Dick Clement (born 5 September 1937) is an English writer, director and producer. He became known for his writing partnership with

Ian La Frenais Ian La Frenais (born 7 January 1937) is an English writer best known for his creative partnership with Dick Clement. They are most famous for television series including ''The Likely Lads'', ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', ''Porridg ...

for television series including '' The Likely Lads'', '' Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', ''

Porridge Porridge is a food made by heating or boiling ground, crushed or chopped starchy plants, typically grain, in milk or water. It is often cooked or served with added flavourings such as sugar, honey, (dried) fruit or syrup to make a sweet cereal, ...

'', ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery series, based on the novels by John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six series, was originally broadcast on BBC1 between 10 January 19 ...

'' and '' Auf Wiedersehen, Pet''.

Early life

Born in

Westcliff-on-Sea Westcliff-on-Sea (often abbreviated to Westcliff) is an inner city area of the city of Southend-on-Sea, in the City of Southend-on-Sea, in the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is on the north shore of the lower Thames Estuary, about 34 m ...

, Essex, England, Clement was educated at Bishop's Stortford College, and then spent a year in the US on an exchange visit. Upon his return, he completed his

National Service National service is the system of voluntary government service, usually military service. Conscription is mandatory national service. The term ''national service'' comes from the United Kingdom's National Service (Armed Forces) Act 1939. The l ...

with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

. He then joined the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

as a studio manager and started writing scripts and comedy sketches.

Writing partnership with Ian La Frenais

Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais have enjoyed a long and successful career embracing films, television and theatre. Their partnership began in the mid-1960s with ''The Likely Lads'', and by the end of the decade they had also written three feature films: ''

The Jokers ''The Jokers'' is a 1967 British comedy film written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and directed by Michael Winner. The film stars Michael Crawford and Oliver Reed as brothers who hatch a plot to steal the Crown Jewels. Very much of i ...

'', ''

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historic counties of England, Historically a part of the West Ridi ...

'', (directed by Clement) and ''

Hannibal Brooks ''Hannibal Brooks'' is a 1969 British war comedy film directed by Michael Winner and written by Ian La Frenais and Dick Clement, based on a story by Winner and Tom Wright. It stars Oliver Reed, Michael J. Pollard and Wolfgang Preiss. The film ...

''. Clement also directed the BBC sketch show '' Not Only... But Also'', which starred Peter Cook and Dudley Moore, and, for the big screen, Iris Murdoch's ''

A Severed Head ''A Severed Head'' is a satirical, sometimes farcical 1961 novel by Iris Murdoch. It was Murdoch's fifth published novel. Primary themes include marriage, adultery, and incest within a group of civilised and educated people. Set in and around ...

''. In the early 1970s, two other features were scripted by Clement and La Frenais: ''

Villain A villain (also known as a "black hat" or "bad guy"; the feminine form is villainess) is a stock character, whether based on a historical narrative or one of literary fiction. ''Random House Unabridged Dictionary'' defines such a character a ...

'', starring Richard Burton, and ''

Catch Me a Spy ''Catch Me a Spy'' is a 1969 comedy spy thriller novel by George Marton and Tibor Meray. Adaptation In 1971 it was turned into a film of the same name starring Kirk Douglas, Marlène Jobert and Trevor Howard Trevor Wallace Howard-Smith (29 ...

'', starring

Kirk Douglas Kirk Douglas (born Issur Danielovitch; December 9, 1916 – February 5, 2020) was an American actor and filmmaker. After an impoverished childhood, he made his film debut in ''The Strange Love of Martha Ivers'' (1946) with Barbara Stanwyck. Do ...

. In this same period, they created their award-winning series ''Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'', followed by ''Porridge'', ' Thick as Thieves' and a spin-off from ''Porridge'', ''

Going Straight ''Going Straight'' is a BBC sitcom created and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale. The programme was a direct spin-off to the sitcom ''Porridge'', which all four were involved in, with ...

