Clive James, "the Kid from Kogarah", has died at 80.
The acclaimed writer and broadcaster, who was known for his dry wit, died at his home in Cambridge on Sunday.
He was diagnosed with leukemia and emphysema in 2010.
James was born in Kogarah in 1939 and attended Sydney Technical High School at Bexley.
His parents named him Vivian, which he found embarrassing and changed it to Clive - chosen from a wartime Tyrone Power film.
James' father was freed from a Japanese prisoner of war camp on the cessation of hostilities only to die in a plane crash on his way home.
James was raised by his mother, a factory worker.
In the first volume of his autobiography, Unreliable Memoirs, published in 1979, James recounted stories of growing up at Kogarah with redback and funnelweb spiders, outdoor dunnies and billycart smashes.
In a 2013 interview with the ABC's Kerry O'Brien, James was asked how much of the kid from Kogarah remained?
James responded: "Oh, it is still there, no question of it - the kid from Kogarah is sitting before you."
He referred to his anecdote of a billycart "super-train" on a steep hill in Sunbeam Avenue, taking out Mrs Branthwaite's flower garden - "the district's greatest display of poppies".
"Let me tell you something about that hill," James said. "I went back many years later - it is very flat."
After leaving Sydney Technical High School, James studied psychology at Sydney University where he edited the university's student newspaper.
He became associated with the Sydney Push, a group of liberal-thinking intellectuals.
In 1962, when he was 22, James went to London, which he made his home.
A statement from his agent, 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'."
A private funeral took place on November 27..
THE LIFE AND TIMES OF CLIVE JAMES
- Australian Associated Press
EARLY LIFE
- Born October 7, 1939, named Vivien Leopold James. He later changed his name to Clive.
- Father died in a plane crash on the way home from a WW2 Japanese internment camp.
- Attended Sydney Technical High School and the University of Sydney, studying English and Psychology.
- Upon graduating worked as an assistant editor at the Sydney Morning Herald for a year.
MOVE TO ENGLAND AND CAMBRIDGE
- Shared London flat with Australian film director Bruce Beresford, neighboured artist Brett Whiteley and befriended comedian Barry Humphries.
- Accepted into Cambridge University reading English Literature, eventually beginning a PhD thesis on the poet Percy Shelley.
WRITING CAREER
- Television critic for The Observer in 1972.
- Wrote literary criticism extensively for newspapers and magazines in Australia, Great Britain and the US.
- Released his first book The Metropolitan Critic in 1974, followed by another five books including a biography that charted his early life in Australia.
- Began publishing books of poetry in 1975, his final collection was released in 2017.
RADIO AND TELEVISION
- Frequented British TV music show 'So It Goes' in the mid-70s.
- Hosted Clive on Television talk show series (1982 - 1984) and Saturday Night Clive (1988 - 1990).
- Presented the 1982, 84, and 86 Formula One season review videos & The Clive James Formula 1 Show.
- Turned his hand to documentary making in 1993 with Fame in the 20th Century.
- In 2007 began presenting BBC Radio show A Point of View, discussing contemporary issues with a comedic slant.
PERSONAL LIFE
- Married fellow Australian Prue Shaw an emeritus reader in Italian studies.
- In the early 2000s had an affair with Sydney socialite Leanne Edelsten.
- In 2011 he revealed he had leukemia and had been in treatment for 15 months.
- But in 2015 survived his battle with cancer through an experimental drug treatment.
