Dick Clement (born 5 September 1937) is a retired 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? ''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 predec ...

'', ''

Porridge Porridge is a food made by heating, soaking 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, fruit, or syrup to make a sweet cereal ...

'', ''

Lovejoy ''Lovejoy'' is a British television comedy-drama mystery fiction, mystery series, based on the Lovejoy (novel series), novels by John Grant (Lovejoy), John Grant under the pen name Jonathan Gash. The show, which ran to 71 episodes over six ser ...

'' and ''

Auf Wiedersehen, Pet ''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 ...

''.

Early life

Born in

Westcliff-on-Sea Westcliff-on-Sea (previously known as Milton, often abbreviated to Westcliff, and in the past spelt as Westcliffe-on-Sea) is a suburb of the city of Southend-on-Sea, located within the ceremonial county of Essex, England. It is on the north sh ...

, 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 a system of compulsory or 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 ...

with the

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...

. He then joined the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

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'', ''

Otley Otley is a market town and civil parish at a bridging point on the River Wharfe, in the City of Leeds metropolitan borough in West Yorkshire, England. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, the population was 13,668 at the 2011 c ...

'', (directed by Clement) and '' Hannibal Brooks''. Clement also directed the BBC sketch show '' Not Only... But Also'', which starred

Peter Cook Peter Edward Cook (17 November 1937 – 9 January 1995) was an English comedian, actor, satirist, playwright and screenwriter. He was the leading figure of the British satire boom of the 1960s, and he was associated with the anti-establishmen ...

and Dudley Moore, and, for the big screen,

Iris Murdoch Dame Jean Iris Murdoch ( ; 15 July 1919 – 8 February 1999) was an Irish and British novelist and philosopher. Murdoch is best known for her novels about good and evil, sexual relationships, morality, and the power of the unconscious. Her fi ...

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

Villain A villain (also known as a " black hat", "bad guy" or "baddy"; The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p.126 "baddy (also baddie) noun (pl. -ies) ''informal'' a villain or criminal in a book, film, etc.". the feminine form is villai ...

'', starring

Richard Burton Richard Burton (; born Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.; 10 November 1925 – 5 August 1984) was a Welsh actor. Noted for his mellifluous baritone voice, Burton established himself as a formidable Shakespearean actor in the 1950s and gave a memor ...

, and '' Catch Me a Spy'', 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. ...

. 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 ''

'', the latter directed by Clement, and a ' rockumentary', ''To Russia With Elton'', in 1979. During the same period, they adapted

Keith Waterhouse Keith Spencer Waterhouse Order of British Empire, CBE (6 February 1929 – 4 September 2009) was a British novelist and newspaper columnist and the writer of many television series. He was also a noted arbiter of newspaper style and journalisti ...

's ''

Billy Liar ''Billy Liar'' is a 1959 novel by Keith Waterhouse that was later adapted into a play, a Billy Liar (film), film, a Billy (musical), musical and a Billy Liar (TV series), TV series. The work has inspired and been featured in a number of popul ...

'' into the stage musical '' Billy'', starring

Michael Crawford Michael Patrick Smith (born 19 January 1942), known professionally as Michael Crawford, is an English actor, comedian and singer. Crawford is best known for playing the hapless Frank Spencer in the sitcom '' Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em'', Cornel ...

, which ran at London's Drury Lane Theatre 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 that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, where they wrote the American version of ''Porridge'', '' On the Rocks'', and the feature film, '' The Prisoner of Zenda'', starring

Peter Sellers Peter Sellers (born Richard Henry Sellers; 8 September 1925 – 24 July 1980) was an English actor and comedian. He first came to prominence performing in the BBC Radio comedy series ''The Goon Show''. Sellers featured on a number of hit comi ...

. In the 1980s, Clement directed John Wells's hit stage play '' Anyone For Denis?'' He directed the films '' Bullshot'' and ''

Water Water is an inorganic compound with the chemical formula . It is a transparent, tasteless, odorless, and Color of water, nearly colorless chemical substance. It is the main constituent of Earth's hydrosphere and the fluids of all known liv ...

'', 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 (novel), Thunderball'' by Ian Fleming, which in turn was based on an original story by Kevin McClory, Jack Wh ...

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

'', voted ITV's Favourite TV Programme of all Time in a ''

Radio Times ''Radio Times'' 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 September 1923 by John Reith, then general manage ...

'' readers' poll 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 James Michael Aloysius Bradford (born 16 March 1954), 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'' ( ...

. In America, they were writers and supervising producers for

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, 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 based a ...

Emmy The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the year, each with their own set of rules and award catego ...

-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 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 Reci ...

'' 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 with fast cutting, stylistic cinematography and visuals, and extensive use of special eff ...

