Clifford Green OAM (6 December 1934 – 4 December 2020), born in Melbourne, Australia, was an Australian

screen writer A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. T ...

, whose best-known work is the script for the film '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975).

Career

Green spent his early working life as a country school teacher, which was reflected in his script for the 1974 ABC TV series, ''

Marion Marion may refer to: People *Marion (given name) *Marion (surname) *Marion Silva Fernandes, Brazilian footballer known simply as "Marion" *Marion (singer), Filipino singer-songwriter and pianist Marion Aunor (born 1992) Places Antarctica * Mario ...

''. He was able to write in a wide variety of genres, and his screenplay for

Peter Weir Peter Lindsay Weir ( ; born August 21, 1944) is a retired Australian film director. He's known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as '' Picnic at Hanging Rock'' (1975), ''Gallipoli'' (1981), ''Witness ...

’s ''Picnic At Hanging Rock'' was a landmark in the renaissance of the Australian film industry in the 1970s. In 1981, the

Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-own ...

produced ''

I Can Jump Puddles ''I Can Jump Puddles'' is a 1981 Australian television mini-series based on the 1955 autobiographical series of the same name by author Alan Marshall. Adapted for television by screenwriters Cliff Green and Roger Simpson, the series starred Le ...

'', a mini-series written by Green, based on Alan Marshall's autobiographical stories. His screenplay for the 1990 TV movie, ''Boy Soldiers'', was the first Australian drama to receive an Emmy nomination. In the 2009 Queen's Birthday Honours List, he was awarded the

Order of Australia Medal The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

for services to the

Australian film The cinema of Australia had its beginnings with the 1906 production of ''The Story of the Kelly Gang'', arguably the world's first feature film. Since then, Australian crews have produced many films, a number of which have received internati ...

and

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

industry as a screenwriter and educator. Green served on the board of the

Victorian Film Corporation VicScreen, formerly known as Film Victoria, is the Victorian Government’s creative and economic screen development agency. They function behind the scenes, supporting professionals, infrastructure, projects and events – elevating Victori ...

from 1977 to 1984. In at least one screenwriting textbook, his writing for television is cited as an example of economy, wit and minimal formal camera directions.Aronson, Linda. ''Scriptwriting Updated''. Australian Film, Television and Radio School. Cliff Green died on 4 December 2020, aged 85, after long illness.

Recognition

*1976 – AWGIE (Best Screenplay) *1979 – ''Picnic at Hanging Rock'' Nominated for a Saturn Award (Best Writing) *1990 – AWG Richard Lane Award *1991 – International Emmy nomination for the screenplay of ''Boy Soldiers'' *2009 –

Order Of Australia Medal The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

Select credits

*'' The Ballad of Riverboat Bill'' (1965) *'' The Steamboat Adventures of Riverboat Bill'' (1987)

References

External links

* * * * 1934 births 2020 deaths Australian television writers Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Australian male television writers Writers from Melbourne RMIT University alumni People from Warrandyte, Victoria Australian schoolteachers {{australia-writer-stub