''. There were big screen versions of both '' The Likely Lads'' and ''

'', the latter directed by Clement, and a '

rockumentary A concert film, or concert movie, is a film that showcases a live performance from the perspective of a concert goer, the subject of which is an extended live performance or concert by either a musician or a stand-up comedian. Early history The ...

', ''To Russia With Elton'', in 1979. During the same period, they adapted Keith Waterhouse's ''

Billy Liar ''Billy Liar'' is a 1959 novel by Keith Waterhouse that was later adapted into a play, a film, a musical and a TV series. The work has inspired and been featured in a number of popular songs. The semi-comical story is about William Fisher, ...

'' into the stage musical ''

Billy Billy may refer to: * Billy (name), a name (and list of people with the name) Animals * Billy (dog), a dog breed * Billy (pigeon), awarded the Dickin Medal in 1945 * Billy (pygmy hippo), a pet of U.S. President Calvin Coolidge * Billy, a youn ...

'', starring Michael Crawford, which ran at London's

Drury Lane Theatre The Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, commonly known as Drury Lane, is a West End theatre and Grade I listed building in Covent Garden, London, England. The building faces Catherine Street (earlier named Bridges or Brydges Street) and backs onto Drur ...

for two and a half years. By this time they were living in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where they wrote the American version of ''Porridge'', '' On the Rocks'', and the feature film, '' The Prisoner of Zenda'', starring Peter Sellers. In the 1980s, Clement directed John Wells's hit stage play '' Anyone For Denis?'' He directed the films '' Bullshot'' and ''

Water Water (chemical formula ) is an inorganic, transparent, tasteless, odorless, and nearly colorless chemical substance, which is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known living organisms (in which it acts as a ...

'', which were produced by his writing partner La Frenais; the pair also scripted the latter film, and contributed extensive, uncredited writing work on the unofficial James Bond movie ''

Never Say Never Again ''Never Say Never Again'' is a 1983 spy film directed by Irvin Kershner. The film is based on the 1961 James Bond novel '' Thunderball'' by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original story by Kevin McClory, Jack Whittingham, and Flemi ...

''. In 1987, they wrote and produced '' Vice Versa''. Their television work at the time included the

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

series '' Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'', which was voted ITV's Favourite TV Programme of all Time in a ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' (currently styled as ''RadioTimes'') is a British weekly listings magazine devoted to television and radio programme schedules, with other features such as interviews, film reviews and lifestyle items. Founded in May 1923 by J ...

'' readers' poll in order to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the station. By the beginning of the 1990s, La Frenais had created the long running series, ''Lovejoy'', and co-created ''

Spender ''Spender'' is a British television police procedural drama, created by Ian La Frenais and Jimmy Nail, that first broadcast on 8 January 1991 on BBC1. The series, which also starred Nail as the titular character, ran for three series between 1 ...

'' with Jimmy Nail. In America, they were writers and supervising producers for

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium television network, which is the flagship property of namesake parent subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is ba ...

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

-winning show, '' Tracey Takes On...'', for four years. They scripted the film adaptation of '' The Commitments'', which won the Evening Standard's Peter Sellers Award for Comedy and the

BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Award for Best Adapted Screenplay has been presented to its winners since 1968, when the original category (BAFTA Award for Best Screenplay) was split into two awards, the other being the BAF ...

, and also wrote the screenplays for '' Excess Baggage'' and ''

Still Crazy ''Still Crazy'' is a 1998 British comedy film directed by Brian Gibson (his final film before his death in 2004). The plot concerns a fictional 1970s rock band named Strange Fruit, who, after being split up for two decades, are persuaded to get ...

''. In addition, they did uncredited rewrites on '' The Rock'', starring Sean Connery, and ''

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...

'' for producers Jerry Bruckheimer and

Michael Bay Michael Benjamin Bay (born February 17, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is best known for making big-budget, high-concept action films characterized by fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of ...

