Clive James, writer, broadcaster and TV critic, dies aged 80
Clive James, the broadcaster, poet and television critic, has died aged 80 after a long illness.
The Australian died at his home in Cambridge on Sunday, his agent confirmed. A private funeral attended by family and close friends took place in the chapel at Pembroke College, Cambridge, on Wednesday afternoon.
United Agents said: “Clive died almost 10 years after his first terminal diagnosis, and one month after he laid down his pen for the last time. He endured his ever-multiplying illnesses with patience and good humour, knowing until the last moment that he had experienced more than his fair share of this ‘great, good world’.
“He was grateful to the staff at Addenbrooke’s hospital for their care and kindness, which unexpectedly allowed him so much extra time. His family would like to thank the nurses of the Arthur Rank Hospice at Home team for their help in his last days, which allowed him to die peacefully and at home, surrounded by his family and his books.”
Don Paterson, James’s poetry editor at Picador, said: “Although it was hardly unexpected, it was still a shock to hear of Clive’s passing; despite his frailty in his later years, his life-force seemed almost indestructible … he was unfailingly warm, kind and hilarious company right to the end, and we’ll miss him terribly.”
Born Vivian James in Sydney in 1939, he studied at the University of Sydney before moving to London at the start of the 1960s. He later attended Pembroke College, Cambridge, where he was president of the Cambridge Footlights drama society and mixed with the likes of Germaine Greer.
He began writing criticism for literary magazines, before becoming the Observer’s television critic in 1972. There, his deadpan tone made for a markedly new approach to reviewing programmes; he later said he became unpopular in the office for laughing out loud at his own jokes while writ