(who also directed the film). 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 Edward James Solomon (born September 15, 1960) is an American filmmaker. He wrote the screenplays to ''Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure'' (1989), ''Men in Black (1997 film), Men in Black'' (1997), and ''Now You See Me (film), Now You See Me'' ( ...

once Walt Disney Studios acquired distribution rights. 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 BBC Two is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's second flagship channel, and it covers a wide range of subject matte ...

, and Robert Harris's

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the Catholic hierarchy of angels, based on and put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the 5th or 6th century in his book ''De Coelesti Hierarchia'' (''On the Celestial Hierarchy'') ...

, starring Daniel Craig, for

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

. 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 ''Flushed Away'' is a 2006 animated adventure comedy film produced by DreamWorks Animation and Aardman Features. The film was directed by Sam Fell and David Bowers, from a screenplay by Dick Clement, Ian La Frenais, Chris Lloyd, Joe Keen ...

'', while 2007 saw the release of the

jukebox musical A jukebox musical is a stage musical or musical film in which a majority of the songs are well-known, pre-existing popular music songs, rather than original music composed for the musical. Some jukebox musicals use a wide variety of songs, while ...

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. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

, which they scripted, and, with director

Julie Taymor Julie Taymor (born December 15, 1952) is an American director and writer of theater, opera, and film. Her stage adaptation of ''The Lion King (musical), The Lion King'' debuted in 1997 and received eleven Tony Awards, Tony Award nominations, with ...

, wrote the story for. The 2008 film '' The Bank Job'', starring Jason Statham, is their last screenplay work to date. Two new television series written by them aired in 2017: a new version of ''

'', starring

Kevin Bishop Kevin Brian Bishop (born 1980) is a British actor, comedian and writer. He is best known for his roles as Jim Hawkins (character), Jim Hawkins in ''Muppet Treasure Island'', Stupid Brian in ''My Family'', and Nigel Norman Fletcher in the 2016 rev ...

, for the BBC, and '' Henry IX'' for UKTV Gold, 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 list.

Personal life

Clement supports the football club Chelsea F.C.

Writing credits (with Ian La Frenais)

*'' The Likely Lads'' (TV, 1964–66) *'' Not Only... But Also'' (TV, 1965) *'' Further Adventures of Lucky Jim'' (TV, 1967) *'' Mr. Aitch'' (TV, 1967) *'' Vacant Lot'' (TV, 1967) *''

'' (1968) *'' Hannibal Brooks'' (1968) *''

'' (1971) *''

To Catch a Spy ''To Catch a Spy'' is a 1971 comedy film, comedy spy film directed by Dick Clement and starring Kirk Douglas, Marlène Jobert, Trevor Howard, Richard Pearson (actor), Richard Pearson, Garfield Morgan, Angharad Rees and Robert Raglan. It was writ ...

'' (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 10 April 1971 to 25 December 1987. The usual format included sketches, solo se ...

'' (TV, 1972) *'' Seven of One'' (TV, 1973) - Episodes " Prisoner and Escort" and "I'll Fly You for a Quid" *'' Ha-Tarnegol'' (with Haim Hefer) (1973) *'' Thick as Thieves'' (TV, 1974) *''

'' (TV, 1973–74) *''

'' (TV, 1974–77) *'' On the Rocks'' (TV, 1975–76) *'' Going Straight'' (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., 1983, uncredited) *''

'' (TV, 1983–2004) *'' Sunset Limousine'' (with Wayne Kline, TV, 1983) *''

'' (with Bill Persky, 1985) *'' Vice Versa'' (1988) *'' The Commitments'' (with

Roddy Doyle Roderick Doyle (born 8 May 1958) is an Irish novelist, dramatist and screenwriter. He is the author of eleven novels for adults, eight books for children, seven plays and screenplays, and dozens of short stories. Several of his books have been ...

, 1991) *'' Tracey Ullman: A Class Act'' (TV, 1992) *'' The Old Boy Network'' (TV, 1992) *'' Tracey Ullman Takes on New York'' (TV, 1993) *'' Full Stretch'' (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. Adams has worked with Colum ...

, 1997) *'' Still Crazy'' (1998) *'' Tracey Takes On...'' (TV, 1996–99) *''

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

'' (with Christopher Lloyd, Joe Keenan and William Davies, 2006) *''

'' (2007) *'' The Bank Job'' (2008) *'' Killing Bono'' (with Ben Bond, 2011) *'' Spies of Warsaw'' (2013) *''

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

My Generation "My Generation" is a song by the English rock band The Who, written by guitarist and primary songwriter Pete Townshend. One of the band's most recognizable songs, it was placed number 11 by ''Rolling Stone'' on its list of the " 500 Greatest S ...

'' (2017)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Clement, Dick 1937 births Living people 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 British television show creators English television writers Military personnel from Southend-on-Sea 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 Primetime Emmy Award winners Writers Guild of America Award winners