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Dick Clement | |
|---|---|
| Born | 5 September 1937 Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, England |
| Occupation | Screenwriter, director, producer |
| Period | 1964–present |
| Genre | Television |
| Spouse | Nancy Campbell Clement (1982–present) |
Dick Clement OBE (born 5 September 1937) is an English writer, director and producer. He became known for his writing partnership with Ian La Frenais for television series including The Likely Lads , Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? , Porridge , Lovejoy and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet .
Born in Westcliff-on-Sea, 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 with the Royal Air Force. [1]
He then joined the BBC as a studio manager and started writing scripts and comedy sketches. [2]
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 , Otley , (directed by Clement) and Hannibal Brooks . 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 .
In the early 1970s, two other features were scripted by Clement and La Frenais: Villain , starring Richard Burton, and Catch Me a Spy , starring Kirk Douglas. 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 . There were big screen versions of both The Likely Lads and Porridge , the latter directed by Clement, and a 'rockumentary', To Russia With Elton, in 1979.
During the same period, they adapted Keith Waterhouse's Billy Liar into the stage musical Billy , starring Michael Crawford, which ran at London's Drury Lane Theatre for two and a half years. By this time they were living in California, 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 , 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 . In 1987, they wrote and produced Vice Versa . Their television work at the time included the ITV series Auf Wiedersehen, Pet , which was voted ITV's Favourite TV Programme of all Time in a Radio Times 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 with Jimmy Nail. In America, they were writers and supervising producers for HBO's Emmy-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, and also wrote the screenplays for Excess Baggage and Still Crazy . In addition, they did uncredited rewrites on The Rock , starring Sean Connery, and Pearl Harbor for producers Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay (who also directed the film). [3] They had also been commissioned to write a draft of Super Mario Bros. for directors Rocky Morton and Annabel Jankel. This would ultimately lead the film into pre-production after several failed drafts but it was heavily rewritten by Ed Solomon once Walt Disney Studios acquired distribution rights. [4]
In 2005, Clement and La Frenais had two television adaptations of best-selling novels broadcast by the BBC: Jonathan Coe's The Rotter's Club for BBC Two, and Robert Harris's Archangel, starring Daniel Craig, for BBC One. 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 , based around the songs of The Beatles, which they scripted, and, with director Julie Taymor, wrote the story for. The 2008 film The Bank Job , starring Jason Statham, is their last screenplay work to date.[ citation needed ]
Two new television series written by them aired in 2017: a new version of Porridge , starring Kevin Bishop, for the BBC, and Henry IX for UKTV Gold, starring Charles Edwards.[ citation needed ] 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 list.
Clement supports the football club Chelsea F.C. [5]
The Likely Lads is a British sitcom created and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais and produced by Dick Clement. Twenty episodes were broadcast by the BBC, in three series, between 16 December 1964 and 23 July 1966. However, only ten of these episodes have survived.
Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? is a British sitcom which was broadcast on BBC1 between 9 January 1973 and 9 April 1974. It was the colour sequel to the mid-1960s hit The Likely Lads. It was created and written, as was its predecessor, by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. There were 26 television episodes over two series, and a subsequent 45-minute Christmas special was aired on 24 December 1974. The show won the BAFTA Television Award for Best Situation Comedy in 1974.
Porridge is a British sitcom, starring Ronnie Barker and Richard Beckinsale, written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and broadcast on BBC1 from 1974 to 1977. The programme ran for three series and two Christmas specials. A feature film of the same name based on the series was released in 1979.
Auf Wiedersehen, Pet is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site in Düsseldorf. The series was created by Franc Roddam after an idea from Mick Connell, a bricklayer from Stockton-on-Tees, and mostly written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, who also wrote The Likely Lads, Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads? and Porridge. It starred Tim Healy, Kevin Whately, Jimmy Nail, Timothy Spall, Christopher Fairbank, Pat Roach and Gary Holton, with Noel Clarke replacing Holton for series three and four and the two-part finale. The series were broadcast on ITV in 1983–1984 and 1986. After a sixteen-year gap, two series and a Christmas special were shown on BBC One in 2002 and 2004.