(who also directed the film). In 2005, Clement and La Frenais had two television adaptations of best-selling novels broadcast by the BBC:

Jonathan Coe Jonathan Coe (; born 19 August 1961) is an English novelist and writer. His work has an underlying preoccupation with political issues, although this serious engagement is often expressed comically in the form of satire. For example, '' What a ...

's '' The Rotter's Club'' for

BBC Two BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

, and Robert Harris's

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

, starring Daniel Craig, for

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's flagship network and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television bulletins, p ...

. That year also saw the UK release of '' Goal!'', a film they co-scripted. In 2006, they were credited as writers on the animated film '' Flushed Away'', whilst 2007 saw the release of the jukebox musical ''

Across the Universe "Across the Universe" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles. It was written by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney. The song first appeared on the 1969 various artists' charity compilation album ''No One's Gonna Change Our W ...

'', based around the songs of

The Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band, formed in Liverpool in 1960, that comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatles, most influential band of al ...

, which they scripted, and, with director Julie Taymor, wrote the story for. The 2008 film ''

The Bank Job ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'', starring

Jason Statham Jason Statham (; born 26 July 1967) is an English actor. He is known for portraying characters in various action-thriller films who are typically tough, hardboiled, gritty, or violent. Statham began practising Chinese martial arts, kickboxing ...

, is their last screenplay work to date. Two new television series written by them aired in 2017: a new version of ''

'', starring Kevin Bishop, for the BBC, and '' Henry IX'' for

UKTV Gold Gold is a British pay television channel from the UKTV network that was launched in late 1992 as UK Gold before it was rebranded UKTV Gold in 2004. In 2008, it was split into current flagship channel Gold and miscellaneous channel, W, with clas ...

, starring Charles Edwards. The duo have also written the book for two stage musicals in development, ''Juke Box Hero'' and ''Victoria's Secret''. Clement and La Frenais were both awarded OBEs in the 2007

Queen's Birthday Honours The Birthday Honours, in some Commonwealth realms, mark the reigning British monarch's official birthday by granting various individuals appointment into national or dynastic orders or the award of decorations and medals. The honours are present ...

list.

Personal life

Clement supports the football club

Chelsea F.C. Chelsea Football Club is an English professional football club based in Fulham, West London. Founded in 1905, they play their home games at Stamford Bridge. The club competes in the Premier League, the top division of English football. Th ...

Writing credits (with Ian La Frenais)

*'' The Likely Lads'' (TV, 1964–66) *'' Not Only... But Also'' (TV, 1965) *''

The Further Adventures of Lucky Jim ''The Further Adventures of Lucky Jim'' ( ''The New Adventures of Lucky Jim'') is a British television sitcom which first aired on BBC 2 in 1982. It is inspired by the 1954 novel ''Lucky Jim'' by Kingsley Amis, updated to the Swinging Sixties. I ...

'' (TV, 1967) *'' Mr. Aitch'' (TV, 1967) *''

Vacant Lot In real estate, a lot or plot is a tract or parcel of land owned or meant to be owned by some owner(s). A plot is essentially considered a parcel of real property in some countries or immovable property (meaning practically the same thing) in ot ...

'' (TV, 1967) *''

'' (1968) *''

'' (1971) *'' To Catch a Spy'' (1972) *''

The Two Ronnies ''The Two Ronnies'' is a British television comedy sketch show starring Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett. It was created by Bill Cotton and aired on BBC1 from April 1971 to December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo sections, seria ...

'' (TV, 1972) *'' 7 of 1'' (TV, 1973) *'' Ha-Tarnegol'' (with

Haim Hefer Haim Hefer ( he, חיים חפר 29 October 1925 – 18 September 2012) was a Polish-born Israeli songwriter, poet and writer. He wrote for numerous composers and musical artists, as well as for military bands. Several of his songs, including "H ...

