television presenter, travel writer and cultural commentator.
James was born in Sydney, Australia. He was allowed to change his name as a child because "after Vivien Leigh played Scarlett O'Hara the name became irrevocably a girl's name no matter how you spelled it".
His father was taken pr...
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Clive James AM (born Vivian James, on 7 October 1939 in Kogarah, New South Wales) is an expatriate Australian author, poet, critic, memoirist, talk show host, television presenter, travel writer and cultural commentator.
James was born in Sydney, Australia. He was allowed to change his name as a child because "after Vivien Leigh played Scarlett O'Hara the name became irrevocably a girl's name no matter how you spelled it".
His father was taken prisoner by the Japanese during the Second World War, and although he survived the POW camp, he died when the plane returning him to Australia crashed in Taiwan, and he was buried in Hong Kong. James, who was an only child, was brought up by his mother in the Sydney suburb of Kogarah.
An IQ test taken in childhood put his IQ at 140. He was educated at Sydney Technical High School (despite winning a bursary to Sydney Boys High School) and the University of Sydney, where he studied psychology and became associated with the Sydney Push, a...
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