Ian La Frenais 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?, Porridge and its sequel Going Straight, Lovejoy and Auf Wiedersehen, Pet.
James Michael Aloysius Bradford, known as Jimmy Nail, is an English singer-songwriter, actor, film producer, and television writer. He played the role of Leonard "Oz" Osborne in the television show Auf Wiedersehen, Pet and the title role in Spender. He also recorded a 1992 number one single, "Ain't No Doubt". His role as Agustín Magaldi, the oily crooner in the 1996 film Evita, gave him international recognition.
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 its premise surrounding the exploits of Barker's character Norman Stanley Fletcher following his release from prison and his attempts to not commit another crime for the sake of his family, despite the allure that crime brings. The programme also featured the appearance of Patricia Brake, reprising her role in Porridge, and Nicholas Lyndhurst. Both Fulton Mackay and Tony Osoba guest starred in the first episode, also reprising their earlier roles.
Gary Frederick Holton was a British singer-songwriter, musician and actor from London. He was the frontman of the band Heavy Metal Kids (1972–1977), worked with Casino Steel (1981–1984), and played the part of Wayne in the UK television comedy Auf Wiedersehen, Pet (1983–1985). Holton died from an overdose of morphine combined with alcohol in 1985.
Michael Barrington was a British actor best known for his television work. His best remembered role is as the ineffectual Governor Venables in the BBC sitcom Porridge which featured Ronnie Barker in the lead role.
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 1991 and 1993, finishing with a feature-length special, The French Collection, broadcast on 29 December 1993. A total of twenty-one episodes were produced. The first and second series were produced by Martin McKeand, while the third and final series was produced by Paul Raphaël and Peter McAleese.
Sheila Fearn is an English retired actress best known for playing Audrey, the sister of Terry Collier in BBC situation comedies The Likely Lads and Whatever Happened to the Likely Lads?, and also later on as Ann Fourmile, the next door neighbour in the Thames Television sitcom George and Mildred.
Alleyn Court Prep School is a co-educational day preparatory school in Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex for children up to age 11.
Paul Angelis was an English actor and writer, best known for his role as PC Bruce Bannerman in the BBC police series Z-Cars and as Navy Rum in Porridge as well as doing many voices in the film Yellow Submarine.
Otley is a 1968 British comedy thriller film directed by Dick Clement and starring Tom Courtenay and Romy Schneider. It was adapted by Clement and Ian La Frenais from the 1966 novel of the same name by Martin Waddell, and released by Columbia Pictures.
"Breakin' Away" / "That's Livin' Alright" is a double A-side single by English singer Joe Fagin. The songs were produced and arranged by David Mackay.
Porridge is a 1979 British comedy film directed by Dick Clement and starring Ronnie Barker, Richard Beckinsale, Fulton Mackay and Brian Wilde. It was written by Clement and Ian La Frenais based on their BBC television series Porridge (1974–1977). Most of prison officers and inmates from the original series appear in the film, with the notable exceptions of Lukewarm, Blanco, Heslop and Harris. There is also a different governor, played by Geoffrey Bayldon rather than series regular Michael Barrington.
Allan McKeown was a British television and stage producer.
Brendan Healy was a British entertainer from North East England. Beginning as a musician, he worked in television, becoming an actor, theatre writer and producer, and, later, a comedian.
Thick as Thieves is a British sitcom which was broadcast on ITV between 1 June and 20 July 1974 and produced by London Weekend. It was created and written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais. There were 8 episodes over one series and starred Bob Hoskins, John Thaw and Pat Ashton.
Porridge is a British television sitcom, starring Kevin Bishop, written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, and broadcast on BBC One. The show is a sequel to the original 1974 series of the same name, which both Clement and La Frenais wrote. The sitcom focuses on prison inmate, Nigel Norman Fletcher, the grandson of Norman Stanley Fletcher, who is sent to Wakeley Prison to serve a five year sentence for cyber crimes.
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