) (1973) *'' Thick as Thieves'' (TV, 1974) *'' Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?'' (TV, 1973–74) *''

(1974–77) *'' On the Rocks'' (TV, 1975–76) *''

'' (TV, 1978) *'' The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1979) *'' ''Porridge'' (film)'' (US: ''Doing Time'', 1979) *'' The New Adventures of Lucky Jim'' (TV, 1982) *''

'' (with

Lorenzo Semple Jr. Lorenzo Elliott Semple III (March 27, 1923March 28, 2014) was an American screenwriter and sometime playwright, best known for his work on the campy television series '' Batman'', who also received writing credit on the political/espionage fil ...

, 1983, uncredited) *'' Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' (TV, 1983–2004) *''

Sunset Limousine ''Sunset Limousine'' is a 1983 American made-for-television comedy film written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. Directed by Terry Hughes and shot on locations in San Diego, the film stars John Ritter, Susan Dey, Paul Reiser, Audrie Neenan, ...

'' (with Wayne Kline, TV, 1983) *''

'' (with

Bill Persky Bill Persky (born September 9, 1931) is an American television director, screenwriter, and producer. Biography Persky was born to a Jewish family, the son of an estate auctioneer. His father would travel between various resort towns where the ...

, 1985) *'' Vice Versa'' (1988) *'' The Commitments'' (with Roddy Doyle, 1991) *'' Tracey Ullman: A Class Act'' (TV, 1992) *''

The Old Boy Network ''The Old Boy Network'' is a British comedy television series which first aired on ITV in 1992.Newcomb p.1303 Created by the writing team of Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, it is a parody of various spy films and series. Main cast * Tom Conti a ...

'' (TV, 1992) *''

Tracey Ullman Takes on New York ''Tracey Ullman Takes on New York'' is an HBO television special starring Tracey Ullman. The show was Ullman's first project for network; it led to the creation of the sketch comedy series '' Tracey Takes On...'' Premise The Johnsons Visiting W ...

'' (TV, 1993) *''

Full Stretch ''Full Stretch'' is a British comedy television series which first aired on ITV in 1993.Newcomb p.1303 It portrays a limousine rental company owned by an ex-footballer. David Bowie has a cameo as himself in one episode. Main cast * Kevin McNall ...

'' (TV, 1993) *''

'' (TV, 1991–94) *'' Excess Baggage'' (with

Max D. Adams Max D. Adams is an American screenwriter and author. The winner of a Nicholl Fellowship in Screenwriting and an Austin Film Festival screenwriting award, Adams went on to be dubbed “Red Hot Adams” by Daily Variety. Career Adams has worked wit ...

, 1997) *''

'' (1998) *'' Tracey Takes On...'' (TV, 1996–99) *''

'' (2005) *'' The Rotters' Club'' (TV, 2005) *'' Goal! The Dream Begins'' (2005) *'' Flushed Away'' (with

Christopher Lloyd Christopher Allen Lloyd (born October 22, 1938) is an American actor. He has appeared in many theater productions, films, and on television since the 1960s. He is known for portraying Dr. Emmett "Doc" Brown in the ''Back to the Future'' tril ...

, Joe Keenan and William Davies, 2006) *''

'' (2007) *''

'' (2008) *'' Killing Bono'' (with Ben Bond, 2011) *''

Spies of Warsaw ''The Spies of Warsaw'' is a 2008 spy novel by Alan Furst about espionage involving the major nations shortly before World War II competing for influence and control over the future of Poland. The story starts in October 1937 and ends in May 1938 ...

'' (2013) *''

'' (TV, 2016-2017) *'' Henry IX'' (TV, 2017) *'' My Generation'' (2017)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clement, Dick 1937 births Military personnel from Southend-on-Sea Royal Air Force airmen 20th-century Royal Air Force personnel Annie Award winners BBC television producers Best Adapted Screenplay BAFTA Award winners British male television writers English film directors English male screenwriters English television producers English television writers Living people Officers of the Order of the British Empire People educated at Alleyn Court School People educated at Bishop's Stortford College People from Westcliff-on-Sea